Maternity policies

numbersgirl08 · July 2014

I'm thinking about bringing up a discussion of our maternity policy here. I'm curious to get some input, especially from other professional office environments, what was your maternity policy? Did you have any paid time? How much? Was it just short term disability? What did short term disability cover? If it was unpaid, how long were you allowed to take it? Etc, etc.

Please also include working environment/occupation. Like professional office/lawyer. Or hospital/nurse.

ASmallWonder · July 2014

First pregnancy I was allowed 13 weeks off, fully paid (by the company, not short term disability). I worked for a biotech company that was a small start up when I started so I was grandfathered in to the awesome benefits that typically come with start ups

This last time I was with a different company (med device industry). I was given no company paid time off. I had to use vacation/sick days for the first 5 days I was out and then I was paid my full time rate through short term disability for 5 additional weeks for a total of 6 that technically fell under STD. I took two additional weeks of vacation but was eligible for 12 weeks under FMLA (I just couldn't afford it lol). I thought I'd get 8 weeks STD because I had a c section but apparently our STD company doesn't see that any differently than a vaginal birth so we all get the same.

numbersgirl08 · July 2014

@Steamboat123 could you maybe PM me the name of your companies, and if they include their policy anywhere on their website or somewhere I can see it, send it to me? I want to put together some comparisons of what similar employees are getting.

Same goes for anyone else! I could use some help!

My company, which consists of very specialized professionals, only gives 4 weeks of short term disability, paid at 60% of your salary, and taxed on top of that. It's a very male-driven business, and all the partners have stay at home wives. They're really very clueless as to women in the workplace.

And I kind of feel an obligation. There is really only one female employee "above" me in our organization - there are a few around my same level - but those few haven't started having kids yet. I kinda feel like I need to help turn things around.

[Deleted User] · July 2014

I was allowed a maximum of 12 weeks maternity leave. My 1st week had to be taken out of my vacation time. Then I could use my sick/FMLA accrued time until I was "medically cleared", which was after my 6 week appt. I had to switch back to using my vacation time for the remaining 6 weeks. If my vacation time would've ran out, I could have taken time without pay.

Before I went on maternity leave I was working full time (40 hr/week). These were my totals- 200 hr FMLA and 280 hr vacation. I saved my vacation hours in preparation. Fortunately, I continued accruing vacation time while I was off.

I am grandfathered into sick/FMLA time. New employees have to apply for short term disability and I'm not sure how that works. I work at a health system (hospital).

musicalsilver · July 2014

I'm probably not much help to you - as I'm a student paid a monthly stipend. They only came up with a parental leave policy about a month before I got pregnant.

That being said, I got a paid 8 weeks, which was spectacular. My advisor kicked up a small fuss over having to pay (he was going to let me take the 8 weeks, but not pay me), but the higher-ups in the graduate school made it clear that with the new policy, he was obligated to do so.

whitney2302 · July 2014

I work for a large manufacturing plant. As a salaried employee, I had 6 weeks STD paid at 100% of my salary. Once that 6 weeks was up, I had to use up PTO until I had 2 weeks remaining for the year. Then I could switch to FMLA and had 12 weeks but was all unpaid. I ended up being off for 13 weeks. It could have been more but I wasn't getting paid and knew it was time to go back.

They've changed the policy in 2014 and now you have to drain your PTO to 1 week, which I think is super unfair. So if I have baby #2 in early in the year, I'll only have 1 week of PTO for the entire year when I come back to work.

[Deleted User] · July 2014

The user and all related content has been deleted.

ilovemarfa · July 2014

I worked for the federal government. I was permitted to take 12 weeks of leave under the fmla. I could take unpaid leave or use my vacation and/or sick time to be paid for it. I ended up resigning during my 12 weeks because I decided to be a sahm.

BC&LM · July 2014

I'm a teacher. I didn't take the full extent of our allowed maternity leave, but I believe it is somewhere between 12-18 weeks leave guaranteed through FMLA and state family leave policy; I can't remember which since I didn't take the full extent. Also, you can request that the district hold your position for a year without pay or benefits, but that's subject to approval. (They usually approve it in my district.)

When you are out for medical reasons (before or immediately after childbirth), you can use your accrued sick time and personal days and get paid. Then, when you are no longer considered medically disabled, you can no longer use sick days. You can also collect short term disability concurrently with your sick pay if you have a short term disability policy. Also, the state I work in has family leave insurance, which pays you part of your salary for six weeks to bond with a newborn infant.

So here is specifically what I did:
-I left when I was about 31 weeks pregnant due to preeclampsia and collected my paid sick time until it ran out.
-My disability has a four-week waiting period where I don't get benefits. This waiting period was fulfilled a few days before I had my son at around 36 weeks, so I was able to collect about six weeks of disability pay.
-I had the summer off unpaid as per usual.
-I took my six weeks of paid state family leave insurance at the beginning of the school year and went back to work mid-October when LO was 4.5 months.

momofcatan · July 2014

I know it may not relate 100%, but I'll throw out there how it works in Canada. Maternity/parental leave is 52 weeks. The first 15 weeks need to be taken by the birth mother. The remaining time can be taken by the mother or father (or split between them). A father can even go on leave at the same time as the mother, but then you would end up needing to go back to work before 52 weeks is up. My DH just used a week of his PTO to be with me after the baby was born so I got to use the full 52 weeks.

You basically go on unemployment insurance for 52 weeks and get paid 55% of your salary up to a maximum of 55% of $48,600 or $514/week. You only start getting paid on week 3 (so you are really only paid for 50 weeks). These earning are taxed (and often taxed inaccurately so you end up owing money come April). Legally you are supposed to still accumulate PTO while off, but my company found a way around that.

Some companies offer top-up payments so you are closer to your actual salary while you are off. I did not get this, but our secondary health insurance did top me up for 6 weeks (would have been 8 for a c-section).

nikel13 · July 2014

I'm contract at a nursing college. I do admin/tutoring/testing/anything and everything (no joke). When I had Lily, I got nothing. No paid time off. No anything, but I don't get benefits.

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