Maternity Leave - benefits, plans, partners?

JadaBlue · November 2015

Hey ladies, given our delicate conditions (hah!) and that parental leave is a hot topic these days, I thought it might be interesting for those of us currently working outside the home to discuss our maternity leave benefits (if any) and plans, as well as our partners' plans. I'm a U.S. federal employee, so we don't have any paid parental leave. This was an unpleasant surprise to me when I came over from my private sector position where I would have enjoyed three months of paid leave! Instead I can take any sick leave I have accumulated or unpaid leave for my recovery period (usually 6-8 weeks after giving birth) and can claim up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave (unpaid or vacation time). I will take of my recovery period and transfer back to the U.S. shortly thereafter, so that process should add a bit more time so that I don't go back until my new LO is about four months old. My husband is also a federal employee, so he has the same rights and will likely also stay home through my recovery period. We're fortunate to both be long-term employees so we've accumulated sick time, but I'll have burned all of mine after kids. Hopefully I won't fall ill anytime soon! Edit: Americans, be prepared to be jealous of posters from pretty much anywhere else in the world!

loveymay · November 2015

I will get 12 weeks of FMLA, 6 or 8 will be paid with short term disability at 60% of my salary. It sucks, but its better than a lot of women get here in the US. My husband is a teacher and will use some of his accrued sick days to take a few weeks off, then he will go back for a few weeks to finish out the school year. Then he will be home for summer break, so we'll both be home together. We timed it out this way, and luckily it worked!

Eta: by saying it sucks, what I mean is that it sucks that the US has no maternity leave policy, and also that my company (which is huge) doesn't offer any maternity leave policies either. My job is a union job, so we get fantastic pay and benefits, but no family leave. I'm grateful that I am able to use FMLA, because so many people are excluded from it because of the dumb eligibility requirements.

zazouille · November 2015

I am on the fortunate side of the fence: I will get 16 weeks fully paid maternity leave, of which two weeks must be taken prior to the birth (I am obliged to stop working two weeks before my due date). I have loads of accrued leave so I will use some of it to finish off the summer. My partner has 4 weeks paternity leave (which is "generous" but in my opinion not sufficient as it still places the father in a secondary role - but we're not in Sweden so what can you expect), and will also use his accrued leave to take a nice summer holiday as well. Then in September we'll go back to work, the boys back to school, and the wee one will go to daycare. Luckily with the timing there are more daycare spaces in September than in the middle of the school year. At my organization a new mom is allowed to work two hours less per day for the first year of baby's life to allow for pumping, coming in late, leaving early, etc. I am not paid per hour but it gives me a bit more leeway with flexible working hours.
Compared to the US, I am very thankful to have these "benefits", but I find it outrageous that paid maternity/paternity/parental/family leave and an appropriate work/life balance is still considered a benefit and not a right.

RachieTK · November 2015

I'm a teacher, and I get 60 paid school days after the baby is born and I can take 5 paid school days before my c section date. I use sick days (we get 19 per year plus 20 'emergency' days) to cover this. With school closings, vacations and summer, I'm planning be out mid- April through the beginning of October with pay and benefits.

loveymay · November 2015

zazouille said:
I am on the fortunate side of the fence: I will get 16 weeks fully paid maternity leave, of which two weeks must be taken prior to the birth (I am obliged to stop working two weeks before my due date). I have loads of accrued leave so I will use some of it to finish off the summer. My partner has 4 weeks paternity leave (which is "generous" but in my opinion not sufficient as it still places the father in a secondary role - but we're not in Sweden so what can you expect), and will also use his accrued leave to take a nice summer holiday as well. Then in September we'll go back to work, the boys back to school, and the wee one will go to daycare. Luckily with the timing there are more daycare spaces in September than in the middle of the school year. At my organization a new mom is allowed to work two hours less per day for the first year of baby's life to allow for pumping, coming in late, leaving early, etc. I am not paid per hour but it gives me a bit more leeway with flexible working hours.
Compared to the US, I am very thankful to have these "benefits", but I find it outrageous that paid maternity/paternity/parental/family leave and an appropriate work/life balance is still considered a benefit and not a right.

