Working Moms
Options
Lying to work
I'm not planning on returning to work after I deliver, my salary would barely cover the type of childcare we would want. But, I need my insurance to cover my delivery and I want maternity leave pay. I've been fully employed for 12 years paying into the system of health insurance, disability etc... I want my share of the pie.
Has anyone successfully navigated this dilemma?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Lying to work
I haven't been in this situation, but you should probably check and see what kind of policy (if any) your employer has around paying back maternity leave pay if you don't return. The employer I worked for when I had DD required an employee to return from STD for a certain period of time (30 days? 60 days?) or else they'd have to pay back any benefit $ they received while they were out.
GL to you with your new LO!
What "piece of the pie" are you referring to? Do your male and childfree female coworkers get some sort of extended leave with all benefits paid? The system you paid into gave you health insurance and disability coverage whether you used it or not. That's how insurance works.
Don't expect a good reference if other people do your job for six weeks before you officially resign, and continue to do your job (for no extra pay) once they can start recruiting for a replacement.
This.
Although, insurance should cover your delivery if you pay your premium for that month.
I agree. I don't understand what you think "your piece of the pie" is? Did you not receive, you know, HEALTH CARE for those 12 years you paid health insurance? Do you think your piece of the pie somehow paid for someone else's piece of the pie? What about all the people who will have to cover for you during your maternity leave and after you bail? You don't seem to be concerned about them. You've worked for a company for 12 years and are just going to up and leave without any warning? That's incredibly unprofessional. If the type of child care you choose to have is too expensive, that's your problem. It's your choice to stay at home. Your company is not the enemy.
DD 12/20/99, DS 12/14/12, M/C 9/2014, M/C 1/2015
This! Plus, even if you look at it purely from selfish motives, your plan is a bad idea:
1. If this is the only job you have had for the last 12 years, you will need a recommendation from them in the event that ever try to re-enter the workforce. And even if you don't plan to re-enter the workforce right now, you do NOT know what the future entails. What if you end up widowed or divorce and have to go back to work? If you plan to leave them high and dry, they are not very likely to give you a good recommendation.
2. As pp have mentioned, if you take the benefits and run, you may have to end up paying them back in the end.
Honestly, if you have been a good employee for the past 12 years and are "honest" with them about your plan (and give them an opportunity to hire and train your replacement), they may just work it out where you can keep your benefits.
Further, even if you do loose your benefits, you can always keep your current insurance through COBRA by paying a fee for up to 18 months. This will more than cover your labor and delivery. Save up for the lost income. In the end, although it may be the "easy" thing to do short-term, it could come back to bite you long-term. Besides, IMO, it just flat isn't ethical to do this to your employer or, more importantly, your co-workers and boss.
2011: FSH 13.3 & E 99; AMH 0.54 2nd FSH 6.2 E 40's AFC: 8
BFP from Clomid/IUI ~ Pre-e and IUGR during pregnancy ~ DS born 9/4/12
Feb./March 2013: AMH less than 0.16 (undectable) and AFC = 4;
BFP from supps ~ DS#2 due May 2014
May 2014 January Siggy Challenge:
She certainly has a right to the benefit, but I think the right thing to do is to return to work for awhile, not bail while she's on leave. I wonder if this is why many places don't offer paid maternity leave?
All this!
The right to what benefit? Paid maternity leave and subsidized health care is a benefit extended to EMPLOYEES, to make it appealing to WORK there. Someone who has no intention of working after maternity leave is not really an employee, IMO. It's not anyone's responsibility to be prepared for the unexpected aspects of having a baby but your own. Completely shady.
And I agree with pp, stuff like this is part of the reason 1. companies don't offer better leave and 2. women have to worry about being fired/not hired because they are pregnant or of childbearing age.
OP, it sucks, but it's really not a dilemma. You need to be upfront. Your insurance should cover you through delivery if you pay that month's premium. But sorry, no one paid me to stay home with my LO, I don't know why you feel entitled to be paid to stay home with yours.
I guess I am "shady" according to most of these posters. I believe you have earned your maternity leave pay and that you should be able to utilize your insurance coverage. I don't feel that you should have to go back to work even for a few weeks if you have decided that you want to be a SAHM. And what makes it any better to go back for a few weeks or months if your ultimate decision is to SAH?
