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March 2015 Moms
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No maternity leave

jessicad8586jessicad8586 member
in March 2015 Moms
I'm in an unfortunate situation. I'm a contractor at my company, I started last May. Because of this I have no benefits, thankfully my husband has amazing benefits and the birth won't cost is a penny thanks to his employers HSA contribution. I don't qualify for FMLA because I haven't worked there a year. My contract ends in May and I'm due in March. They're already talking about finding me a permanent position after my contact so that's good.

Right now our only plan is to save up six weeks of my pay before the birth to carry us through that six weeks, I'm just worried that's easier said that done. Do you have any suggestions for us? Also, I'm wondering if I have ANY rights in terms of coming back to a job after leave? I highly doubt they won't let me come back but I always like to be prepared.

Obviously this wasn't a planned pregnancy but were beyond thrilled, this is the only issue.

Yay for March babies :)
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Re: No maternity leave

  • kanishall1kanishall1 member
    I too am a contractor. I actually really sat down and made a budget. I also opened a savings account to deposit a predetermined amount every month for the next six months to cover the two months I will go without income. You have to plan but more importantly you have to take action. Also instead of gifts, for my shower, I am requesting monetary gifts. This went over better than I thought.
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  • jessicad8586jessicad8586 member
    Good to know that even if I had been there a year I may not qualify for FMLA, that makes me feel a little better. I'm not terribly concerned about it because we always manage to land on our feet but you can never have enough information!
    Holy crap, that's awful timing for you guys! Props to you for saving. That's where we struggle the most but obviously that's going to have to change!
    I work at Humana (oh the irony..) and it seems they like hiring contractors before offering permanent positions. It makes perfect sense and is totally worth the risk if I get a job but yikes it puts us in a funky spot.
    Thank you! :)
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  • jessicad8586jessicad8586 member
    @kanishall1‌ how did you word that request? What a good idea! Glad it went over well... I'm sure after you explained why it made more sense to everyone.
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  • cafecremecafecreme member
    Yes, you need to be a permanent employee to get FMLA. Contractor's don't apply. You pretty much have no rights. They have every right to not give the job back to you once you leave. Save as much as you can, and in all honesty, start looking for another job once February hits. 

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  • kellbell1982kellbell1982 member
    MandJS said:


    kanishall1 said:

    I too am a contractor. I actually really sat down and made a budget. I also opened a savings account to deposit a predetermined amount every month for the next six months to cover the two months I will go without income. You have to plan but more importantly you have to take action. Also instead of gifts, for my shower, I am requesting monetary gifts. This went over better than I thought.

    This is gross and tacky. OP - please don't do this. Unless, you know, you have a habit of calling your friends and telling them to bring you money. In which case, no. Still gross and tacky.

    @kanishall1 - how do you know it's gone over better than you thought? You can't possibly have had your shower yet. 

    Is it wrong that I actually waited for you to see this as you usually say just what I'm thinking but can't put into words? I secretly heart you;)
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  • yangoooyangooo member
    Culture different maybe, because I have a totally diff point of view. I am Hong Kong - Chinese and in our culture we always give out monetary gifts for almost all occasions, such as new year, wedding, birthday, baby shower...etc. we don't think it's rude or anything. And for most of the occasions, we have a standard price list for it. It's like $100 each for wedding attendee, more if you are very close to the bride/groom or are relatives, and the price goes up if it's at a fancy hotel...etc. No one really talks about the price but somehow we all follow this rules. It seriously saves us a lot of trouble buying (or returning) unnecessary gifts. :)

    But for my shower, since I have both American and Asian friends, I will register at Amazon, and spread the words out.. Money or gifts, it's up to them. It's funny all my co workers are very happy and excited for me, and they kept talking about baby shower and baby stuff. Now I'm actually really excited that I'm gonna have a baby shower in Dec/Jan...


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  • colleen4019colleen4019 member
    Where do you live? I don't qualify for fmla either but I do qualify for tdi. I would google and see what tdi/short term disability is available in your area.
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  • kanishall1kanishall1 member
    Now I see why people leave this site. But to answer real questions and not respond to the judgmental. I opened a deposit only account with chase and posted the info and email address on my maternity site which is for my friends and family. So instead of registering at a store, my people deposit their gifts. Quite a few of my family and friends have made small and large deposits for which I am grateful. And I will take my rude self to the bank and use the funds to take care of my family lol.
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  • alexandria22489alexandria22489 member
    @kanishall1‌ oh, please be one of those fun/random people that criticize us for our honesty! You put it out there, and you were told the truth. It's tacky to ASK for money. If I knew someone asking for money for their baby shower, or any event, I wouldn't be attending. And I'd be side-eyeing so hard.
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  • kanishall1kanishall1 member
    @alexandria22489‌ I don't criticize. I don't judge. I just saw a post about a situation I too found myself in and decided to offer my point of view and what worked for me. My pregnancy is way too much of a blessing for me to get distracted by what strangers think of me.
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  • kanishall1kanishall1 member
    @msmarie2490‌ I never asked you for anything. We are not friends. Do you need a friend?
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  • kanishall1kanishall1 member
    @msmarie2490 I discussed my decision to request monetary gifts with my friends and family prior to doing so and their positive feedback was really why I went ahead with the idea.
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  • kanishall1kanishall1 member
    @msmarie2490‌ I also took a brief moment to try to make myself care about offending anyone on this site... No luck there
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  • janda426janda426 member
    Wow. I'm speechless at the audacity.

    Why do people enable this behavior? Gah, the depths people go to to avoid confrontation with family.

    You go ahead and use other people's money to fund your bills. That's totally what grown adults do.
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  • JCWhiteyJCWhitey member
    Yeah OP, don't ask for money.  It's likely you'll get some, but technically that money is considered a gift to the baby (at least, IMO), not for you.  Obviously you can spend it how you want, but maybe try other methods to save up so you can afford some maternity leave.  Don't eat out if you do, drop cable, only drive when you really need to, etc.  There are lots of ways you can save up money.

    Also, talk to your employer.  See if they want to work with you on something.  I don't technically qualify for much because I'll only have been with my company for 6 months when I'm due, but my boss is awesome and is encouraging at least 8 weeks off, but said I could take 12 if I wanted to, even if I don't qualify for FMLA yet.  They aren't paid but have job guarantee.  And we'll just pinch pennies to get through the time when I'm not being paid.

    B born 7/15/13, C born 3/2/15, #3 on the way May '17


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  • CrazieMehCrazieMeh member
    I don't know... I think it depends how you word your invite. I asked for monetary gift for my wedding. I already had a house and enough junk. I really didn't need anymore appliances or useless dust collecting items. So on my invite I said something like your presence at the wedding is the greatest gift of all but if you want to present a gift, monetary gift is preferred. However all my friends and family are practical people, we all prefer monetary gifts over useless things and unnecessary trips to return things. So I guess it also depends on the crowd as well.
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  • CrazieMehCrazieMeh member
    I guess I have tacky friends and family then because I have received invites from them asking for monetary gifts or donation to some charity. I didn't think of anything and respected their request.
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