Paid Maternity Leave in Philly Area?

mmgummere · September 2012

Hi! I just had my baby girl 6 weeks ago, and I have to go back to work in a week and a half because my short term disability is only 6 weeks, and then I have a week and a half of vacay days.

I wanted to know if this seems to be standard in PA/Philly. Does anyone in the area get paid maternity leave? Or Short Term Dis (w/ normal delivery) for longer than 6 weeks.

It's really appalling that nearly all of the rest of the developed world-- or at least most of Europe provides MONTHS of PAID maternity leave by law. Shame on the US.

Thanks!

missdavis0405 · September 2012

You should be able to take up to 12wks of FMLA but unfortunately the provider who handles your company shortterm disability only offers 6wks for vag delivery and 8wks for a csection. I just found this out with my own employer I also have to wait 30 days before they will pay my claim, so if I use all my vacation and sick days prior to that I won't get paid. Yes it sucks!

PepperBug · September 2012

I don't know what is considered standard for Philly, but my employer (in Philly) uses private disability insurance and offers 16 weeks paid leave (20 weeks if there is a medical issue during pregnancy that requires you to leave work before the baby is due).

I am currently seeing an OB in NJ, and she told me that PA does not see pregnancy as a medical condition and, as a result, many companies in PA do not offer much as far as short term disability for pregnancy. She said that my company's maternity leave policy probably has a lot to do with the private disability insurance.

jf198400 · September 2012

This seems to be pretty much the norm for most of the US. There are only a few states that offer better benefits, including NJ and CA. My ML was also only paid for 6 weeks.

southbelle · September 2012

Hi! Congrats on your little girl! Just wanted to add in that I don't think employers in PA have to even provide short term disability, so I think coverage is all over the place. I have a management job in a nonprofit / quasi government agency and I can take my full 12 weeks entitled to me through FMLA, but have to use all of my vacation and sick time concurrently in order to get paid (which won't cover it all) and they do not offer short term disability.

Good luck going back to work!

mmgummere · September 2012

Very interesting. Do you mind me asking the name of the private disability insurance? Id like to recommend this to my HR rep.

PepperBug · September 2012

We use MetLife, I think. I think the key to having the maternity leave policy that we have in place was the presentation put together by the woman who proposed it. Our company didn't have a policy at the time, and she did research into what other comparable companies in the area were offering. She presented her proposal to someone in management who had influence over setting the policies and suggested that such a policy may help to attract and retain more talented women (I am in a male-dominated field). It worked! Good luck!

orangetulips12 · September 2012

I am a resident at a children's hospital in Philly and I didn't get paid maternity leave. I took 5 weeks unpaid.

A children's hospital not paying maternity leave is probably pretty crazy to people in some European countries. Gotta love healthcare in the US

mrsjjohnson2010 · September 2012

I work for the City of Philadelphia. We only get 6 weeks paid and its your own time thats saved and the city give you an additional 6 weeks but its not paid. 12 weeks all together.

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