Maternity Leave?

beachdancer · May 2014

I'm a teacher and have made an appointment to talk with the principal tomorrow to tell him that I'm pregnant and need to start planning my maternity leave. It might sound silly, but I'm a little bit nervous! I've reviewed the handbook and feel like I'm reasonably educated... I know about FMLA and the amount of time I am allowed to take off. I know about how much time I would like to take off. But I'm still feeling unsure of what I should say, and if there's other information I should have. Thoughts, advice, other people's experiences?

JSS1002 · May 2014

Good luck! I think that employers expect women our age to be having babies!

FrodaBaggins · May 2014

Oh goodness I was so nervous too! But I took the approach of, even if the news is different than what I want to hear, at least I'll know and we can start planning. And the discussion went so smoothly I was worried for nothing!

bklyngrl4eva · May 2014

I am doing my residency right now and was scared out of my mind to tell my boss I was pregnant. There are very strict regulations set by both hospitals as well as the national medical board regarding the amount of time we are allowed to take off while still being able to finish residency on time etc. And finding a replacement for the time I am out is not an option. My boss was super excited and supportive of my news, gave me a big hug and has been working with me about securing the max time off while still finishing on time. I am sure your meeting will go better then you expect! Take a deep breath and good luck

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Leysin97 · May 2014

I'm a teacher too and was nervous about talking to my principal too. Honestly I told him, he said congrats, then I asked about what I needed to do and he said he doesn't know the details but I would need to meet with HR. Made and appointment and went to central admin to meet with HR. They were super helpful and walked me though what I needed. I don't know how different your school would be but I can't imagine your principal would handle hr stuff unless you are at a really small private school. The only thing that is a pain for me is I have to locate and find a long term sub myself.

Edit: good luck and don't worry it will be fine

Emmy916 · May 2014

Don't stress. When I told my principal and director they didn't even let me get to that point. Its still early, so they will prob just congratulate you and not ask specifics.

saraeric · May 2014

I'm also a teacher and was kind of nervous to tell my principal. I told him back in Oct that we were TTC b/c we had started see an RE so I would need to take more sick days that normal for appointments. When I told him, he was excited for us since he knew we were having a hard time. Also, I talked to other teachers at my school who had recently had a baby/ currently pregnant to see what all I needed to do in terms of HR. Good luck!

runningmama22 · May 2014

My experience has been ok so far - I have a supportive supervisor and told her about the pregnancy pretty early on, in case I would be missing any days/ half days due to appointments. I live an hour away from my job, so even a quick morning appointment could turn into needing to take a half day of sick time. She was very excited for me, and encouraged me to figure out the FMLA stuff ASAP - I scheduled a call with HR, and at our institution we actually are not supposed to send our direct supervisor anything with details, other than the request to take FMLA. We send all medical paperwork to HR (and I think this is generally standard, as they look like Dept of Labor forms) and their dept handles it. Supervisor just needs to know when I'm here/ not here, and come up with a plan for my absence. I am planning to take consecutive leave starting the day I deliver... we shall see how that ultimately works out though. That's what the paperwork says, however... and paperwork doesn't need to go in to HR here until 30 days before the expected departure.

I was nervous too to talk to the supervisor though... and it all turned out ok

beachdancer · May 2014

Thanks for all the advice! I ended up getting an email back from HR (I emailed them yesterday) and they suggested that we touch base before I formally told administration, so I will be chatting with her tomorrow.

kikimeemee · May 2014

I'm in HR and it makes me nervous, too!

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