Canadian moms: is anyone not taking the full leave?

digwriter · November 2014

My original plan this time around was to only take 9 months of the year off, but now I'm waffling. What's everyone else doing? Note: I didn't post this in the mat leave post because well I feel rude talking about Canadian mat leave allowances in a post where some only get 6 weeks.

lauren889 · November 2014

Take the 12 months! I only get 12 weeks and only get paid for what sick days I have left

schnitz9 · November 2014

I would take the whole year. Is it fully paid???

wintersong139 · November 2014

Yeah, who pays the maternity leave in Canada--is it the employer, the government, or a combination of both? Do you have to split that year with your spouse? If so, I would not take the whole year so that dad could stay home for the first part, too.

mommaa1615 · November 2014

12 months paid?!?! Wow that's amazing!

CdnFarmGirl08 · November 2014

Heck yes I'm taking the full year! DH is self employed so he doesn't get time off.

Employee and government pays. EI pays and then most employers top you up more. My employer tops me up to 90% of my full wage for 18 weeks, and then I get something like 50% from the government for the rest. (I should know the exact numbers but I don't- I can't remember!)

You can choose to split some of the time with your spouse but it can't be the full time.

(Correct me if I'm wrong-like I said- I should know this but don't remember and haven't looked into it yet!)

digwriter · November 2014

My employer doesn't top me up. It's 55% of your salary up to a certain income level. I make more than my husband does, so mat leave does a real number on our income (this is my primary concern). We barely scraped by last time.

My second concern is career focused. Being away for a year in my industry is not always positive. I experienced this first hand with my last mat leave. I left a senior writer and came back to see my department flattened and my mat leave replacement taking a lead role instead of me. I ended up leaving that workplace for another, but am very paranoid about this happening again.

schnitz9 · November 2014

Hmmm.... So it's not 100% paid....that would depend of if you can afford the pay cut. If it was 100% paid of course I'd say hell yeah!!!

michelle142 · November 2014

*sigh* I wish I lived in Canada!

CdnFarmGirl08 · November 2014

Oh that's too bad @digwriter‌
I would consider it then if that was the case.
I'm a teacher and my job is secure so I'm not worried about that.

mishka29 · November 2014

I'm very lucky to have a 93% top up for the full time so I will take the full leave. This is something I have never mentioned on here bc it seems a little bragy when others get so little. The career concern is also not an issue for me. If you do 9 months then maybe your DH could take the other 3?

schnitz9 · November 2014

@mishka29 i don't look at it as braggy at all. It's not your fault we live in a shitty country that could care less about new parents. I find it sad to be honest....

michelle142 · November 2014

schnitz9 said:

@mishka29 i don't look at it as braggy at all. It's not your fault we live in a shitty country that could care less about new parents. I find it sad to be honest....

^ WSS

mishka29 · November 2014

schnitz9 said:

@mishka29 i don't look at it as braggy at all. It's not your fault we live in a shitty country that could care less about new parents. I find it sad to be honest....

It really is quiet surprising that the US does so little for new mothers/families. There are developing countries that have better policies!

digwriter · November 2014

So jealous of you ladies who get top up. I work in advertising, soo top up will never ever happen.

CogDis · November 2014

I'm a little sore about how mat leave works in Canada as I'm one of the few moms who won't benefit. Although I work full time teaching at a university (sometimes I teach at more than one at a time) and I have paid into EI every year of my life, because I'm a PhD candidate I don't get mat. or parental leave pay.

Talk about another road block for women in academia! I feel like protesting!

I'll be taking an unpaid leave for a semester or two but I'll still work on writing up my dissertation while on leave when I have time.

Since this will put us as a single income family and DH's firm doesn't do top ups in parental leave we can't afford for him to take the whole leave.

However, there's a new program that I'm hoping will continue running where DH can work part time to make up the difference after collecting the max
$40 000 EI parental/mat leave pay out. If that program sticks around then we'll certainly be using that so I can finish my PhD sooner without our family taking too much of a pay cut!

It is rediculous that graduate students don't qualify for EI benefits because a portion of their income is a fellowship. They still make more than fisher peo

dchmelyk · November 2014

My husband and I will split at 6 months and 6 months. My salary is a lot more than his and we get our health care through my work, so a full year at the reduced EI amount would be difficult since my employer doesn't top up or keep covering health insurance while I'm off. My husband also wants to take some of the time off with baby, so I want him to be able to stay home as well.

One thing I hate is the ppl at my work do the "well you just wait til that baby comes! you will want to stay home".... yes I might WANT to stay home, but financially it just doesn't make sense, so thanks .... Or we will get "Does your husband ACTUALLY want to take time off?" like I am forcing him (rant over).

Service Canada has been soooo unhelpful in us trying to figure out the best way to split up the time. They just tell us to look at the website, which we've already done, and wouldn't be in the location in person if the website told us all we needed to know... (ok really rant over now!). Not trying to complain much but I really have no one else to whine to about this

For those who get topped up, what line of work are you in? I'm in PR/Communications and unfortunately don't get anything extra from my work.

CogDis · November 2014

Ugh, my thumb it post before I was finished. Now I feel too defeated to finish my post because I intended to edit it for TL DR. Oh bother.

Maple403 · November 2014

I can see the dilemma. While it might be fantastic to take a year off, society in general (even in non-US countries) hasn't found a way for extended maternity leave NOT to impact some careers. My scientist friends in Europe, for example, often take much less than the allowed leave, generally about 6-9 months out of the 1-2 years they are allowed. This is because if they are not working in the lab, they are not getting published, which impacts their ability to form collaborations, get grants, and get tenure. So even though some other countries have extremely generous leave policies compared to the US, it still depends on your career whether you can take full advantage of the leave.

