working moms - share your maternity leave policies

buler23 · May 2010

My job does not have a maternity leave policy. I need to write one. If you don't mind sharing your employers policy as well as the approx number of employees that work there, I would appriciate it!

Hope everyone is surviving well. It is god-awful hot in NY today. It is going to be a LONG two months.

megdrew1218 · May 2010

The first 40 hous I take PTB. Then for the next five weeks, I get 70% of my pay. (I can supplement 30% PTB to make my check 100%). After that, I have to take PTB to get paid. I'm taking off 12 weeks. I'm not sure how many people - thousands for sure.

fussbucket · May 2010

Up to six months, but not paid other than vacation/sick and short-term disability. You can work part-time for the last month to transition back if you want. About 200 employees.

TeamReed · May 2010

I work at a small all girls' boarding school where we don't get sick/personal days b/c we have such nice long vacations at Christmas and summer. Also, we don't have short term disability so this whole maternity leave situation has been sort of a nightmare.

The school does offer one week of paid leave (sick leave) for every full year of service to the school. So, I will have 3 weeks of paid leave.

I was actually able to negotiate a different plan with the Head since this sounded crazy...I will be paying for my sub ($1300 a month) out of my pay check and I'll get the remainder. I plan to take 10-12 weeks.

LCB34 · May 2010

Our maternity leave falls under our short term disability policy. So, what you qualify for directly correlates to how long you have been with the company.

I have 10 weeks paid leave at 100% paid and an additional 6 weeks at 60% pay. However, once I have the baby, I will only be able to claim 8 weeks STD - it's kind of hard to explain.

Basically, my doctor can write me out of work before delivering and I will get paid per the STD policy and once I have the baby I am only eligible to claim STD for 8 more weeks (unless complications arise).

I then have up to 2 years unpaid leave of absence that I can take with job security. I also have 2 years of part time employment that I can take within 4 years of having my child.

My doctor is writing me out of work 2-3 weeks before my induction and then I will claim my 8 weeks "maternity pay" once I deliver. So, I will get 100% pay for 10 weeks plus 1 week of 60% pay. I am then taking 4 additional months off unpaid.

From what I gather, my benefits are way above normal and it is very uncommon to have job security for as long as I do.

ETA: I work for a global company that has 80,000+ employees. These are the US benefits.

Aloe0l · May 2010

We don't have one. Our work only honors things like FMLA, short-term disability (indemnity), or "Florida Supportive Work Program" which allows up to 6 months off. None of it is paid unless we have unused leave we want to kill.

My friend's work grants 6-8 weeks paid for vaginal deliveries, 12 weeks for c-sections.

E_Squared · May 2010

megdrew1218:
The first 40 hous I take PTB. Then for the next five weeks, I get 70% of my pay. (I can supplement 30% PTB to make my check 100%). After that, I have to take PTB to get paid. I'm taking off 12 weeks. I'm not sure how many people - thousands for sure.

^ This, except I get 80% pay. And Flex Spending dollars aren't withdrawn from paychecks during short-term disability time, either.

PSUBean22 · May 2010

I dont know all the technical terms but it ends up you take ALL of your vacation and sick time which for me is 4 weeks so I get paid for that, then short-term disability kicks in for 6 weeks at 66% of my salary and then two weeks or so of no money but a total of 12 weeks off. Something like that.

PSUBean22 · May 2010

the thing that REALLY stinks is when I get back in mid-September, I have NO vacation or sick days left until January 1st.

scoutkate · May 2010

I can have up to 12 weeks, which I will be taking. The first six weeks (or eight if I have a c/s) will be STD at 80% pay. Then I will have to use all of my PTO, which will give me 100% pay, and I have about two weeks of that. After that I'll be at zero pay until the 12 weeks are up--should be two weeks at the most. I will have 100% benfits the whole time. I'd estimate that my company employs about 1500 people.

Mrs.Loria · May 2010

Ours falls under Short Term Disability....I get 3 months full pay and full benefits.

After 3 months you can use all vacation/sick/pers days

I am also taking 3 extra months unpaid leave!

gatorchristie · May 2010

We are covered by FMLA so I can take up to 12 weeks off. We also have short term disability so I get paid 6 weeks for regular delivery and 8 weeks for a c-section, the rest will be unpaid.

buler23 · May 2010

It is really interesting to see how different companies view maternity leave. I work for a pretty small organization (although we still qualify for FMLA). It seems like most organizations similar to that I work in require you to use up your sick time prior to claiming disability. You can take up to 40 hours of sick time (which is 8 weeks) paid. Then you can claim FMLA and take up to 12 months (including the 8 you already used), unpaid however, you have to pay the full cost of your health insurance.

