Poll: Maternity Leave

MrsKLB · September 2011

Hi ladies... I need your help. I work for a small startup company and am the only female employee. I have been talking to my manager and CFO about maternity leave and they keep giving me the "we'll work it out with you" response so today I've tried to nail them down on what is going on. Well, they are planning to put an official PTO policy in place and basically saying I would only have PTO available for maternity leave... nothing beyond. This is shocking to me because last time I was pregnant I worked for a different company and I got STD for 6 weeks (which my current company doesn't provide) and then got paid 4 weeks for maternity leave and then took PTO/unpaid for the rest of the 12 weeks.

So, what is the standard maternity pay for your company? As in, how many weeks BEYOND regular PTO do you get? If any of you have a company handbook or policy you would be willing to share with me, that would be great. They are open to working with me on this but are looking for "comps" on what other companies do.

jennifer dot black at yahoo dot com

Thanks!

Elaine&Matt · September 2011

I work for a small company. I used my 15 vacation days and my 10 PTO days to cover most of my maternity leave. There were a couple of days where the office wasn't open during then. For the remaining days, I borrowed from the next year's vacation. My boss didn't want to hassle with STD paperwork. So, that's how I got my six weeks paid maternity leave. If I wanted to be out longer, we would have filed for STD.

Janimal · September 2011

I have two STD policies. My company pays for a generous STD plan for our Director level and above employees.

All our other employees have an option to sign up and pay for STD or not. I opted in and pay for STD in addition to the employer paid plan for the maximum benefits I can receive, which is close to my normal salary.

I would say it is not unusual for a small employer not to pay for mat leave. But I think adding a STD policy as an option to the group benefit plan is a good idea - although again, size of the compay is a factor. It can be expensive....

MrsNaples06 · September 2011

When I was pregnant the first time I worked for the Macy's buying office and received 6 weeks maternity paid in full. My current company has great benefits and offers maternity leave paid in full for 12 weeks. I thought the norm for most places was 6 wks off at 60% pay. Anything less than that would be a major bummer! I would definitely have them look in to a STD option.

slwprincess · September 2011

I work for the federal government. There is no paid maternity leave. We do get up to 12 weeks leave under FMLA- paid or unpaid is the tricky part. We are expected to use all of our annual and sick leave. After that, we have 3 options:

1. Apply for donated leave. This is pretty cool. Anyone who has use/lose leave at the end of the calendar can "donate" their leave. They can either name the recipient or donate into a pool that is divided up. The even cooler part is that at my agency, we can even accept donated leave from people in other agencies! So my uncle who works for CDC could donate his extra leave to me. Since Sophie was born in December, I got a ton of donated leave and was able to cover my whole 8 weeks under the doctors note for a c/s. After the time on the Dr's note runs out or the donated leave runs out, you move on to one of the following options...

2. Borrow leave from yourself. There are parameters on how much you can borrow from yourself (I think no more than 1 years worth?). And then you pay it back over time. I only borrowed sick leave so that I could still have my annual leave during the year for sick kids and/or vacations. The drawback here is that I am still paying back that sick leave and won't be caught up until December of this year :-(

3. Leave without pay. This is an option under FMLA, but I got the impression it is really frowned upon. Basically, when I told my managers I was considering it, they convinced me to just borrow from myself instead. They didn't give me a real reason... I'm guessing too much paperwork- lol! I'm sure if I had pushed the issue, they would have allowed me, but it wasn't necessary.

One other thing that they did to help me out both times was to allow me to telework the last couple weeks. This helped me so much b/c I was able to ease back in and get caught up on emails before I came back to the office. Also helped us ease into the daycare transition. Definitely ask them to consider this in addition to whatever else they offer. Good luck!

dleigh2020 · September 2011

I pay into a STD policy at work so I get 60% of my pay for 4 weeks. Our STD doesn't pay for the first 2 weeks. If I have sick/personal leave they will pay the other 40% for the 4 weeks.

I am taking an additional 6 weeks without any pay through FMLA.

PuppiesAndRainbows · September 2011

This is a major reason why I left my last employer, and moved to a large company that qualified for FMLA. The only mat leave I would ever get would be six weeks of STD. Otherwise, nothing. I couldn't even use vacation, I would have to come back after the 6 weeks or face termination. I was the only person that could do my job, and having me out of the office would have been a serious, serious hardship to them.