I have no idea when this mentality started that as employees we should only be concerned about the company and not about our families as well. Since when is it ok for us to give all but only receive our salary back and just give up our benefits? They are called benefits for a reason and I know in my industry they are considered into what our salary should be so therefore I believe we should be able to take and utilize them.
I say check into what your companies policies are and if you don't have to return then just stay quiet and let them know at the end of your maternity leave that you have decided that what is best for your family is for you to be a SAHM.
GL!!!
The word "leave" implies that you will be returning, and if she has no intention of returning she is committing fraud, and if she has to pay her employer back that will cost her more than a few thousand dollars. Depending on how the company policy is stated they can also sue her for damages (i.e. the cost of replacing her)
If her plan WAS to return and things changed that is different, she will still be subject to company policy about paying back benefits is there is one. To simply advise someone to lie about their situation to try to circumvent the system doesn't do any one any good.
The reason why they want you to return after leave (even if you plan to leave after 30, 60, 90 days) is to have time to find and train a replacement. Not to mention the 12 weeks of back logged work that needs to be caught up on. If you are not returning they can hire and train someone before you leave and these problems are minimized.
If you aren't working you don't get benefits, plain and simple. Most employers will cover your insurance until the end of the month, so you will not have to pay for the delivery, but after that you are on your own.
OP- does your DH have insurance? Leaving a job and/or having a child usually qualifies for a "change in status" for most companies, you can end with your employer and pick up your DH's insurance the following month, even if it isn't open enrollment.
You as an employee should certainly be concerned about how your company is doing, unless you are looking to end up on the unemployment line. If you haven't noticed this country is in a recession and a lot (not all) companies aren't doing well.
What I don't understand is why people expect a full ride on the companies dime. The world doesn't revolve around you (shadetree) nor is any company required to pay for anyone's family planning. Paid leave is an incentive for you to take time off and then return to work, that is what benefits are for.
I have a question that is maybe stupid or obvious- is this maternity leave pay in addition to vacation leave time or do you accrue vacation leave time and use it for maternity leave? (I know many places do that- you can leave the job technically for however many weeks as part of FMLA but you have to have the vacation time accured to be paid for it). B/c if it is vacay/personal time, then when you resign you usually receive that pay regardless, no? ETA: this is what I think you'd be 'due', as you earned & accrued those hours like anyone else. a special maternity leave pay that is separate is a nice benefit but I don't think anyone is "due" that.
(sorry, my job was set up totally different b/c it was on a semester basis but I had to return to work for the full time I left for or had to pay back the pay & benefits).
Because we are not treated equal is why it is essential that we demand our due benefits.
FFS.
Yes, we need to demand our benefits. Equal pay. Contraception coverage via insurance.
But no one has the "right" to defraud anyone. And you are not "due" anything at all. Gaming the system will bite you eventually, and unfortunately it in turn bites all of us, procreating or not. When I worked in a male-dominated field there was a lot of talk about what a risk it was to hire a woman between 25 and 40. Truthfully, at that company they had reason to be concerned.
The word "entitled" is coming to mind, lol.
This. I know a lot of employers are moving toward if you quit you lose out on the your vacation/sick time that you've earned by putting your time in. They don't always pay you out. So is that what you are referring to? Also, while right now you are not planning on coming back...A lot can change in a short amount of time so instead of looking at it as I want them to pay me my vacation time I've earned look at is as time to be 100% sure that is what is best for your family. Then provided your company doesn't have a policy that you have to return to work for a certain time so you don't end up having to pay them for anything you can put a notice in that your family situation has changed and you will need to stay home to take care of your LO. You are still eligible for rehire at that point. HTH
She does have a right to this benefit, but only if she is an employee. If she does not return after maternity leave, technically her employment ended when she left before maternity, making her ineligible to receive company benefits.
People who do this cause companies to make return-to-work policies. For example, at my company we require a 30 day return to work or you are considered a self-termination/resignation effective the last day you actually worked. This means you will owe the company for benefits (we pay most of the insurance premiums) paid while you were on "maternity leave" (aka - after you quit).
Don't lie. My first day home from the hospital after having DS I called my job and told them that I would not be returning.