That said, 6 months sound both amazing and terrifyingly long. Since I am anxious about being out for 12 weeks and how I will psychologically deal with the decreased social contact, sudden change in daily life, etc, it's hard to imagine what it would be like for 6 months or longer. I know that I'll be very busy with the baby, but I also know that without going to work every day I am usually desperately unhappy. Since this is my first baby I don't know how I will react.

Koukonei · November 2014

I am self employed in Alberta but I am considering starting to work again before a year is up. Little one would be 8 months. I am still undecided, it depends on how my schooling is going at the time.

mishka29 · November 2014

@dchmelyk‌ I'm not very familiar with EI and all that stuff as it relates to Service Canada but I would try back until you get someone who has a clue. There are a few gov't employees that know what they are talking about

To answer your question, I work for the federal gov.

CdnFarmGirl08 · November 2014

Very interesting how everything is very different.

I am a teacher, all our benefits are through my work and they all continue when I am on mat leave.

@CogDis‌- that is sucky that it doesn't benefit you. Again, I don't know as much as I should- but I really thought everyone got some paid time off.

I know that not all companies would do top up but thought everyone got EI. Apparently I need to read up on things!

And as my husband is self employed- I have never thought about splitting time because it isn't possible for us.

missnicoleo · November 2014

I started budgeting for mat leave as soon as I found out we are having a babe. I qualify for the max mat leave pay out which is approx 433 a week for 50 weeks. Grateful to get something from the government, but I've been paying into that fund for 16 years so it's kind of my money anyway! Also happy to have a job to go back to but daycare is so expensive it's approx half my take home pay. Sigh. Better get a lot of cuddles out of this little guy!

CdnFarmGirl08 · November 2014

Yes the daycare costs suck. Which is why I may consider going half time after this may leave is up.

Alygohome · November 2014

schnitz9 said:
I would take the whole year. Is it fully paid???

Not even close. I'm way over the maz so it's like 40-45% for me. I'm planning on taking it but money will be right so who knows!

CogDis · November 2014

@CdnFarmGirl08‌

Yeah, it is really ridiculous and a big reason why women either leave academia, have kids super late or wait too long and have to battle infertility or adopt or remain childless but not by choice

It is an odd systemic problem that has to do with how eligibility for EI is calculated (based on hours worked) and how pay is calculated for teaching (based on hours taught without acknowledge the hours worked beyond the faces of the students).

When I teach a course I get paid per hour in the classroom, so on paper I only work 3 hours a week per course (so a full time course load of 3 courses a term would be 9 hours a week, there are a maximum of 14 weeks per term in a 3 term calendar, totalling a maximum possible of 398 hours per year). On paper I don't ever work more than 398 hours a year. However, for every hour in the classroom I spend on average 4.5 hours of preparatory time (reading literature, writing lectures, making slides) and 0.5 hours administrative work (advising students, grading exams, paperwork, emails, administrating T.A.s etc.). So my actual hours worked are more like 5*398= 1990 hours per year. Which is entirely comparable to a 40 hr work week with 3 weeks vacation = 1960 hours.

As a sessional instructor I still pay taxes and pay into EI but the way revenue canada does the calculations make it impossible for me to reach the minimum insurable hours (hours on paper) of 600 hours needed to qualify for mat leave as they only go by the classroom hours written in the contract.

Everyone who has ever learned of this reality is shocked. Most people don't believe me until they look it up themselves. I've heard rumours of people winning EI after multiple appeals (but the hope of winning an appeal is not sufficient to make financial choices based upon).

Crazy!

digwriter · November 2014

@miniwheat10‌ I was being groomed for the promotion by my manager prior to mat leave. Unfortunately she was let go along with several others while i was away. A new creative director took over and decided that my 8 years there meant nothing since i was away during the transition. It was a big mess.

lizzybean · November 2014

@CogDis wow I am SHOCKED that they only calculate your "hours worked" as those face to face with students in a lecture hall. Who do they think grades papers, prepares lessons and tests, hold office hours, etc? I am so sorry you are getting screwed like that!!

Alygohome · November 2014

I also have found it hard for it career to go on Mat leave. As soon as I announced I was pregnant I was cut from training and corporate events. I mean I get it, no use spending tons of money on training when I'm leaving I'm 2.5 months for a year. But it still stinks.

@cogdis that's so
Shitty but doesn't suprise me. Seems like teachers get the shit end of the stick lots here.

CdnFarmGirl08 · November 2014

@cogdis- that is awful! I had no idea it was like that!

Thanks for educating me!

just1justyna · November 2014

I'm planning to take the full year off as I'm willing/able to absorb the financial & career hit to spend time with my baby. A co-worker of mine however is splitting her time with her hubby (6 months each) as this suits her goals and needs. I know another mom who went back after 2 months. The wonderful thing is that we are blessed with the ability to choose how we activate our mat leave to fit our own lifestyles and goals!!!

CdnFarmGirl08 · November 2014

just1justyna said:
I'm planning to take the full year off as I'm willing/able to absorb the financial & career hit to spend time with my baby. A co-worker of mine however is splitting her time with her hubby (6 months each) as this suits her goals and needs. I know another mom who went back after 2 months. The wonderful thing is that we are blessed with the ability to choose how we activate our mat leave to fit our own lifestyles and goals!!!

Well said. Thanks!

CogDis · November 2014

Thanks @lizzybean‌ @Alygohome‌ and @CdnFarmGirl08‌

I really ought not to complain as certainly there are people worse off than me. I just get irritated at systemic Ignorant sexism.

Pudelpointer · November 2014

I am taking the full year. I work for the government and get 93% of my wage during the first 9 months, then 100% EI, which is $900 every two weeks for the remainder 3 months.

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