I agree with you! When did people forget that we are humans and not robots, and procreating our species is a huge part of our lives? When did work and the bottom dollar become more important than family? When did companies start thinking its okay for work to interfere with personal life (having to stay late, etc) but its not okay for an employee's personal life to sometimes interfere with work (birth, death, sickness, etc)? Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I'm grateful for it to provide for my family, but I hate that it takes up so much of my time and I'm left with scraps to spend with my family. I definitely think there is room for improvement in work/life balance.

AmadorRose · November 2015

I was just telling DH that we should move to Canada after this LO!
Because I'm military, I get 6 weeks paid for vaginal birth or 8 weeks if C-section. I have nearly 70 days of accrued leave, so I may take an extra week or two, but I'm also transitioning out of the military next year and can take whatever leave I haven't yet used and be done that much sooner.

I honestly don't know how women without maternity benefits do it - and I can't believe federal employees get nothing! That stinks.

MrsCayEye · November 2015

I work as an independent contractor, so I don't have any type of benefits or leave. We just plan accordingly.

K&Elizabeth · November 2015

I'm a teacher so I qualify for FMLA for up to 12 weeks, but it is unpaid. We get 1 sick day per month per school year. I'll have about 1 week paid before my short term disability kicks in at 60%. My due date is pretty much exactly 6 weeks before the end of school/my contract, so I'll probably only get my std benefits for those weeks.

Goldsgirl9 · November 2015

My company offers 12 weeks unpaid. You can use STD and/or any accrued PTO for pay during that time. I only wish FMLA offered more time off.

thaisac1 · November 2015

I'm in Canada, and here every couple is entitled to a year of Parental Leave, which can be split between the two parents whichever way they choose. We are all allowed the time, but the pay varies from employer to employer.

In a nutshell, Canada will pay some money to the mother for 19 weeks, which is based on salary and caps at about $1500 a month. Then, if the other partner takes time off after the mother, this benefit can be extended for a total of 35 weeks. This is true for adoptive parents and for same-sex couples, also.

Everything else depends upon the employer. I am in a male-dominated specialty (Cardiology) thus my benefits are not awesome, but I'll be fine. I will receive 50% of my monthly income for 3 months from my employer. In addition to this, the Ontario Medical Association will pay me $1000/ week for 9 weeks. And I can get the benefit from Canada described above for 19 weeks. Beyond that, I'm on my own; but we have built some reserve so should be OK. If hubby continues working, which I believe he will, we won't have to use reserve.

I am planning on taking 6 months off. 12 months sound amazing, but I am concerned about slowing my research program down excessively if I take that much time off. And as much as I want to be selfish during this time, I can't help but be concerned about my colleagues who will have to cover my clinical duties in my absence (although it shouldn't be a huge deal as I am only 50% clinical). We'll see.

k425518 · November 2015

6 weeks STD (8 for c section) at 60% pay then accrued PTO up to 12 weeks FMLA. My husband gets 2 weeks company paid time. (Same company as mine).

jonesl12 · November 2015

I get up to 8 weeks no pay

BrittnyS10 · November 2015

I think where I work I have to take 1 week of pto first, then I can get 6 weeks of short term disability at 60% and up to another 5 weeks if I have enough pto saved up. Unfortunately they are changing up our pto/holiday/personal day time (and significantly cutting down the amount of pto we can have) so I dont really know how its all going to work out.

And @thaisac1 dont be offended but I'm kind of hating you right now... so jealous

ETA: DH gets 1 week of paid paternity leave where he works, but he does have tons of pto saved up so he will probably take at least 2 weeks initially and then take a day off here and there based on how busy things are at his work.

AmadorRose · November 2015

thaisac1 said:
I'm in Canada, and here every couple is entitled to a year of Parental Leave, which can be split between the two parents whichever way they choose. We are all allowed the time, but the pay varies from employer to employer.

