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North Carolina Babies
RubyRed80
member
TA Leave Question
RubyRed80
member
I am a Teacher's Assistant that works for the Orange County Schools. I am currently 36 weeks and I was told by my doctor that I will be induced Sept. 14th which will be 39 weeks for me. I will start my leave on that Monday which is the 12th. Now I am going to take 12 weeks for my baby which when I counted will be the last week of Nov. going into the first few days of Dec. I figured that instead of coming back for those last two weeks in Dec. just come back after Christmas. My question is if anybody has went through anything like this can you just take those extra few weeks or do I have to really come back? Hope I didn't confused anyone. I think it is different for teachers than the TA in NC.
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Re: TA Leave Question
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides protection of your job for 12 weeks only. This would begin with the first day you go out, whether you've had the baby yet or not. All companies are different, but FMLA is federal legislation that applies to companies over 50 employees (which would include the school systems).
Many people's maternity leave is paid by short term disability (I'd check to see if you have it--it's often times a voluntary benefit you're not automatically enrolled in). If you have a vaginal birth, most STD companies will cover 6 weeks of leave, and 8 weeks for a c/section. Typically STD coverage pays 50-60% of your salary per week. After that, you'd be required to use any remaining sick or vacation time, or take leave without pay.
Your employer doesn't have to grant you any leave beyond the 12 weeks. But they might be willing to. I'd just make sure you're very up front with your employer about your plans, and ask them if they are ok with you not coming back until after the holidays. If they cannot accommodate that then yes, legally speaking, you'd need to return after your 12 weeks in order to keep your job.
I agree with everything Hughes said and will add that also depending on the company, the 6 or 8 weeks that STD includes their processing time so for instance with my company, the first week is considered processing and so I actually only get 60% pay during the remaining 7 weeks (I've had c/s).
Also, like Hughes mentioned, taking more than 12 weeks depends on the company. Mine does allow up to 16 weeks off (paid or unpaid depending on whether I have any sick/vacation time to use) but that includes anytime I take before my c/s.
When I was a teacher, I took my 12 weeks which lasted until late Oct/early Nov, then unpaid leave to stay out until the end of the semester. (I ended up resigning after that to stay home, but I wasn't sure of that at the time) I went to HR, explained the situation knowing how much paid time I would have, then asked how we could make the rest possible.
I'm pretty sure, like you mentioned, that there are different guidelines for teachers & TAs, so I'm not exactly sure what is possible in your case. Good luck!
Life at Chunky Gal
I'm really late to the thread, but just want to say that you might find benefit from returning during that short time in December if you need to. I was on the same schedule last year, and it was nice to get my feet wet with working full time and having a baby at home, knowing a long break was just around the corner. And at my job (corporate), things were pretty relaxed during the month of December. There were a number of holiday parties - a nice time to show off pictures of your new baby.
I don't know if the school system would be crazy busy and stressful at that time, or the opposite.
Best of luck!