ETA - ok, read too fast and saw you answered my questions. If you don't have STD, you are SOL. Under Georgia law, they owe you nothing. It is completely legal for them to let you use your PTO and nothing else. Start saving now to cover your time off. You need to negotiate how much unpaid time they would let you have, or are they only going to allow you to be off work for your PTO, and that's it? Meaning like 2 weeks, or face termination? You need to sort this out ASAP. I'm sorry you're going through this. Our mat leave policies in this country are downright shameful and disgusting. Ugh.

Obviously, I don't know your employers, but they sound like d!cks. It seems like they want to get away with giving you as little as they possibly can. If you are a valued employee, they should be proactively working with you to come up with something that is fair and reasonable. They might agree to let you have 6 weeks and use your PTO/sick time, but once that's gone you will have to take the rest unpaid. Or maybe they will advance you PTO to cover you for that time.

Bottom line, I wouldn't expect anything from them, as much as that sucks. In this economy, a lot of businesses are struggling, especially small businesses, so their motivation to try to retain employees is low IMO.

I did the HR at my previous company and drafted a mat leave policy for them that basically consisted of the STD policy. My boss was unaware of STD and thought that giving a woman 2 weeks off was sufficient, and giving any more time was "spoiling" the woman and "encouraging" her to have a baby. Needless to say he was a real prize. If you have any questions you can feel free to PM me.

mingaling2 · September 2011

This is not unusual.

As a state employee, I get no paid maternity leave. I had to take PTO and sick leave, in addition to unpaid FMLA leave. I could have used STD, but was denied due to a pre-existing condition.

MrsKLB · September 2011

Thanks for the responses ladies. To clarify, we do NOT have the option of STD. I have been suggested we try to get a policy for almost 2 years now, but we don't have one because we are such a small company. Even though we are too small to technically have to follow FMLA they are planning to do so, and I am guaranteed a job if I take up to 12 weeks leave. They pay part is what we are working on. And they are working with me, which is why I'm asking for feedback about other companies. If I give them some idea as to what other companies offer then we can discuss what they will offer. I do have the option of using PTO but am trying to get some part of my leave paid as maternity leave since I medically have to be out for 6-8 weeks and don't have the STD option.

Thanks again!

SuwaneeGirl · September 2011

I would get absolutely nothing beyond vacation time.

We don't have disability any longer.

There's 16 of us here.

When I got pregnant before, I was at an even smaller organization (4 people) and I told them I'd be out for 3 months. I saved money and got by that way. When I ended up delivering early, and staying out more like 6 months, they still let me come back.

Alison422 · September 2011

When I had Caroline I had no other paid benefits other than what STD paid and my PTO. I worked for Northside Hospital. Their policy was that you had to use your PTO for the first two weeks of leave and then your STD kicked in for the remainder of the STD time period. Since the Dr only approves for 6 weeks leave - I got 4 weeks paid under STD. I took 12 weeks so I went unpaid for the remainder of the time. When I worked for American Heart Association they also did not have "maternity" pay - only STD and PTO. I worked in HR before becoming a SAHM and it is very rare for a company to have actual maternity pay. So you ladies that get it are really lucky!

GTLawGirl · September 2011

I'll weigh in on this since I've been researching the policy at my current company. My company has a graduated STD program where the longer an employee has been working for the company the more STD they get. Our policy pays at 100%. That said, for the first week of a medical leave, the employee is either unpaid or must use PTO.

At my last two employers (law firm & gov't) the STD policy paid out at 60%, but you had the option of purchasing a supplemental AFLAC policy which essentially would cover the difference.

Some employers in GA require that an employee use all of their PTO before receiving STD benefits. It's legal. It's stupid, but it's legal. For the company it helps reduce insurance premiums. Since FMLA (assuming an employer qualifies) only requires the employer to hold your position (or the equivalent) for 12 weeks under most circumstances, STD policies pay out less.

DH's company provides a 6-week paid maternity leave (and 1 week paid paternity leave), seperate from STD and PTO. They also require that you use one week of PTO at the start of the leave which has to do with the STD policy particulars.

The best policy that I've seen is at a very large GA headquartered corporation. They provide a 12 week paid maternity, and I believe there was an option to extend the leave with a reduced benefit rate.