In a nutshell, Canada will pay some money to the mother for 19 weeks, which is based on salary and caps at about $1500 a month. Then, if the other partner takes time off after the mother, this benefit can be extended for a total of 35 weeks. This is true for adoptive parents and for same-sex couples, also.

Everything else depends upon the employer. I am in a male-dominated specialty (Cardiology) thus my benefits are not awesome, but I'll be fine. I will receive 50% of my monthly income for 3 months from my employer. In addition to this, the Ontario Medical Association will pay me $1000/ week for 9 weeks. And I can get the benefit from Canada described above for 19 weeks. Beyond that, I'm on my own; but we have built some reserve so should be OK. If hubby continues working, which I believe he will, we won't have to use reserve.

I am planning on taking 6 months off. 12 months sound amazing, but I am concerned about slowing my research program down excessively if I take that much time off. And as much as I want to be selfish during this time, I can't help but be concerned about my colleagues who will have to cover my clinical duties in my absence (although it shouldn't be a huge deal as I am only 50% clinical). We'll see.

Get otter here

ETA: I don't mean it, I just found a site called daily otter. I'm dying! And I'm super jealous that Canada is so much more advanced

lreni529 · November 2015

I can take 12 weeks FMLA. I get the first 4 weeks off paid at 100%, then STD kicks in for 2 weeks (or 4 if c section) at 66% then anything after is PTO. Hubby gets 1 week off after birth and then can take FMLA unpaid but we need him to work

Somersky · November 2015

I'll get 6 weeks paid, plus whatever accrued paid time I have, supplemented by 2 weeks of STD at 70%, up to DC's 16-week equivalent of FMLA. Hubby gets no paid time, but his employer is subject to FMLA, so he could take up to 12 weeks unpaid. His paycheck is not essential to us, so we are still figuring out how much time he'll take. The only reason we aren't settled on the full 12 is because we will be SO CLOSE to paying off all my student loans and being debt-free except the house (thank you, Dave Ramsey). And once those student loans are done, we are thinking DH may become a SAHD. So...the more he works now, the quicker he gets to come home for good.

I'm relatively lucky, I know--but not compared to others in my field. And it's crazy how little time some women and their SOs get in other fields. There needs to be a major policy change in the US. Meanitime, keep fighting the good fight, ladies!

spicedice · November 2015

I'm actually in a pickle when it comes to maternity leave. Everything would have been pretty straight forward if I had not broken one of my fingers on one of my days off... I've had to use all of my FMLA time to recover from that. Work doesn't know that I'm pregnant yet (I'll be 19 weeks when I return to work), but I plan on trying to figure out my options once I'm back. I'm hoping I'll be able to get my 6-8 weeks paid short term disability (my work doesn't have paid maternity/parental leave) once baby is born, but I just don't know if they will say I will qualify, since I had to use so much time off already in a short period of time. Worst case scenario is that I have to use sick/vacation to cover as much time as I possibly can and hope that they want me back after my leave is over. My DH gets no paid time off, but he plans on taking some time after I go back to work after my maternity leave to spend some alone time with the kids.

I'm so disappointed in how this turned out. I really wanted to take the full 12 weeks off this time. I only took 6 off with my son, and that just was not enough time.

allaire314 · November 2015

I will use 3 weeks of accrued PTO and then STD will kick in for 12 weeks at 60%. After that I am not planning on going back to work, but still want to have the benefits, and insurance until we can transition to DH's after LO is born. Unfortunately DH doesn't have any sort of leave policy other than his 3 weeks of PTO... he will most likely take 1 week after LO is born, and save the rest for vacations to visit family. I'm very fortunate that our financial situation allows me to stay at home after baby arrives.

Ready4theParty · November 2015

I get 6 weeks for vaginal or 8 weeks for csection paid at 100%. Most people at my company take the six weeks, but I am planning on staying out at least two more weeks and possibly the full 12. It's going to depend on if they are going to get a temp or not for my position.

