I'm in the construction business, so I got lucky in the fact that I didn't have to wait a certain amount of time before I could qualify for short term disability (at my previous job, it was an elective insurance you could only sign up for at open enrollment). On day 1 I was eligible for it. So between that and FMLA, I think I'll be taking 12 weeks. Another thing that was nice at my office (I don't know if they'll do this for me, but they did it for the last employee who came back from maternity leave, so they might with me too), is I can come back part-time to transition back into the workplace (7a-1p) for three days a week. I'll most likely be getting a new position at work as well that has the opportunity to work from home if I need to stay with the baby, which is nice.
With STD, I'll only get 60% of my take home pay and that starts either 8 days after I leave for maternity leave, or when I have the baby, whichever happens first..which kind of sucks, but I think is customary practice. I'm just glad that DH makes very good money and we aren't really dependent on my income..My paycheck usually goes to the bills I accrued before getting married (i.e. student loans) and my half of the house bills.
I'm a teacher and due 2/5. What I would really love to do is take the second half of the school year off so when I go back in August baby will be 6 months old. My principal is not going to be happy. She expects everyone to take the minimum 6 weeks and gets mad if you take more. FMLA is 12 weeks off so I'm doing that. I will get paid about 3/4 of my paycheck for 6 weeks through short term disability, plus I have a few weeks of PTO so financially we will be fine. I'm going to have to drive up to the school twice a day anyway because my son goes there and my daughter's daycare is down the road. I will go back to work for 6 weeks then have off the summer.
I am a teacher too and there is no way I would take leave based on what my Principal wanted me to do. You should take the leave you want to!
Yeah, but taking the whole 6 months will be a financial strain so I'm compromising with the 12. If I take 12 I can keep DD in preschool the whole time but still have a decent amount of income. If I take the rest of the year it would put a big dent in our savings. Knowing I only have to work for 6 weeks until school gets out is totally doable.
I'm a teacher and due 2/5. What I would really love to do is take the second half of the school year off so when I go back in August baby will be 6 months old. My principal is not going to be happy. She expects everyone to take the minimum 6 weeks and gets mad if you take more. FMLA is 12 weeks off so I'm doing that. I will get paid about 3/4 of my paycheck for 6 weeks through short term disability, plus I have a few weeks of PTO so financially we will be fine. I'm going to have to drive up to the school twice a day anyway because my son goes there and my daughter's daycare is down the road. I will go back to work for 6 weeks then have off the summer.
I am a teacher too and there is no way I would take leave based on what my Principal wanted me to do. You should take the leave you want to!
Yeah, but taking the whole 6 months will be a financial strain so I'm compromising with the 12. If I take 12 I can keep DD in preschool the whole time but still have a decent amount of income. If I take the rest of the year it would put a big dent in our savings. Knowing I only have to work for 6 weeks until school gets out is totally doable.
Then definitely. I thought you were just doing it because your Principal would get mad. I'm in the same boat. I have no idea how we will afford this : (
I'm a teacher and due 2/5. What I would really love to do is take the second half of the school year off so when I go back in August baby will be 6 months old. My principal is not going to be happy. She expects everyone to take the minimum 6 weeks and gets mad if you take more. FMLA is 12 weeks off so I'm doing that. I will get paid about 3/4 of my paycheck for 6 weeks through short term disability, plus I have a few weeks of PTO so financially we will be fine. I'm going to have to drive up to the school twice a day anyway because my son goes there and my daughter's daycare is down the road. I will go back to work for 6 weeks then have off the summer.
I am a teacher too and there is no way I would take leave based on what my Principal wanted me to do. You should take the leave you want to!
Yeah, but taking the whole 6 months will be a financial strain so I'm compromising with the 12. If I take 12 I can keep DD in preschool the whole time but still have a decent amount of income. If I take the rest of the year it would put a big dent in our savings. Knowing I only have to work for 6 weeks until school gets out is totally doable.
Then definitely. I thought you were just doing it because your Principal would get mad. I'm in the same boat. I have no idea how we will afford this : (
I took 9 months off with DD. When she was 2 weeks old our house flooded! We went through 6 months of fighting with our insurance and renovations. Between that and having one income we spent almost all of our savings. It was so stressful!
Totally normal for it to take awhile for STD to kick in - my company gives us (both mothers and fathers) two paid weeks as a gift and it covers this window.
I live in Ontario. All biological moms are entitled to up to 17 weeks pregnancy leave, and parents (mother, father, adoptive parents) are entitled to 35 (or 37 if didn't take pregnancy leave) weeks off.
Total 52 weeks (One year) per pregnancy/birth, and the parental leave can be split between parents.
