Leave...
Im a little lost as to what I am entitled to when I have my LO as far as time off of work. I have had a few health issues with this pregnancy, ie high blood pressure, random contractions, infections and bleeding. My Dr is considering putting me off of work as of this Friday or the end of January. My 1 year anniversary at my job is mid-January and Im not even sure if I will be eligible for FMLA then or not. I have been working part-time for the past 5 months now so I dont think I have enough "Time in" to qualify. If my Dr puts me off of work can I get unemployment? I didnt count on being high risk and losing my FMLA. Plus they denied my SDD because I was technically pregnant (but didnt know it) when I signed up. I thought we had this pregnancy and maternity leave all sorted out before I got pregnant. Guess not...
ETA: Spelling correction!
Re: Leave...
FMLA typically kicks in on your 1 year anniversary, but I do think there is an hourly requirement so since you've been working PT for a while I'm not sure if you will meet it by 1 year or not. It's very easy to look into though just Google "FMLA" and plenty of info will come up. That's not paid leave though. That's just to protect your job so that you can return to work within 12 weeks.
I can't 100% comment on unemployment in your state because I'm only familiar with Ohio laws (this is the industry I used to work in), but if your doctor has you off work for a medical reason you won't qualify. As far as I'm aware in all states you have to be able, available, and actively seeking work in order to qualify. Now, if you have to go out on medical/maternity leave and they terminate your employment because of that it's likely that you'll be entitled to UC, however, that won't be true until you're able to return to work. Or at least that is how it would work in Ohio.
If you don't qualify for STD (is this a private or company policy that you're talking about?) does your employer have a maternity leave policy, or does it all fall under STD? If there's no separate maternity leave policy you're probably out of luck as far as paid leave (unless you have some vacation saved up, but I'm guessing you probably don't since you've mentioned you've had some things already come up and have been working PT). Hopefully you can work something out with them if you've hoping to return to work after having the baby. Just because you don't qualify for FMLA doesn't always mean that your employer won't hold your job, just that they aren't compelled to by law.
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To be eligible for FMLA you need to have been at your job for 12+ months and have worked 1,250 hours in the past 12 months (which is an avverage of just over 24 hours/week if you worked all 52 weeks without vacation time) and you need work for an employer who has 50 or more employees within a certain radius (I've only once worked for a large enough company to benefit from FMLA rules). If you qualify all that means is that they cannot fire you for taking 12 weeks off. It does not guarantee that you come back to the same job, just something comparable. It has nothing to do with being paid, it simply means that if you meet the narrow criteria you cannot legally be fired for taking that time off.
As far as whether you should get coverage through your employers short term disability insurance, that varies by how that specific plan was underwritten. Many have clauses that you must have the plan for a year before it covers you. It's not uncommon at all.
Unfortunately the bulk of US women have no financial resources available to assist during maternity leave. It's standard here to have to save on your own to cover your expenses during this time and a very few are lucky enough to either have employers who offer maternity leave perks or live in states that offer some insurance for this (NJ has it, as does CA, not sure where else).
This exactly. You will not qualify for unemployment. To get unemployment benefits, you must be ABLE and willing to work. On bed rest, you are not able to work.
It sucks to be expecting in the US.
I just started a PT job in November but they are so pleased w/ my performance that not only will they hold my job for 8wks [they would allow 12, but I can't afford that] I will also be returning to a small promotion. Needless to say I don't even remotely qualify for FMLA, and have no PTO of any kind. I was shocked at how wonderful they were to work with!!