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Understanding Maternity Leave - PLEASE HELP!!!

nycmommy13nycmommy13 member
in May 2015 Moms
I tried to read up on some FMLA posts, but it's hard to apply it to my own personal situation. My maternity leave basically comes from my sick days. Since I've only been working at this school for 3 years, I don't have too many sick days accumulated in my sick bank, however I've read that I can borrow up to 20 sick days to be "paid back" later (in other words, just not have those days be added to my bank for a while.) I'm pretty sure FMLA covers my job for up to 12 weeks, no questions asked. Is that right? I was planning on using 8 weeks of sick time and taking 2 weeks unpaid to get me to 10 weeks. The secretary at my school, though, told me that I'm only approved to take sick time for 6 weeks natural birth and 8 weeks C-section unless my doctor fills out a form stating I need longer leave than that. My questions are:
1. How easy is it to get your doctor to sign a form saying you require 2 additional weeks?
2. If I can't get that form, can I still take 4 weeks unpaid after the 6 weeks by using FMLA or will my school say I have to return to work after the 6 weeks?

Please help!
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Re: Understanding Maternity Leave - PLEASE HELP!!!

  • orangecurlsorangecurls member
    Call your HR department, not the secretary. This shouldn't be a problem if you qualify for FMLA.

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  • danibonellodanibonello member
    1. Most doctors seem to do whatever you like in regards to leave.
    2. No idea... like pp said, I'd talk to HR. the secretary probably knows nothing about FMLA. If you've worked there for 3 years then you should qualify, no problem.
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  • ali0608ali0608 member
    At my school, you can use 6 weeks of sick time and 6 weeks unpaid. So your job sounds similar. I think that's pretty standard.
    You should still be able to take 10 weeks.

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  • jmorneau09jmorneau09 member
    This is weird to me that they would tell you how many of your sick days you can use. I'm a teacher and would be going to my union rep if the school tried to tell me how many of my sick days I could or couldn't take. You should also have the option to take unpaid if you want even before your sick days are used. I would call up to whomever does payroll at the district level and ask them.
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  • ali0608ali0608 member
    I'm pretty sure they can tell you how many sick days you can use since you are not sick. You can use your sick days for your recovery.
    Sick days are just that; for illness.
    FMLA covers your job, not that you can use all your sick days.

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  • nycmommy13nycmommy13 member

    ali0608 said:
    I'm pretty sure they can tell you how many sick days you can use since you are not sick. You can use your sick days for your recovery. Sick days are just that; for illness. FMLA covers your job, not that you can use all your sick days.
    Our sick days are used for maternity leave. In other words, I don't get any pay at all for maternity leave except by using sick days. So they can tell me how many I'm allowed to use but they definitely do let us use them.
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  • kt1244kt1244 member
    It's very easy to get them to fill out the form. I have been out since March due to blood pressure. She even told me if I wanted to go out early let her know and she would fill out the form. They don't care.

    So I got 6 weeks of maternity, but the rest fell under sick leave or whatever it's called. All of which was unpaid for me because I didn't have any sick time left. It's been rough!
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  • katiebug66katiebug66 member
    My doctor would only do the 6 weeks or 8 weeks. 


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  • crkeatingcrkeating member
    I'm a teacher and we get 8 weeks unpaid but can use our sick time to get paid. If we want an extended leave, we can get it by using sick time and writing a letter. If we don't have sick time left, we can get a doctor note to borrow from the sick pool and get paid. The new thing for us is that if we get a letter, we need to see the union doctor before getting extended sick time approved. I'm lucky as my 8 weeks took me into the summer.
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  • JenGrl8503JenGrl8503 member
    I work in HR....

    You can 100% take 10 weeks off...you are per FMLA entitled to 12 weeks of protected time off.

    In regard to using your sick time, that is different from company to company. Most likely you won't be able to get around that and will only be able to use 6 weeks of sick time. However if you have any personal or vacation time, you should be able to use those hours after your sick time....depends on company policy though.

    Some companies require employees use up their sick/personal/vacation time before getting unpaid time off when using FMLA, others require that you not use up all sick/vacation time.

    Some companies/states also offer short-term disability which has a whole different set of rules.
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  • robinj716robinj716 member
    I'm with everyone else- this is so confusing! My manual says I am allowed a MAX of 6 weeks off for maternity leave, unless my doctor gives me a note stating otherwise. It also says that I have to use my personal, sick and vacation time for those 6 weeks. Everything I read about FMLA says 12 weeks, so even though my manual says max 6 weeks, I am still entitled to 12 weeks??? 

    I would talk to my HR person, but she doesn't keep anything to herself, so I am choosing to wait a few weeks before I bring it up, since I'm only 8w1d along. 
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  • nycmommy13nycmommy13 member
    robinj716 said:
    I'm with everyone else- this is so confusing! My manual says I am allowed a MAX of 6 weeks off for maternity leave, unless my doctor gives me a note stating otherwise. It also says that I have to use my personal, sick and vacation time for those 6 weeks. Everything I read about FMLA says 12 weeks, so even though my manual says max 6 weeks, I am still entitled to 12 weeks??? 

    I would talk to my HR person, but she doesn't keep anything to herself, so I am choosing to wait a few weeks before I bring it up, since I'm only 8w1d along. 
    So I found out now. You are allowed to use a max of 6 weeks using your paid time (aka vacation/sick/personal days) but you may use up to an additional 6 weeks of unpaid time under FMLA. If your doctor mandates that you need rest for more than six weeks, let's say 8 weeks, then the employer is mandated to let you use additional vacation/sick/personal days for the additional two weeks. You also might want to check in on any paperwork you have to fill out for the unpaid time. In my case, enacting FMLA will require me to fill out some additional paperwork so that the school will definitely hold my job and keep me on insurance. It's very confusing and I almost think it's meant to be that way so that women take less time off, but hey, what do I know?
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  • jtay85jtay85 member
    You get up 12 weeks for FMLA. 6-8 weeks for delivery/c-section and 4 weeks for "bonding" time. That's how mine was split. Once my sick time gets exhausted the rest is unpaid leave.
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