RLVbaby · November 2015

I'm in Canada as well and I get 93% of my salary for 20 weeks after the birth of baby and then I get employment assistance for the rest. I can opt to go back after the 20 weeks and have DH go on parental leave but it wouldn't be worth it financially as he wouldn't get any assistance through the province.

jkeezy · November 2015

For the Brit here, what's:

FMLA?
STD? (*immature snigger*)
PTO?

Thanks

allaire314 · November 2015

@jkeezy

FMLA - Family Medical Leave Act - basically says your employer cannot replace your position while you are out on this type of leave.

STD - (I always snicker at this too) Short Term Disability... odd to think that having a baby is a disability, but it is a nice way to get a length of time off usually with at least some of your pay.

PTO - Paid Time Off... not all companies differentiate between vacation and sick days... just general paid time off provided by your company.

jkeezy · November 2015

allaire314 said:
@jkeezy

FMLA - Family Medical Leave Act - basically says your employer cannot replace your position while you are out on this type of leave.

STD - (I always snicker at this too) Short Term Disability... odd to think that having a baby is a disability, but it is a nice way to get a length of time off usually with at least some of your pay.

PTO - Paid Time Off... not all companies differentiate between vacation and sick days... just general paid time off provided by your company.

Thanks! Wow that's so different to the UK - we have similar laws to your FMLA, but STD and PTO is completely different!

We have statutory maternity leave of which you can choose how much time to take off (government pays for a part of this) with the option to split between yourself and partner.

Sick leave is calculated separately from holiday time.

cmjenkies · November 2015

I'm eligible for up to 12 weeks (unpaid) under FMLA. First five days will have to be covered under my PTO, then the next 6-8 weeks will be covered by short term disability at 60% of my salary. After that I should have approximately 120-160 hours of PTO left that I will use. I plan to take the full 12 weeks and anticipate that all but 1-2 weeks will be at least partially paid in some capacity.

I love the USA but hate this part! DH also gets zero leave unless he uses some PTO. Sigh.

kalanieileen · November 2015

I have STD at 60% of my salary for 6 weeks vaginal or 8 weeks c-section. The rest I have to take using my paid time off (vacation/sick/floating holidays) if I want to stay out longer. Right now I've wracked up about 118 hours which is only 2 weeks. I'm trying to not touch any of it until April! By then I should've accrued at least another 3 weeks. I will also be applying for California SDI which is good for another 8-10 weeks at 55% of my highest earnings. This 55% won't be subject to tax, so it ends up being a bit more.

briterfly84 · November 2015

I am a teacher, we accrue 1.5 days a month of sick time. If we want to get paid, we have to use our sick time. Luckily, I have 6.5 weeks saved up at this point, and am not due til the end of April. Praying I make it to the due date, there is only 3.5 weeks left in the school year. I could use STD and get paid at 60%, but I'd rather get my full check. I'll hang onto the STD unless I need to go out on bedrest or something before hand. We can use the FMLA but it's not paid. I like my measly little paycheck.

AEG84 · November 2015

All of you ladies planning on 6-8 weeks of STD, you may want to double check on that. I thought that's what my policy covered, but the first week is actually unpaid, so I only end up getting 5-7.

I'm also eligible for 12 weeks FMLA and plan to take all of it. I'll have 4 weeks vacation/sick time saved up to use, plus 5 weeks (most likely) of STD at 67% of my pay (works out about the same since taxes and benefits don't get taken out). So I'll end up with 3 weeks unpaid, which we are saving up for now.

DH doesn't have any paid parental leave, but does qualify for FMLA unpaid. He will most likely use vacation/sick time to take off a week when baby comes. His job is also somewhat flexible so he may be able to work from home more often for a few weeks after the birth.