MrsDCruz · May 2010

We have no maternity leave policy here, I do qualify for FMLA though so I can take up to 12 weeks off unpaid. I plan on taking 6-8, if my Mom was not going to be my daycare provider I would take the whole 12 weeks off but since I am able to trust her with my newborn I need to get back to work because we are going to be headed into the busy season at that point and I don't want to come back to a disaster!

MKinney86 · May 2010

I work in an office with about 60 people. My boss is being extra cool about it and letting me take 6 weeks paid leave then I can either take 2 more weeks unpaid or start working from home asap. Either way after maternity I'll start working from home and going in to the office once or twice a week for 4 hours a day.

S&V*A&F122009 · May 2010

My company does not have maternity leave and it is really "frowned upon" for any women in our company who does get pregnant. Being pregnant is not really accepted.

So my supervisor and I agreed on my leave that will not be shared with corporate. I will have to take my two weeks paid vacation then begin working from home for about 4 weeks, then come into the office 1-3 days a week for the next 6 weeks then I will be full time in office again after that (but I am hoping it works out that I can keep part time in home and office permananet!). Kind of rediculous, but I can't afford right now not to be working.

taprehoda · May 2010

I work for a global Fortune 200 company, so the policy varies by country. In the US, we get 6-8 weeks 100% paid (depending on vaginal or c-section). I believe this is covered under STD. We can take an additional 6 weeks unpaid covered under FMLA.

Let me tell you, the US really sucks compared to EVERY other country. The people I work with in other regions can't believe that we only get 12 weeks.

PubStar09 · May 2010

You know, I work for the largest drug store in the country, and all I get is the 12-weeks FMLA, unpaid.

Thanks to budget cuts = hour cuts, I'm down below the minimum required to have some of it paid.

FMLA? More like FML! Stick out tongue

pixy_stix · May 2010

Standard FMLA (12 weeks unpaid).

However, we also qualify for STD - 6 weeks vaginal delivery, 8 weeks c-section. The first 2 weeks you use your sick/vacation time, then STD kicks in with 70% of your pay. Work then supplements the final 30%, so that it's 100% paid.

Mrs.Handy · May 2010

The fed govt. doesn't have a specific maternity leave. I'm guaranteed my job with FMLA for 12 weeks.

Assuming the baby is healthy and everything, I use whatever sick leave I have saved up for 6 weeks if vaginal 8 weeks if c-section. Then I use whatever annual leave I have for the remaining time if I want to go up to 12 weeks. If I want to go to 12 weeks, then I either get in the leave donation program or I can do unpaid leave (which I won't be doing).

Indiechixor · May 2010

Military, so 6 weeks...paid.

something like 500,000 employees...

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

CAMbaby10 · May 2010

I get 8 weeks of paid maternity leave. I can apply for another 4 weeks unpaid which may or may not be granted. I work for a large University (private) - not sure about the number of employees but it's thousands.

JuliaJ · May 2010

I work for a large Fortune 200 company as well. We get 4-6 weeks (depending on vaginal or C-section), including 5 days of PTO at 100% pay, 2 weeks at 60%, then the balance of time unpaid up to 12 weeks total.

flippy1234 · May 2010

My company doesn't have one.. I'm taking 6 weeks off unpaid. NYS has disability, but its a measly $170 a week.. which is laughable. We've had to put money away in savings for when I'm off to live off of since DH is a student.

MrsH44 · May 2010

We only have FMLA, so up to 12 weeks off, I have to exhaust all sick and vacation time first, and then the rest is unpaid.

mrs.kapow · May 2010

We have to use all our PTO (sick, vaca, personal) first so I'll have about 2 wks paid. I'm using those 2 wks prior to my due date. We can go out up to a month prior to our due dates, but I'm afraid of delivering late so I'm just doing 2 weeks.

Then STD kicks in after my due date in conjunction with FMLA, so 6 wks for vaginal, 8 wks for cs, paid at 66%.

THEN, New Jersey has enacted its own family leave act so I get another 12 weeks of job security, half of it paid at 66%. I will be taking the other half unpaid.

