D.C. Area Babies

Maternity Leave in VA?

Good morning ladies!

I week ago I found out I am pregant :)

I am planning to take the full 12 weeks for FMLA. DH and I are wondering if disability would be paid for part or all of that period? We are a little lost :) I haven't talked to anyone at work about this yet but would like to wait a few weeks before I give the news.

What happened in your case? TIA! 


Re: Maternity Leave in VA?

  • Congrats on your pregnancy!

    As to benefits..that's all company specific - whether or not your company offers STD or not. There is no state-paid plan for maternity leave. Also FYI - you only qualify for FMLA if your company has over 50 employees and usually if you have been with the company at least a year.

    You will need to look at your benefits to see if they offer STD....most companies charge you for this but a few pay for it and offer it for free as part of your benefit package.

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  • It entirely depends upon your work.  I had to use 6 weeks of my saved-up sick and personal leave in order to be paid.  Any additional time that I took was unpaid.  Luckily, I was a teacher, and wasn't going back to work, so it ended up covering the remainder of the school year for me.

    Also, I believe there is a minimum number of employees that your company must have in order to qualify for FMLA.  

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  • Congratulations - that's great news! I'm not an FMLA expert but from what I have read, your company has to meet some minimum requirements to have FMLA (a certain number of employees) and you must have worked at the company for 1 year or 1,250 hours. However, I think FMLA just gives you the legal right to take off 12 weeks to care for a new baby (but it doesn't mean it's paid).

    At my company, my short term disability insurace will pay me 60% of my salary for the first 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery or 60% for 8 weeks for a ceserean. I can then supplement that with my own vacation and sick leave.

    I think the key is to talk with other women at your company (once you share the news), read up on your company's policies, and talk with HR so that you are very clear about your benefits and so you can make sure you are getting everything you are entitled to. In our family situation, we found that we need to save up some money to cover my maternity live since I will not get full pay the whole time.

    Well congrats again and I with you well in your first trimester.

     

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  • Thanks for the advice! My company offers FMLA but I don't have STD, I only get LTD thru my company, but from what you all are saying, I guess pregancy does not apply for LTD...I need to talk to someone at HR to be certain...And start saving!
  • If you can, be sure to talk to other women who have been through the process, in addition to HR.  With my former company, the process was extremely complicated, and if you didn't know a few tips/tricks, you got screwed out of a couple weeks of pay. 
  • Definitely talk to HR and other women in your office, but yes, typically, you wouldn't get anything out of a LTD policy for maternity leave because LTD doesn't usually kick in until you've been out of work something like ninety days, which is longer than the period for which you are considered "disabled" after having a baby (i.e., the period for which you have a medical reason to be out of work).  (As a pp said, you're typically considered "disabled" for six weeks for a vaginal delivery and eight weeks for a c-section.)

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  • All the other responses said what I was going to say, so I'll just say congrats! 
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  • Lili! Congratulations!!! So happy for you.

     

  • Hi, congratulations!! I'm so happy for you guys! Welcome to the board!

    FMLA means your company must keep your job for your for 12 weeks, and must keep a job for you for 6 mos. Start saving your vacation. My company offered STD, 1st week I had to take off on my own time and it then kicked in, I got paid 100% for the next 6 weeks, and 70% for the following week (c-section entitled me to 8 weeks), the 4 weeks after that I took PTO.

    Congrats again, so exciting!

  • Thank you girls! :D
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