BrideMoto · September 2011

I have worked for a small company for 10 years. They are too small for FMLA, but they give you 12 weeks unpaid - generous - and won't fire you

2 years before I had T we merged with a larger company. They give .5 days paid maternity leave for each month you work up to 8 weeks as long as you have been there for 2 years, otherwise the unpaid FMLA. So I ended up essentially working for the same company my entire career and got 13 days of paid leave - better than nothing I suppose. It sucked and I was jealous of other companies but we saved up so I could take 3 months off and made it through.

myrall · September 2011

mingaling1:
This is not unusual.
As a state employee, I get no paid maternity leave. I had to take PTO and sick leave, in addition to unpaid FMLA leave. I could have used STD, but was denied due to a pre-existing condition.

Exact same for me. I was also denied STD because of my pregnancy being a pre-existing condition. I was almost four months pregnant when hired. For this baby, I'm essentially going unpaid for six weeks.

I've only ever worked for one company that gave paid maternity leave and it was for two weeks. There was no STD and you had to use your vacay/sick leave.

tmhopkins13 · September 2011

Our company has nothing but vacation but knowing that I was going to need it I bought into a STD policy through Aflac which paid me 60% of my pay for six weeks and then would pay for longer as long as I had a note from my doctor. I would say look into this but it probably wouldn't work at this point because they would consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition.

MrsKLB · September 2011

tmhopkins13:
Our company has nothing but vacation but knowing that I was going to need it I bought into a STD policy through Aflac which paid me 60% of my pay for six weeks and then would pay for longer as long as I had a note from my doctor. I would say look into this but it probably wouldn't work at this point because they would consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition.

Thanks! I tried to look into this a while back (before I was pregnant) but was unable to get an independent STD policy. I know for a fact I tried to call Aflac and can't remember the details now but for some reason I was not eligible for it. Oh well. We have obviously saved for me to be out on maternity leave but I'm just looking to help establish a fair policy here since we're a growing company. Thanks for all of the input!

mingaling2 · September 2011

myrall:
mingaling1:
This is not unusual.
As a state employee, I get no paid maternity leave. I had to take PTO and sick leave, in addition to unpaid FMLA leave. I could have used STD, but was denied due to a pre-existing condition.

Exact same for me. I was also denied STD because of my pregnancy being a pre-existing condition. I was almost four months pregnant when hired. For this baby, I'm essentially going unpaid for six weeks.
I've only ever worked for one company that gave paid maternity leave and it was for two weeks. There was no STD and you had to use your vacay/sick leave.

Sorry, I should clarify - my pre-existing condition was not pregnancy (the denied me because I was taking an antidepressant).

AugustaBride04 · September 2011

I work for a large Fortune 500 company. We have STD paid for by the company. First week is 100% of your pay , the next 5 weeks are paid out at 60% of your pay. That is all the STD covers. Due to FMLA, I can take 12 weeks of leave but it must run concurrently with the STD. So that leaves 6 weeks unpaid. At that point my company will let you cash in leave time. I was able to cash in 1.5 weeks and still have 1.5 weeks left when I go back in October. So essentially, I had money coming in for 7.5 weeks leaving 4.5 weeks unpaid. I could have cashed in more of my vaca time but opted not too. My old company which was a large financial institution would give you 12 weeks fully PAID! I totally miss that now.

MrsKLB · September 2011

AugustaBride04:
My old company which was a large financial institution would give you 12 weeks fully PAID! I totally miss that now.

I know! I'm totally jealous of my friend who works for Bank of America and got 12 weeks paid for both kids!

amanda_holbird@hotmail.com · September 2011

I work for a small law firm and it's literally a case by case situation. One co-worker took 4 weeks off and worked 4 weeks part time and she was paid her full salary. With Ethan, I was paid for 6 weeks and then I was suppose to not be paid for four more weeks, but the office manager forgot to call it in so I ended up getting my full pay for 8 weeks (my boss was fine with it). Then I wasn't paid for two weeks. With Jack, I took 13 weeks off. I was paid in full for 6 and was not paid for the remaining 7.

KT&John · September 2011

Our company began as a small start-up and was then acquired by a large staffing agency and then acquired again by an even larger company. They have always retained the original maternity policy which is generous. The first 2 weeks are 100% paid by the company (not taken out of PTO), the next 6 (for vaginal birth) 8 (for c-section) are covered at 60% by a STD policy that is paid for by my employer the last 4-6 weeks are paid at 50% by my employer.

wuhhoo · September 2011

PuppiesAndRainbows:

Our mat leave policies in this country are downright shameful and disgusting.

