Q:Negotiating maternity leave at new job

iLoveblueberries · June 2013

Hi!
I'm currently a SAHM with our 1 year old and due again in mid November.
I am in the process of applying and interviewing for jobs. When I left to be a SAHM I was just starting in my career...so my knowledge of the "maternity leave negotiation" area is non existent.

My question is: What is reasonable to ask for? Does is vary by career? Is 8 or 12 weeks a reasonable amount of time to ask for? What about pay...no pay, 50percent,80percent,full pay?

If you faced this situation...what was the outcome?

This is very much an ahead of the game question...but I would like to be prepared when I do receive an offer.

Thanks so much! I look forward to getting to know everyone as I make this transition!

daisy662 · June 2013

There won't be negotiation. Most companies have a policy and you get what they give you. Unless they have a disability policy, it would be unpaid.

iLoveblueberries · June 2013

daisy662:
There won't be negotiation. Most companies have a policy and you get what they give you. Unless they have a disability policy, it would be unpaid.

Oh, that's odd. I have known of a few people in my career field that have negotiated maternity leave at time of hire.
I am not in corporate America, so perhaps that makes a difference?
I work in the social work field. There tends to be a lot of negotiation upon hire because it is mostly work for smaller entities or the state.

Reilly626 · June 2013

Family leave act is 12 weeks off, 6 with partial pay, the other 6 just with job security and benefits, at least in NJ that is standard!

RoxyLynn · June 2013

FMLA doesn't apply since you haven't been working. What do you mean by "just starting your career"? If you've been working on your Ph.D. in a high-demand field (e.g. working with children with autism or gerontology) then you may indeed be able to negotiate some sort of leave. I work in human services and expect that some of the stories you've heard about leave negotiation involve women with specialized skills and/or solid experience.

If you're starting out with your Bachelor's degree and little to no professional experience, then chances of getting your preferred leave are pretty slim. It doesn't hurt to ask, but if you're inexperienced I wouldn't bank on getting much time off, and certainly not paid time off.

knottied2a666e3e38a2a87 · June 2013

At my job as a government attorney, I can take up to twelve weeks, even though I just started the job. The issue is pay. I will have accrued a couple of weeks of sick and annual leave, and I can probably take another six weeks or so in short term disability, which will be about 60% pay. That adds up to eight weeks, so if I wanted to take the remaining four unpaid, I might have that option, but I won't be able to afford to. Good luck!

StayingSecret · June 2013

I think you can try to negotiate. You're basically asking for unpaid leave since you aren't protected by FMLA. Many places negotiate vacation time and the such. I negotiated a weeks' unpaid leave when I got my current job - at the time it was for my wedding.

Note, though, they are under no obligation to give you anything other than your vacation and sick time that you've accrued when baby is born. Anything else is bonus!

Manda-Kay · June 2013

I'm a school teacher and my corporation has a protocal. FMLA was 12 weeks. I was only paid for the days I saved up.

sadie+w · June 2013

My company generally offers 6 weeks paid ML I ended up with 10 because I had a very rough birth. Then in addition to the 6 weeks paid, you can take an additional 6 weeks unpaid. However, my boss was clear that I could take as much time off as I wanted, even a full year. I know other women in my company that have taken 6 months off. I work for a very family friendly company and these extended leaves Are up to your boss.

thedash · June 2013

If you are interviewing while pregnant you most likely will not qualify for FMLA and will instead have to negotiate something with your employer. I think most places would expect a new hire to take 6 weeks for vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for a C/S. I absolutely would expect it all to be unpaid except for any leave you have accrued by that point.

EastCoastBride · June 2013

RoxyLynn:
FMLA doesn't apply since you haven't been working. What do you mean by "just starting your career"? If you've been working on your Ph.D. in a high-demand field (e.g. working with children with autism or gerontology) then you may indeed be able to negotiate some sort of leave. I work in human services and expect that some of the stories you've heard about leave negotiation involve women with specialized skills and/or solid experience.
If you're starting out with your Bachelor's degree and little to no professional experience, then chances of getting your preferred leave are pretty slim. It doesn't hurt to ask, but if you're inexperienced I wouldn't bank on getting much time off, and certainly not paid time off.

I agree. I wonder what you mean too.

And honestly, mat leave in the US pretty much sucks. Women who get 12 weeks 100% paid are in the lucky minority. You can definitely ask, but you have to be prepared to possibly be given a set period of time off w/ no pay.

lily_721 · June 2013

I get 6 weeks paid and additional 6 weeks unpaid optional. This is pretty much the norm sadly.

apostle85 · June 2013

You probably won't be able to negotiate the time that you receive. If you have FMLA where you live (Family Medical Leave Act) you may want to ask how long you need to work there to be eligible as well as how the pay works and how many weeks you receive. You may also want to make sure that you don't need to exhaust your sick/vacation time before your FMLA takes effect.

jlaOK · June 2013

I negotiated maternity leave at my job, but I work in an unusual situation. I work for a very small company (4 employees) and don't qualify for FMLA. There also hasn't been anyone in the company that has taken maternity leave, so I new that I would be setting a new precedent.

I was offered the job at my interview and so I told them that DH and I would like to expand our family at some point and that I knew that they didn't qualify for FMLA and I was therefore offered no job protection. They told me that it wasn't an issue and that they were very family friendly.

I didn't bring it up again until I was pregnant. I was at the end of 1st tri when it was time to re-negotiate my contract. I told my boss that I was pregnant and that I wanted to add in a section of my contract to address my impending leave. My boss offered me 2 weeks vacation (I work PT and previously didn't have any leave benefits) plus an additonal 2 weeks paid maternity leave. They also were going to allow me 6 weeks off. The only changes I made was to ask for 8 weeks total off with no additonal paid time. They agreed.

This is how I handled my situation, but like I said, it was very rare. Had I worked for a larger company, at the minimum one that fell under FMLA protection, I woudln't have brought it up at all.

Curls218 · June 2013

I was able to negotiate my upcoming maternity leave, but I have been working here for 9 years. You can probably be able to negotiate what time off there is if they don't already have a set policy, but I highly doubt a company would pay for this time off for a new hire.

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