Sad, Is 12 Weeks Maternity Leave a Mythical Unicorn?

2ndGeneration · July 2014

I'm federal. So I am covered under FMLA, and plan to take the 12 weeks. We do not have short term disability. I will use my accumulated sick leave to get paid during the time I am 'disabled' i.e. 6 or 8 weeks. After that, I will take accumulated annual leave (vacation time) to get paid for the rest.

Heads up for you all with DH's who are under FMLA-it can be used anytime in the year after the birth or adoption of a child. So, dh is going to take about 4 weeks (he has vaca time, we cannot afford unpaid time for him) starting the day I go back to work. It'll keep baby out of daycare an extra month!

marajay6 · July 2014

If you qualify for FMLA, you can take a full 12 weeks. Your company is not legally obligated to pay you for it. It is not related to when your doctor releases you back to work.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/finalrule/NonMilitaryFAQs.htm

https://fmlaonline.com/fmla-pregnancy/

Oftentimes, an employee will be eligible for an STD coverage that their employer pays for. The standard benefit seems to be 60% pay for the first 6 weeks, with a 1 week waiting period (meaning you don't get paid for the first week of the 6). Sometimes the STD will extend to 8 weeks for a C-section. I think most insurance companies standardize their benefits related to maternity leave so having a doctor's note that has a different length than the 6 or 8 weeks might not matter. Check with your STD coverage to be sure.

I have the above coverage. I plan to take a full 12 weeks. One of my good friends (who is very good with planning) told me that if I struggle to save money to cover my lost pay for maternity leave, I will struggle to pay for daycare. Of course, daycare around here is $1200/month.

momtojad · July 2014

My husband stays at home and we just have to plan for the no pay. I get 6 weeks through std and 6 more weeks unpaid. This isn't FMLA because I work for a company of 3 this is just what I asked for and got.

lincoln79 · July 2014

2ndGeneration said:

I'm federal. So I am covered under FMLA, and plan to take the 12 weeks. We do not have short term disability. I will use my accumulated sick leave to get paid during the time I am 'disabled' i.e. 6 or 8 weeks. After that, I will take accumulated annual leave (vacation time) to get paid for the rest.

Heads up for you all with DH's who are under FMLA-it can be used anytime in the year after the birth or adoption of a child. So, dh is going to take about 4 weeks (he has vaca time, we cannot afford unpaid time for him) starting the day I go back to work. It'll keep baby out of daycare an extra month!

Just an FYI - FMLA doesn't necessarily cover anytime in the year. MH current employer requires he take it immediately and unless we have a note from the ped, it is legal to do that.

It was a bummer to us bc we were going to stagger our leave initially too.

marajay6 · July 2014

lincoln79 said:

2ndGeneration said:

I'm federal. So I am covered under FMLA, and plan to take the 12 weeks. We do not have short term disability. I will use my accumulated sick leave to get paid during the time I am 'disabled' i.e. 6 or 8 weeks. After that, I will take accumulated annual leave (vacation time) to get paid for the rest.

Heads up for you all with DH's who are under FMLA-it can be used anytime in the year after the birth or adoption of a child. So, dh is going to take about 4 weeks (he has vaca time, we cannot afford unpaid time for him) starting the day I go back to work. It'll keep baby out of daycare an extra month!

Just an FYI - FMLA doesn't necessarily cover anytime in the year. MH current employer requires he take it immediately and unless we have a note from the ped, it is legal to do that.
It was a bummer to us bc we were going to stagger our leave initially too.

Your husband should check with his employer again. FMLA for parental leave can be used anytime during the first year.

"Parental leave. Men and women may use FMLA leave as parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child, which can be taken at any time during the first year after the child is born or adopted." From https://fmlaonline.com/fmla-pregnancy/

jaminjeff · July 2014

I work for local government and we have FMLA protection. We earn 3 weeks of sick time per year and we can carry that balance until we retire, we don't lose that time at the end of the year. We also earn vacation time and comp time (overtime that we put in a bank instead of getting paid for). So I'll be taking the full 12 weeks and I'm lucky enough that I'll have enough paid time between sick, vacation and comp to cover it all, paid at 100%

cindyNmark2010 · July 2014

My job offers 12weeks at 100% salary and FMLA will allow 8 additional weeks unpaid for a total of 20 weeks.

ElinJ · July 2014

I used to work for one of the companies on the list of 100 "Best Companies for Working Moms". I got 6 weeks STD, 2 weeks maternity/paternity leave (dads were given 2 weeks when their wife has a baby), then I could take up to 16 weeks total. I can't remember exactly but I think the other 8 weeks could be vacation, and you could even take unpaid time off if you ran out of days. I took 12 weeks with my DS, and I know I still had vacation time left when I returned to work. I know some people that take the full 16. But as I said, I wanted to have vacation time remaining when I returned, and I didn't want to take unpaid time.

Then I got laid off. Womp womp… But I had a fantastic severance that was longer than my maternity leave was! Haha…

Now I work as an independent contractor for the same company, and I get ZERO paid time off. I get nothing. Luckily we saved money really well, and I can afford to take 8 weeks off from work. I'll return to working on a part-time basis, and my mom (who lives a few hours away) will watch the new LO for a month, then at 12 weeks the baby will start daycare.

Anyways, the 12 weeks leave is not a unicorn, but I know I was fortunate to have it the first time. I have a lot of relatives/friends who are teachers, and they take 6 weeks total. I can't imagine returning to work less than 8 weeks PP. I REALLY hope Baby #2 is on time, or early (aiming for November 1st, ha!) like DS, because my plan is to return at the beginning of January regardless of when I deliver.

alysonmh · July 2014

My employer offered 6 weeks paid but recently changed to 12 weeks paid which I'm very thankful for. I was disappointed when it was only 6 weeks and feel blessed that my employer decided to change how much paid time is given. Some women don't get any pay or can't even take 6 weeks unfortunately.

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