I also work at a small company and like you was one of the only women at the firm - and the only woman in an executive position. I had the 'fun' of negotiating my leave. That puts undue stress on everyone involved. For the most part, I just used my vacation and took some unpaid leave. They did provide me with a few days of paid leave.

This is something I've struggled with "accepting" and I'm not a bra burner. It would seem to me, as a society, we would want to promote educated women to procreate. Our policies and practices as a country seem to strongly discourage this in many ways, in my opinion. A few issues: unpaid leave which equals financial hardship, only being able to deduct $5,000 in child care expenses on taxes, etc.

From a US Today article: The United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that don't provide paid leave for new mothers nationally, though there are exceptions in some U.S. states. Australian mothers have it better, however, with one year of job-protected leave. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act provides for 12 weeks of job-protected leave, but it only covers those who work for larger companies. To put it another way, out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

yellowtulips80 · September 2011

I get what ever sick days I have left. Then six weeks of STD coverage. It was the same deal both times. I have saved enough to keep us afloat for each mat leave. With DD I took about 8 weeks and it wasn't enough for me. I had a lot happen during that time and it was really really hard to return to work. So this time I think I am going to take longer.

yellowtulips80 · September 2011

wuhhoo:
PuppiesAndRainbows:

Our mat leave policies in this country are downright shameful and disgusting.

I also work at a small company and like you was one of the only women at the firm - and the only woman in an executive position. I had the 'fun' of negotiating my leave. That puts undue stress on everyone involved. For the most part, I just used my vacation and took some unpaid leave. They did provide me with a few days of paid leave.

This is something I've struggled with "accepting" and I'm not a bra burner. It would seem to me, as a society, we would want to promote educated women to procreate. Our policies and practices as a country seem to strongly discourage this in many ways, in my opinion. A few issues: unpaid leave which equals financial hardship, only being able to deduct $5,000 in child care expenses on taxes, etc.

From a US Today article: The United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that don't provide paid leave for new mothers nationally, though there are exceptions in some U.S. states. Australian mothers have it better, however, with one year of job-protected leave. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act provides for 12 weeks of job-protected leave, but it only covers those who work for larger companies. To put it another way, out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

I totally agree!

almostanO · September 2011

I currently work for a 100+ person firm. We get 12 weeks through FMLA. The company pays you 50% of your pay for the first 4 weeks and the FMLA covers 50% of your pay for the last 8.

My previous 2 employers were 8 person architecture firms and did not offer any paid maternity leave.

Mrs Manners · September 2011

I got 6 weeks of STD which starts after two weeks (of which you have to use your accrued PTO or take unpaid leave). STD only considered my salary (not my commissions which are the bulk of my income) and only paid 60%. I took a total of 12 weeks and all was unpaid except the six weeks of STD @ 60%. Oh....and my 12 weeks started when I was put in the hospital over two weeks before he was born so I didn't actually get 12 weeks with him (since I was in the hospital over two weeks before he was born and then he was in the hospital for two weeks after he was born).

VelvetElegance · September 2011

This question is right on time for me today. I had a talk with our HR person today who explained that even though I have about 6 weeks of vacation time available, I will have to take my STD first for however long my dr says I need to be out. Ideally, I would have taken 5 weeks of vacation and 6 weeks STD. The idea of only bringing home 60% of my salary during the month of December is more than frightening to me. My husband is just starting a business and has only recently begun to turn a modest profit. I'm nervous about how it's all going to come together.

Louise06 · September 2011

It is very common to only get PTO towards maternity leave and nothing beyond that. My old employer only would pay PTO towards maternity leave. You could also do STD there but it cost almost as much as you would get so it didn't really make any sense to get STD. My employer prior to that was the same way.

cbkjwedding · September 2011

wuhhoo:
PuppiesAndRainbows:

Our mat leave policies in this country are downright shameful and disgusting.

I also work at a small company and like you was one of the only women at the firm - and the only woman in an executive position. I had the 'fun' of negotiating my leave. That puts undue stress on everyone involved. For the most part, I just used my vacation and took some unpaid leave. They did provide me with a few days of paid leave.

This is something I've struggled with "accepting" and I'm not a bra burner. It would seem to me, as a society, we would want to promote educated women to procreate. Our policies and practices as a country seem to strongly discourage this in many ways, in my opinion. A few issues: unpaid leave which equals financial hardship, only being able to deduct $5,000 in child care expenses on taxes, etc.

