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Working Moms
virginiagirl11
member
Those of you who had custom or unique maternity leave plans
virginiagirl11
member
in Working Moms
Hi, I'm popping in from 2nd Tri. This is my first child. I work for a small company that does not qualify for FMLA, and there is no STD in my state, so I am on my own for maternity leave. Fortunately, my company is fairly flexible and completely open to suggestions as to what I feel will work for me. They may not grant everything I ask for but I can ask.
I know one of my coworkers took a few months off using vacation & unpaid leave, then returned part-time working from home, then full-time from home, then eventually (now) full-time 2 days at home, 3 days at the office. She said the initial part-time return didn't really help her much, though.
I was curious about what you ladies did. Thanks!
natural m/c 7.1.10 
: sticky baby 4.25.11 : #2 due 5.18.13
: sticky baby 4.25.11 : #2 due 5.18.13
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Those of you who had custom or unique maternity leave plans
Will they let you use sick leave to cover part of it? I used sick leave + vacation to get 3 months paid, then worked about 10-15 hours/week from home for another month (the rest was unpaid). The work from home was a nice way to get a little extra time, but I had a hard time getting much done. Even when DS was napping, it was just hard to sit down and focus in little chunks.
This time, I'm just using sick + vacation + comp time to take 3 months off, then I'll go back to my regular schedule.
I'd ask for more than you think you may want/need. You can always come back earlier.
First figure out what you can afford and go from there.
I took 12 weeks with DD and 16 weeks with DS....I used a combo of STD/PTO to be paid for some, then took some unpaid leave.
I came back at full time right away, but come back on a Wednesday or Thurs so you aren't jumping right back into a full week.
I only get 3 sick days a year and I'd like to save them for actual sick days for LO and me so, unfortunately, that's not really an option. I get 3 weeks of vacation a year and plan to use 2 for maternity leave and save the third for doctor visits, around the holidays, and a day or two when I'm sure I will just need a break and want to stay home with LO.
Right now we think we will be able to afford 6 weeks unpaid, which means 8 weeks off for me. After that, I will need to work to some degree I think.
Hi -
I usually lurk here - it's GREAT information!
Our situations are kind of similar. We've saved enough for me to take 12 weeks off, but in my position and profession it's not really an option for me to totally check out for that long. So here's what I proposed:
* 6 week leave (2 weeks paid out of vacation/sick time that had already accrued; this leaves me another week of vaca and 3 or 4 "personal" days to use for the year and 4 weeks unpaid)
* 4 weeks work from home 20 hours/wk
* 2 weeks work from home 40 hours/wk
Return to office full time.
I will have childcare (nanny) during my work from home hours. In my mind it's unfair to get paid to work while you are also responsible for an infant... it's just not doable to do both.
PPs are right - see what you can afford first, then ask for more than you think they'll five so you can negotiate.
Good luck!!
i was able to take 4.5 months total - with 8 of that being fully paid, then 6 weeks partial pay by the state (NJ has great maternity leave)... and then the rest was unpaid that i saved up for... but then i realized when i was on leave that i had more vacation days left than i had days of work left (b/c i was coming back part time but still had my full time vacation days)...
so i came back "on the books" a month early - and used vacation days that whole month - so i was getting paid regular salary again, but not working.... then came back to work for 2 weeks- then used up the rest of my vacation days the next 2 weeks of Dec until the new year. It worked out great b/c i ended up being unpaid a lot less time than i expected- and those 2 weeks back at work helped me get things going so when i came back in January i was totally back in the game.
After my leave was over I started back to work full time but I worked from home 2 days a week and in the office the other 3 days. I couldnt afford to cut back to part time so this was a good compromise to see dd more and ease the transition back to work. IT was also great because I bf'd so it gave me 2 extra days without pumping and saved me the 2 hours a day I spent commuting to work. I highly recommend working out a telecommuting schedule if your job allows. Also, if youre looking for daycare, maybe find a place close to your office so you can see baby over lunch every day?