This is job protected leave - your workplace must have the same or equivalent job for you, with the same or better compensation and benefits in most cases, after the 52 weeks.
Your employer does not pay you at all for the 52 weeks, but you collect pregnancy/parental benefits from the Government of Canada to a max of ~$400/week for 50 of the 52 weeks (2 week grace peirod between employment and collection)
I plan on taking the first 6 months, and my hubby plans on taking the final 6 months.
@starsinnight I know some moms who weren't eligible for FMLA and didn't have much vacation time, and they worked out with their employers to be able to work from home for several weeks. Not sure if that's an option for you, hope you can get something worked out, good luck to you!
Ha!! Me too! I just got an apt in JC New Jersey so I'm glad it's one of the 3 states with paid family leave this is awesome news I'll be looking into if it applies. Hopefully the new bosses & supervisors will be supportive & accommodating. It's a government position, so you'd think they'd be understanding. We will see! The timing was not ideal but we had fertility issues when TTC and my planned timeframe during my 3 month summer break came & went- and February is what I'm dealing with instead. I'm just so thankful and hopeful all goes well.
Otherwise, everything I've read about FMLA is that you have to have worked at the place 12 months to get it. I'll be done in August and maybe be able to take a few months or more at the point in time to be a SAHM. Thanks for all the replies!!
I earn sick and vacation hours each paycheck, which comes out to about 1 day every 2 weeks. I've got almost 12 weeks paid leave right now, so if I'm careful about taking time off I should be able to comfortably have 12 weeks at home with a little cushion. It's a far cry from my first pregnancy where I was going to be lucky to have 6 weeks paid leave. I work for the state and people were shocked to learn that there's no special maternity leave, it's just whatever sick/vacation you have stored up.
I will take 13 weeks. 12 weeks allotted by FMLA but I get an extra week because spring break doesn't count against my leave bank.
I will only be paid for the balance of my sick and vacation days, then get short term disability until I am technically "able" again which will be 6 wks for vaginal or 8 weeks for cesarean. Then, the rest of that leave is unpaid but I don't care.
I had enough sick time saved to more than cover my first maternity leave. That was pretty awesome lol!
I feel that 12 weeks is the minimum needed for me to be able to function normally at work. That's just me.
Luckily, I will go back to work for 4 weeks, then have the entire summer off. So really, it's sort of like about a 22 week leave that's split into two parts!
I'm also from Ontario so I will be off for the whole year. My employee covers 8 weeks full pay and then our government pays for the remaining weeks.
I believe all families should be supported similar to this. Yes we are choosing to have children, but someone has to. It is beneficial for our society to support women and children as they bond in those first few months.
My company is small and therefore FMLA does not apply. When I had my daughter, I had no leave banked for my maternity leave, but I requested 3 months (unpaid) leave. My company was very accepting of my request. I returned full time at 12 weeks. About a month after returning, post-partum hit me hard (I was returning to a difficult schedule job, that I really didn't like much, and I was exclusively breastfeeding... which is a lot of pumping breaks per day). So, I talked to my boss and went to hourly, working about 75% of the time. Even though I still don't like my job much, they have been good to me. You don't know unless you ask. I plan on taking a longer maternity leave this time and my husband and I are budgeting for the longer period of having a single income, with our daughter remaining in daycare part time for at least the first 4-6 weeks after baby #2 is born. On a side note, my sister started her job at the beginning of her third trimester, so she could only take 6 weeks. She returned to work at 5 weeks, and did not regret it a bit. She needed that type of normal back in her life. Everyone is different. But think about what you want, ask for it. The worst that you can hear is no and then you can ask what they are willing to give you.
My personal experience has been this... with my first I waited tables so I had to go back to work 2 weeks after giving birth. I was 21 so I had bounced back fairly well. It sucked, I didnt like it but I didnt have a choice. With the second (and littlest) I took as much time as I could, 12 weeks. It was unpaid but I saved up, had short term disability through AFLAC that I used. I remember the night before the 6 week mark telling my husband, "if I had to go back to work tomorrow I would just die." We had no routine, I was exhausted and still hormonal I think. However, by 7 weeks, we had fallen into some routine. It was like overnight.. so by time 12 weeks hit I was good to go.
This time I plan to go back to work part time, so I will probably only take 7-8 weeks. I think you should do what you feel is best for you and your baby, you wont get this time back and adjusting to motherhood isnt easy. I dont care if its your first, second or third. There is always a learnig curve. I know sometimes things happen that is not in our control but If you can, I would take as much time as you can allow.