From a US Today article: The United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that don't provide paid leave for new mothers nationally, though there are exceptions in some U.S. states. Australian mothers have it better, however, with one year of job-protected leave. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act provides for 12 weeks of job-protected leave, but it only covers those who work for larger companies. To put it another way, out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

All of this.

The company I work for isn't necessarily small, but there are far less women then men and only a couple on my team. Thus when I had to announce my pregnancy and then negotiate leave, I was told by my manager that he didn't know of any precedent. Yet he has an infant and several other men on the team, yet they are affected quite differently.

Also, I am a consultant, not protected by FMLA and this time no STD option. I was able to negotiate 4 weeks completely off, then 6 weeks WFH 100% with the first half of the 6 being PT. It was challenging but I felt like I had this plan in order to protect my job. To say I am resentful of the position and lack of support working moms have in this country is an understatement.

Anyway- I would just suggest to think outside the box. Not getting paid seems the norm. I am just totally green with envy of my BFF who gets 5 months 100% paid maternity leave. Bananas

care99 · September 2011

I have worked for 2 large professional services companies. At the first one (where I worked when I had both boys), we got 6 weeks 100% paid and then could take PTO or unpaid after that. I always used PTO and took the full 12 weeks, then a few weeks PTO beyond that.

At my current company, you can take up to 24 weeks off. The first week is taken as PTO, then STD kicks in at 100% for the remainder of 6 or 8 weeks (depending on vag/c-section). Then you get 8 weeks paid as the primary care giver. If you want to take more time after that, you have to use all your PTO then can take unpaid leave. Again, all total parental leave maxes at 24 weeks. It is super generous and you are eligible day 1, so you don't have to be there a year to qualify. We also have 3 weeks paid paternity leave.

donna&ed · September 2011

Jennifer. I work for one of the biggest corporation. Sadly....our maternity leave equates to 6 weeks of STD. I took an additional 6 weeks off unpaid leave. FMLA is available for 12 weeks. They were unpaid and it just means that my job is protected up.

It is sad...I know that in some workplace in Europe and Asia moms get up to a year of paid maternity.

budgetbride26 · September 2011

Hey Jennifer! I recently changed jobs but went from one big company to another. I will admit that maternity leave was a big consideration for me when choosing to stay with a large company vs. a smaller one. For my two prior maternity leaves, I got 8 weeks paid time off due to a c-section. (My company paid out 100% - 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for a c-section.) I then took an additional 4 weeks off unpaid. 12 weeks was the maximum time I could take off under FMLA to ensure I could return to my same position without any loss of benefits (i.e. raises, healthcare, 401K, etc.)

I'm still trying to convince DH to have #3, but if we are blessed with a 3rd baby, my new company actually gives 12 weeks paid leave, which would be awesome.

I would try to leverage all resources to encourage the establishment of some form of a written policy for the company in order to cover yourself. If they value you and want to retain you, it is in their best interest to have some sort of policy. Good luck, use your negotiating skills to get some paid time off!

MrsKLB · September 2011

care99:
I have worked for 2 large professional services companies. At the first one (where I worked when I had both boys), we got 6 weeks 100% paid and then could take PTO or unpaid after that. I always used PTO and took the full 12 weeks, then a few weeks PTO beyond that.

At my current company, you can take up to 24 weeks off. The first week is taken as PTO, then STD kicks in at 100% for the remainder of 6 or 8 weeks (depending on vag/c-section). Then you get 8 weeks paid as the primary care giver. If you want to take more time after that, you have to use all your PTO then can take unpaid leave. Again, all total parental leave maxes at 24 weeks. It is super generous and you are eligible day 1, so you don't have to be there a year to qualify. We also have 3 weeks paid paternity leave.

Carrie - I'm officially jealous! Although, you do work a lot more hours than I do so I should probably be grateful for that!

care99 · September 2011

MrsKLB:

Carrie - I'm officially jealous! Although, you do work a lot more hours than I do so I should probably be grateful for that!

Yeah, it definitely comes with a price tag in other areas.....

That.Just.Happened · September 2011

I used to work for a small company (think 10 employees). Our maternity leave (which they did an equivalent paternity leave) was 2 months paid. It was really great, but the two founders were men with small kids/pg wives at home, so they wrote the policy to benefit their families and understood why that was important.

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