Summadaze · May 2010

I have only been with my company for 5 months (6 at time of delivery), and I only get 6-8 weeks STD. If I were here for a year I would get 12 weeks. The first week of STD is a 'waiting period' and I will be using 40 hours PTO for this... Then the next 5-7 weeks (depending on vaginal or C-section) will be 66.6 % of my pay. My boss just had her baby and she has also been here less than a year and she is coming back after 6 weeks, but I beleive it will only be part time. I'm hoping they will let me work from home a bit as i know my boss will be moving to NY (we are in UT currently) and they are letting her work from there! Employee number? A lot lol it is a health insurance company.

With my son I took 13 weeks... 8(7) weeks paid (STD) as I had a C-section (but I didn't get them money until 5 months later as HR tried to say I didn't qualify... and the other 5 weeks (FMLA) no pay. That was a larger company as well.

karatechrissy · May 2010

My company is a very large corporation.

We get 60% of our base pay, without taxes taken out, for 6 weeks. BUT that's IF we enrolled in the short term disability insurance (it's only a few dollars a paycheck, but when I started here when I was 19 I thought 'why do I need disability? I'm healthy! not realizing it covered maternity leave, and that I might have a baby at some point. dumb me). If you do not have the short term disability insurance, you have to use PTO time to cover your benefits/pay if you want paid at all. We are allowed our 12 weeks of FMLA time, but again, this is unpaid.

afoster83 · May 2010

I get 52 weeks. I live in Canada. I can't imagine only having 12 weeks off. We are also guarantee our old position once we return to work.

slc2b · May 2010

My office didn't have a policy either until a few years ago when one of the girls had her baby (there are maybe 7 women who work here). So they had to make one, and this is what they came up with:

Regular, full-time employees who have completed one year of continuous employment are eligible for a total of 8 weeks off for maternity leave. All paid vacation and sick leave must be used at this time, after that the employee is paid based on years of service. Employees working for one year will be paid for 2 weeks at 100%, then after that the employee receives one week of pay per years of service at 100%, for a max of 6 weeks (so I will have been here just under 5 years, so they are paying me 4 weeks at 100%).

My company is small, we are right around 42 employees I think so not subject to FMLA laws. Also, as I said above out of the 42 there are 7 women, most who have already had all their babies so out of the almost 5 years I have been here I am only the second person to take maternity leave. I think my company did a pretty good job, they could have just said sorry no leave for you!

mysticporter · May 2010

I work for an extremely large employer. We are covered by FMLA (can take up to 12 weeks off, unpaid). If we so choose, we can substitute some or all of that time with accrued paid time off (sick and vacation). Sick time can only be used during the postpartum recovery period (6-8 weeks), once a doctor OK's a return to work than only vacation time can be used. We don't have any short term disability or specified paid maternity.

bwoods81 · May 2010

My experience has been somewhat hellish (I've posted about it on the July Moms board). I work for a small private school that employs approximately 22 people, so there is no FMLA. We also have no STD. We get 10 paid sick days a year and 2 paid personal days. I have 11.5 sick days and 1 personal day left, so I plan to use those when LO is born which will give me 100% of my pay. After that, it's no pay zone. I don't plan on coming back, so we have saved enough to live off of until I start school in the fall and go p/t as an on call sub for my old employer. I wrote up a maternity plan for my current employer in January and was promised I'd have an answer, but they have YET to tell me anything. Hence the reason I won't be returning!

SarahMay77 · May 2010

We are able to use up to 12 weeks of FMLA to protect our jobs during leave, but we have to use up all sick and all but 40 hours of our vacation time if we want to be paid during the 12 weeks.

I'm confused about why your employer wants you to write the maternity leave policy.

amanda1ann1 · May 2010

I work for a big company with 1700 locations and no leave except for family medical leave act. I will be using my short term disability to get paid. I am only taking off 6 weeks then back to work you would think with a big company like that I would get some kind of leave.

NateBecca · May 2010

We get up to six weeks paid or unpaid. If you want it paid, you have to have enough sick days to cover the time otherwise it's unpaid. If you want more then six weeks, you have to do FMLA which means then you can go up to a year but without pay.

Meggybear · May 2010

large company 12,000+ employees. We get 6 weeks paid STD for vaginal delivery, 8 for c-section. paid at 100%. FMLA runs at the same time as our STD so we can take an additional 4-6 weeks unpaid to equal your 12 weeks total allowed to guarantee your job upon return. You can use PTO days to supplement as well. we can apply for extended unpaid leaves, but there is no job guarantee. I will be taking 12 weeks total, we have been saving for my unpaid time

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