My personal experience has been this... with my first I waited tables so I had to go back to work 2 weeks after giving birth. I was 21 so I had bounced back fairly well. It sucked, I didnt like it but I didnt have a choice. With the second (and littlest) I took as much time as I could, 12 weeks. It was unpaid but I saved up, had short term disability through AFLAC that I used. I remember the night before the 6 week mark telling my husband, "if I had to go back to work tomorrow I would just die." We had no routine, I was exhausted and still hormonal I think. However, by 7 weeks, we had fallen into some routine. It was like overnight.. so by time 12 weeks hit I was good to go.
This time I plan to go back to work part time, so I will probably only take 7-8 weeks. I think you should do what you feel is best for you and your baby, you wont get this time back and adjusting to motherhood isnt easy. I dont care if its your first, second or third. There is always a learnig curve. I know sometimes things happen that is not in our control but If you can, I would take as much time as you can allow.
Two weeks? You are my hero.
Haha, It was part time so I could pick lunch or dinner shift. It sucked but wasn't as bad as going back full time Monday-Friday. I was young and naive and had no idea what I was doing or what to expect. Thank you though ">
My company offers 6 weeks of unpaid leave. The state of NY offers disability pay, but the amount of pay you get isn't a lot and hasn't risen with inflation in about 25 years. So... yay!
I don't have the option to be a SAHM because we need two incomes, but I can't do full-time because a long commute will mean I rarely get to see my kid, so I'll be going part-time. It's not ideal, but we do what we gotta do. Everybody says it all works out in the end.
I'm planning 12 weeks. My company offers 4 paid maternity or paternity. I'm a software engineer for a tech startup (heavily male-dominated industry) and so far at this company, it's been all guys taking 4 weeks of paternity... I almost felt awkward about being the first in my team to take 8 extra on top (through FMLA and short-term disability) but found out there's another woman in a different department who's pregnant as well and probably going to do the same so it was such a huge relief.
I work from home full-time, but I'm starting to wonder if doing that is even going to be possible with twins after 3 months (as a FTM). One of my friends claims he worked from home with his newborn while his wife was at work for the whole first year, pointing out "newborns sleep A LOT" but I really dunno.
I had to go look at the book of Discipline to see what I get. It appears I can take 8 weeks of paid maternity leave and 1/4 of the year total. My problem, being a Pastor, is my due date (2/12) is 2 days after Ash Wednesday, and my maternity leave will cover all of Lent and Easter. Doh! Before I go one maternity leave, I have do all the worship planning and get preaching coverage for all those Sundays and Holy week and Pastoral care coverage for shut ins and hospital emergencies and funerals. And to top it off, I go before the Board of Ordained Ministry the first week in March.
Katie ~wife to my beloved, Scottfor 25 years mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
I took 12 weeks of unpaid leave last time. My company is small but they allowed me to do it. I used about 2 weeks of vacation and got a small amount from std (it was for 8 weeks since I had a csection but really only amounted to about 2 weeks of my normal pay...better than nothing I guess.) I plan to do the same this time except I may have to forgo using my vacation. With 2 children, it will just double the chances of a sick child that needs to stay home from daycare!
I teach, so I get no paid leave. Hopefully my 3 yr old won't get sick much so I can use some of my days from this year to get paid. I'll take 12 weeks. I signed up for disability insurance, so I'll get 8 weeks (if I do a RCS) of half pay. I'll have to come Back with about 3 weeks left of school. I'm hoping we can get my mom and mil to trade watching the baby for that 3 weeks so we don't have to start day care until after the summer.
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I work hourly for my company. I've been there for 5 years, averaging about 40 hours a week. But because I am hourly, I will receive no paid leave, time off, etc. It's horrible. Just hoping to save up enough between now and then to take a couple months off. Husband is self-employed, so he is also in the same boat.
I'm a nurse and I get 3 months unpaid maternity leave. I have about a week of PTO time but that I will be uusing to pay my health insurance since its about $200 a month
I make the majority of my income through commissions. If I'm not talking to clients, I'm not getting paid. after giving birth to DS I didn't take anytime off. It was a little difficult, but I made it work.
I work for a small, family owned company. They expense all sorts of things they shouldn't in dollar amounts that will far exceed what paying me for 12 weeks would cost, but I have a feeling they will make my life so difficult during this pregnancy that I will be compelled to resign. I have a salary negotiation at the end of august and I'm crossing my fingers that I'm not showing by then so I don't get screwed.
Plus we're a law firm (I'm an attorney), so I know exactly what they are and aren't allowed to do (basically, it's up 100% up to them how they want to handle this). Protections really don't come in unless you work for an employer with 50 or more workers. They would have to literally tell me that I'm fired because I got pregnant in order for me to have a cause of action against them.
