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3rd Trimester
kagwiz
member
Maternity Leave - how much time are you taking??
kagwiz
member
My employer gives 6 weeks (8 weeks for CS) paid Maternity Leave (whooooooo!!) .. but then anything you take on top of that you have to use your vacation and sick days for. I have banked enough that I can pretty much take 12 weeks paid ... but I am wondering what the "norm" is... or what is "expected."
Do most people pretty much take the max that they can? (I kinda feel like there are only a few times in your life you can take advantage of Maternity Leave so why not? lol)
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Re: Maternity Leave - how much time are you taking??
I'll be off until April. Taking 15 weeks from the time baby is born. I am lucky b/c my company allows me to take longer than the 12 weeks of FMLA. I only get paid the 6/8 weeks standard, but then I'm taking some vacation time and some unpaid.
I would take longer if I could. Lol
I am so thankful that maternity leave in Canada is a full year... So that is the norm for most of us women. We can even share it with our spouse! I am self employed so will probably go back to working at least 2 days a week in about a month.
Holy crap! An entire year?!?!?! That is amazing!
We get 12 weeks, 1 week paid at 60% for every year you have been here. Thankfully I have been here for over 12 years, so I am taking all 12 weeks. I am however coming in for one week to help out with taxes in January, but will just get paid normal that week and then extend my leave for a week.
I so wish I lived in Canada!
Fwiw, my father in law is the head of marketing for a major household products company. He said all the new moms in his department take 12 weeks.
I'm taking exactly 12 weeks, and did the same with my 2 other PGs.It never feels like enough. I'm sure I could negotiate for a few more weeks, but I'm not sure where that will leave me strategically at my company, KWIM?
I take the 6 weeks I get paid (via sick time and STD) and 6 weeks unpaid. I did not use vacation time at all. They didn't make me, so I saved it to use during the rest of the year. All of my maternity leaves have been at the very end of and/or beginning of the calendar year.
I take the max, 12 weeks of leave. I wish I could take longer.
Edit: About 3-4 weeks will be paid from my vacation, sick leave, and earned comp banks, 2 weeks will be partial pay from STD, and the rest will be unpaid, and I may also have to pay for my insurance premium one month depending on the timing of everything.
Canada like the rest of the civicivilized world sees the value of parental leave and grants the leave accordingly. You might think with all the people who have babies in the US every year our laughable policies might have been challenged by now.
i am in Canada and will be taking a year!
I don't think it is fair for me to judge another country for doing something differently but I hav to agree with your point. I am surprised the US hasn't regulated more weeks by now!!!
By the way if you care to change our pathetic maternity leave laws, there's a FB group:
https://www.facebook.com/ParentalLeaveNow
I am self-employed so I have no paid leave. No work for me = no pay. I am "officially" closing up shop for about 6 weeks, but in truth, I will probably only be offline for the 4 days I am in the hospital after the c-section.
I am not a work-a-holic or anything, but it is virtually impossible for me to stay off email 100%. I might not repsond, but I will definitely be keeping an eye on things and step in to keep projects moving forward as necessary. Really should only be an hour or so a day.
Mama needs the money.
Thankfully this time around I am grateful that I don't have to return to work at all and will get to be a SAHM.
However I will still be able to take advantage of my maternity leave benefits of 12 weeks that will be paid. After that my employer is allowing me to stay on as an employee and keep paying my employer portion of my medical insurance for an additional 3 months as I take a leave of absence. That will give us a total of 6 months with coverage for us to figure out and budget for some other form of insurance.
With my previous pregnancies I was only allowed 7 weeks and I think 9 weeks leave which was using a combo of FMLA and my general/sick leave.
'Til He returns, or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I stand.
I'm also in Canada and will be taking 52 weeks off. To clarify, maternity leave in Canada is indeed up to 52 weeks and can be shared with the other parent (same sex or opposite sex). Provided whoever's off on leave has worked 600 hours of the past 52 weeks, we are legally entitled to 55% of our gross pay up to a maximum of, I think the equivalent of 55% of $45,00/year. The benefits are paid through the federal government as part of our "Employment Insurance" premiums that every working Canadian pays into (unless you're self employed, then there's no safety net for work missed).
Some larger organizations, like government, hospitals and large corporations will "top up" the benefits of people on leave so that they are receiving not just 55%, but 80 - 100% of their income over the year's leave. This is pretty rare, but sweet when it can happen.
In my case I'll be getting 55% of my pay (about $900ish biweekly) for the 52 weeks and a guarantee of getting my job back at the end of the year.
It's a pretty great system. and, as pp's said, it's surprising that in the USA there hasn't been a call to revolutionize the approach to parenthood. going back to work after 6 weeks sounds incredibly difficult to me.
I think a lot of people hear about Canada and 1 year off and think woo hoo! However, here in the US, most of us are not equipped to live with only 55% of our salary for a whole year.
Say you make $50k per year. In the US, you earn about $961/week before taxes. You take 12 weeks off unpaid and lose $11,538.46 in income making your annual income for the year $38,461.54.
In Canada, you take 52 weeks off but get to keep 55% of your annual salary which brings you down to $27,500 for the year.
You definitely earn more in the US on unpaid FMLA.
I am not for or against either system over the other (again, I am self-employed and wouldn't qualify either way). It's just an interesting way to look at it.
I think most people SAY they would prefer the time off over the money, but in reality most people NEED the money over the time which has a lot to do with some of our values and priorities.
I'm taking 6 weeks...maybe only 5 depending on timing of vacations at the office.
three of those weeks will be paid but through my vacation time. When I come back after those few weeks, I will have no vacation time. That really sucks. Hope LO doesn't get sick because I'll never be able to take off to take care of him!
I'm taking off from January 12 (or whenever I go) until the last week of May. I'll go back to work for a few days and then I'll be off until end of August. So about 8 months!
How do you earn more on unpaid leave than in leave paid at 55?? At least in Canada you could choose to go back after 12 weeks paid at 55 if you need the money. Here you have no choice.
Another Canuk here...but I am taking 62 weeks off. 52 for regular mat leave, 9 weeks vacation carry over from the year I'm off (we can accru vacation time while on leave which is great) and another week I have left over from this year. My work will top up to 100% of my income for 17 weeks and then I'm down to just EI benefits ($900 bi weekly)
Not sure what daycare prices are like in the US but in Canada, at least the Toronto area...prices are ridiculous! So going back to work early may have to be an option.