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May 2012 Moms
beany02
member
new policy at work
beany02
member
the company i work for has always qualified for FMLA. I took a few HR classes in college so i am well aware of how FMLA works. however, as of this year the location that i work at fell below 50 employees (well technically we have more than 50 but many of them work through a temp agency so they dont count towards the total), so they dont offer FMLA anymore. They have a new medical leave policy, which states that all employees who have been here more than a year, but less than 3 years, get 4 weeks of unpaid medical leave if necessary. if you have been here 3+ years, you can get 8 weeks of unpaid medical leave. I have been here 5 years so i get 8 weeks of leave, but if any of my female co-workers who have only been here a year or two get pregnant, they only get 4 weeks of leave. once their LO is born, they would probably only have about 3 weeks left when you consider time used for doctor appts, missed work for morning sickness, etc.
our company does not offer any sick time at all, and if you are here less than 3 years you only get 1 week of vacation, so there isnt much time to "add on" to the medical leave. I just feel really bad for any future employees who get pregnant because 4 weeks is not enough time to recover from a vaginal birth, c-section, etc. plus, most day cares wont take an infant who is less than 6 weeks old. so my company is basically setting up employees to get fired if they get pregnant. keep in mind, this company does $50 million a year and just built and opened two new state-of-the-art facilities. there really is no reason they cant offer a better leave policy to their employees. and the company is 100% employee owned; wish that mattered, but we have no say in policies, etc.
oh and who gets to make up these policies and change them on a whim? the CEO's wife, who is in charge of our HR Department. she does whatever she wants, whenever she wants, and changes policies to accommodate her "favorite" employees. its just so frustrating, no one can stand up to her or question her policies or bring up concerns. Yes, the policy is not violating any laws, but it's still unfair. i am so sick of the atmosphere here. how can they expect someone to return to work after just 4 weeks???? luckily i do get 8 weeks, but what if i have a c-section and get an infection and need more time to heal??
Lucky-ass Canadians.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: new policy at work
Make a pregnancy ticker
What are you going to do after your 3 weeks is up? i definitely dont feel lucky that i get any leave at all...and i dont think we should have to have the mentality of "it stinks but we'll make it." i want to be able to provide the best and healthiest situation for my child and my family; i would feel lucky if my work provided THAT to their employees. Other countries do it, i dont see why ours doesnt.
I'm not super familiar with the FMLA laws, but if I remember correctly, if there is another site within 75 miles that gets you to 50, then you are covered. Might be something to check into.
I'm sorry it does suck, our maternity leave policies blow.
i think this mentality is exactly what it wrong with our country. i dont expect my baby and my health to be my employers responsibility.....at the end of the day, all a business is is a collection of people. i think those people should treat eachother with respect. part of life is having children, and it does nothing to benefit society for companies to not care about this......tomorrow's workforce are today's children. We need to have more of a focus on family and less on work, work, work. we planned ahead and have saved money for this; i just think my company's policy should make it easier for employees to come back to work. Just because something is a "Business" does not mean it has to perform like some heartless machine to be successful. I seriously doubt that a liberal maternity leave policy will put a dent in this company's bottom line. But it DEFINITELY damages employee morale.
I 100% agree. It's sad that the US ranks at the bottom when it comes to maternity benefits.
I am one of the lucky Canadians. I have spent months reading your stories about scrimping and saving to cover your unpaid leaves, arranging daycare for your babies when you have to go back to work, etc. I don't know how you ladies do it. I can't imagine trying to figure out how to pay for my medical bills on top of everything else. I definitely cannot imagine having to leave my 6 week old daughter to go back to work.
Canada is not perfect and I don't love everything my government does but I have been thanking my lucky stars for the last 6 months for everything my taxes give me here. I do not pay for medical insurance. All of my doctors appointment, midwife appointments, ultrasounds, blood tests, GD tests have been 100% covered. I also get an automatic 50 weeks of paid leave (55% of my previous income) which I can choose to share with my husband if want to. The only requirement to qualify is that I have worked 600 "insurable hours" (meaning hours that I paid my Employment Insurance Premiums) since my last Unemployment Claim.
I get to stay home for a full year with my baby and if I want to take a second year, it's not paid but my employer is still required to hold a position for me.
I wish all of you were able to have the same things...
Dude. If businesses in Canada and Europe and Australia and Asia and pretty much the entire farking WORLD can not only survive but thrive with generous maternity/paternity leave policies, then there's no reason companies in the US can't.