It could perhaps be a blessing in disguise, I suppose.
Due Date: Feb. 24, 2016
Team--Pink (but our nursery is Orange, Blue, & Purple!)
Feb 2016 September Siggy Challenge: Things I Love About Fall--Pumpkins!
Here in Denmark (Europe) we get 1 year off with 6 month paycheck and the last 6 month we get money from the state(lower than paycheck but its ok). I think im living in a very nice country;-)
I think I need move to Denmark lol my job offers 12 weeks paid . I work from home now so I'm hoping it will be easy transition this is our first baby so mil and my mom will take turns staying with us.
Are you in the U.S.? If so, even as an intern, employers are required to follow FMLA standards which grants every worker 12 weeks of medical leave every year. They do not have to pay you but it sounds like you would have 3 of those weeks paid through your vacation time. Good luck!
But... I thought FMLA only took effect after 12 months of employment? Also, if she is considered a contract worker vs. employee, it may not apply either, though I really don't know for sure.
As far as I am aware, you are correct, FMLA only kicks in after a year. Coworker started then found out 2 months later she was pregnant.. She didn't have FMLA but she had medical leave, not paid (our employer doesn't pay regardless) but was guaranteed her job when she came back. We have up to 12 weeks off for recovery and family bonding.
Apparently the FMLA is only UP TO 12 weeks. 12 weeks is not guaranteed. When I went on strict bedrest with my twins and had to quit working, I was only granted 9 weeks of FMLA AND I had to use all my vacation and sick time and those weeks ran concurrently with FMLA. Luckily, I had a really good job with a wonderful boss/company who held my position for the 6 months I ended up being out of work.
Not sure if anyone specified, but FMLA can have some really precise stipulations (at least in Vermont as I have had the pleasure of learning). Here are a few of the federal regulations, but they can vary state to state:
Federal: The employer must have
at least 50 employees within 75
miles of the worksite of the employee
requesting leave.
Federal: Employees who have worked
for the employer for at least 1250
hours during the preceding 12 months
are eligible for parental leave. (This will accrue over the course of your work up until you take the leave)
Also, as was already mentioned, the leave is unpaid for up to 12 weeks of the year starting from when you first take leave. Basically it seems like it's set up to guarantee your job when you go on leave.
I'm combining my accrued vacation/personal/holiday/sick time and gradually coming back after about 5 weeks. Hoping all goes well for you and your maternity plans!
I own a business (and as an owner I can't collect disability), when I had my dd 6 years ago, I came back to work after 2 weeks, since I was the main money maker. I modified my hours, but didn't have any issues. Hopefully you have an easy delivery, making your decision easy to make. Good Luck!
Yeah, another stipulation is that your employer can (and likely will) require that you use any and all accrued vacation and sick leave when you do FMLA (if there is a discrepancy between the amount of paid maternity leave you get and the 12-week max). If there's anyone here banking on some of this stuff, it's probably better to talk to your HR department sooner than later.
I work at a small business and FMLA doesn't apply and we dont have paid maternity leave. I'm just saving my bonus and I am planning on using my tax refund. Fortunately I will be working a lot of over time in the month leading up to my due date and can save the OT money to stay at home. I'm planning on at least 8 weeks, maybe 12 if money allows.
I get 6 weeks even though I may take more depending on my recovery (csection) and I plan on saving 1/2 a paycheck from now until the baby is born to help supplement our income during that time plus our tax refund will help us float until I go back to work. It's going to be hard but I know we can handle it.
I live in Canada when maternity leave is 52 weeks paid I'm only 9 weeks but a lot of doctors app and ultrasounds so I have to take my maternity now it's good In a way I have 2 other kids age 11&12 they keep me active so spending this time with them now will make my days go quickly
Like others have said, FMLA is for companies large enough to have it and kicks in after a year of work or a certain amount of hours. Remember, if you and your significant other work for the same company, I believe it is a COMBINED 12 weeks. I work for the state (of Texas) and should my husband work there, too, if he wanted one week off using FMLA, I would only get 11.
Also, as others have mentioned, look into what your state offers. I didn't know it existed, but Texas has a maternity leave protection. Since I didn't have to use it, I don't know much about it, but I recently stepped out of management and we had a nurse who did need to use it. We of course were going to respect her pregnancy and maternity leave because we didn't want to lose her, but it definitely wasn't paid, unless you have time built up. Just job protection.
With my first, I did not have 6 weeks of sick time built up, which, based on the rules where I work, I am only supposed to be paid sick time for my time out only as long as my doc said I am medically unable to return to work (often 6 weeks for vaginal deliveries and 8 for c-sections, obviously there are outliers). My short term disability did not kick in until I ran out of sick leave and was still out "sick" and not just maternity leave/bonding time. So the last 6 weeks I took were straight from saved up PTO/vacation not supported by short term disability not sick time.
Luckily with my first, I had a shit ton of PTO so I got paid short term disability AND my paycheck for about a pay period. Then STD stopped and went back to straight paycheck.
A nurse I worked with had exhausted all of her leave from bed rest before she had her baby so she returned to work after her 8 week c section block. She even had complications her last birth, but all 3 babies she had, she returned at 8 weeks because she was out.
A bit of advice about maternity leave.... make sure you get your company policy in writing from your HR department. With my son, they told me multiple times that I got 20 weeks after birth (part paid, part unpaid.) The told me if my doctor took me out early, that was completely different and didn't count towards my 20 week. I went out 4 weeks early and then my son was a week late, so I was out 5 weeks before delivery. Well all of a sudden about two months after I had him I got an email from my boss saying he got an email from HR with my return date.... well it was five weeks before I was expecting to go back! I called them and all of a sudden they told me it was 20 weeks start to finish. I WISH I had what they told me to start in writing, but I just took their word for it. So I ended up going back to work much sooner then I had anticipated. This time I am going to work as close to delivery as I can manage.
Re: Maternity Leave?
With STD, I'll only get 60% of my take home pay and that starts either 8 days after I leave for maternity leave, or when I have the baby, whichever happens first..which kind of sucks, but I think is customary practice. I'm just glad that DH makes very good money and we aren't really dependent on my income..My paycheck usually goes to the bills I accrued before getting married (i.e. student loans) and my half of the house bills.
Baby F.......02/02/2016
BFP 6.8.2018 EDD 02.18.2019
Otherwise, everything I've read about FMLA is that you have to have worked at the place 12 months to get it. I'll be done in August and maybe be able to take a few months or more at the point in time to be a SAHM. Thanks for all the replies!!
I will only be paid for the balance of my sick and vacation days, then get short term disability until I am technically "able" again which will be 6 wks for vaginal or 8 weeks for cesarean. Then, the rest of that leave is unpaid but I don't care.
I had enough sick time saved to more than cover my first maternity leave. That was pretty awesome lol!
I feel that 12 weeks is the minimum needed for me to be able to function normally at work. That's just me.
Luckily, I will go back to work for 4 weeks, then have the entire summer off. So really, it's sort of like about a 22 week leave that's split into two parts!
I believe all families should be supported similar to this. Yes we are choosing to have children, but someone has to. It is beneficial for our society to support women and children as they bond in those first few months.
mama to SEVEN +1 wonderful Waggoners
K~ 22yo, C~ 20yo, J~ 18yo, N~ 13yo, G~ 11yo, M~ 7, A~5 and baby due 2/12/2016
Back with about 3 weeks left of school. I'm hoping we can get my mom and mil to trade watching the baby for that 3 weeks so we don't have to start day care until after the summer.
DS1 Jan 2012
DS2 July 2013
DS3 February 2016
As far as I am aware, you are correct, FMLA only kicks in after a year. Coworker started then found out 2 months later she was pregnant.. She didn't have FMLA but she had medical leave, not paid (our employer doesn't pay regardless) but was guaranteed her job when she came back. We have up to 12 weeks off for recovery and family bonding.
I can take an additional 12 weeks unpaid, but I won't be guaranteed my exact position, just my pay and hours.
Also, as others have mentioned, look into what your state offers. I didn't know it existed, but Texas has a maternity leave protection. Since I didn't have to use it, I don't know much about it, but I recently stepped out of management and we had a nurse who did need to use it. We of course were going to respect her pregnancy and maternity leave because we didn't want to lose her, but it definitely wasn't paid, unless you have time built up. Just job protection.
With my first, I did not have 6 weeks of sick time built up, which, based on the rules where I work, I am only supposed to be paid sick time for my time out only as long as my doc said I am medically unable to return to work (often 6 weeks for vaginal deliveries and 8 for c-sections, obviously there are outliers). My short term disability did not kick in until I ran out of sick leave and was still out "sick" and not just maternity leave/bonding time. So the last 6 weeks I took were straight from saved up PTO/vacation not supported by short term disability not sick time.
Luckily with my first, I had a shit ton of PTO so I got paid short term disability AND my paycheck for about a pay period. Then STD stopped and went back to straight paycheck.
A nurse I worked with had exhausted all of her leave from bed rest before she had her baby so she returned to work after her 8 week c section block. She even had complications her last birth, but all 3 babies she had, she returned at 8 weeks because she was out.
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