@allaire314, not sure if you have checked with your employer already, but mine doesn't take out benefits from any paychecks while I'm on FMLA. So any premiums are taken out of the next few paychecks once you return to work, unless you elect to send in a check while on leave. If you aren't planning to return, you may want to just clarify how that works and if you will need to plan on sending in a check at some point.

amandac12581 · November 2015

I'm very fortunate in my situation. I get 12 weeks leave from work with full pay, I have the option to extend it using vacation time if I need/want. I know this is a rarity in the USA and I'm super thankful for it.

redselig · November 2015

16 weeks paid maternity leave with an additional 4 weeks if breastfeeding or multiples birth. Additional full-time parental leave of six months paid at social minimum wage (1800 euros per month). Additional vacation time accrued for one year (4 weeks). This is Luxembourg. I am eternally grateful.

kalanieileen · November 2015

amandac12581 said:
I'm very fortunate in my situation. I get 12 weeks leave from work with full pay, I have the option to extend it using vacation time if I need/want. I know this is a rarity in the USA and I'm super thankful for it.

Where in the world do you work!?

thaisac1 · November 2015

BrittnyS10 said:
I think where I work I have to take 1 week of pto first, then I can get 6 weeks of short term disability at 60% and up to another 5 weeks if I have enough pto saved up. Unfortunately they are changing up our pto/holiday/personal day time (and significantly cutting down the amount of pto we can have) so I dont really know how its all going to work out.

And @thaisac1 dont be offended but I'm kind of hating you right now... so jealous

ETA: DH gets 1 week of paid paternity leave where he works, but he does have tons of pto saved up so he will probably take at least 2 weeks initially and then take a day off here and there based on how busy things are at his work.

Come to Canada

Canada needs more babies - population is aging.

plus, if Donald Trump becomes president you may seriously consider migrating.

amandac12581 · November 2015

kalanieileen said:

I'm very fortunate in my situation. I get 12 weeks leave from work with full pay, I have the option to extend it using vacation time if I need/want. I know this is a rarity in the USA and I'm super thankful for it.
Where in the world do you work!?

I work for a private company in NYC.

thaisac1 · November 2015

AmadorRose said:

thaisac1 said:
I'm in Canada, and here every couple is entitled to a year of Parental Leave, which can be split between the two parents whichever way they choose. We are all allowed the time, but the pay varies from employer to employer.

In a nutshell, Canada will pay some money to the mother for 19 weeks, which is based on salary and caps at about $1500 a month. Then, if the other partner takes time off after the mother, this benefit can be extended for a total of 35 weeks. This is true for adoptive parents and for same-sex couples, also.

Everything else depends upon the employer. I am in a male-dominated specialty (Cardiology) thus my benefits are not awesome, but I'll be fine. I will receive 50% of my monthly income for 3 months from my employer. In addition to this, the Ontario Medical Association will pay me $1000/ week for 9 weeks. And I can get the benefit from Canada described above for 19 weeks. Beyond that, I'm on my own; but we have built some reserve so should be OK. If hubby continues working, which I believe he will, we won't have to use reserve.

I am planning on taking 6 months off. 12 months sound amazing, but I am concerned about slowing my research program down excessively if I take that much time off. And as much as I want to be selfish during this time, I can't help but be concerned about my colleagues who will have to cover my clinical duties in my absence (although it shouldn't be a huge deal as I am only 50% clinical). We'll see.

Get otter here

ETA: I don't mean it, I just found a site called daily otter. I'm dying! And I'm super jealous that Canada is so much more advanced

We pay high taxes (and I'm about to pay even more with the new liberal government), but my overall impression having lived in the US and canada is that we get more social benefits from our taxes in Canada than we did in the US.

I wouldn't say Canada is too advanced - Canada is awesome but many other developed countries have similar or even better policies. It is the US that stands out among developed countries for being the only one without a defined maternity policy. It enrages me to read that some of you have no benefit at all, and others have a little time with no pay whatsoever. You guys should all rebel and have your voices heard! This is unacceptable for such an amazing country like the US!

thaisac1 · November 2015

jkeezy said:

allaire314 said:
@jkeezy

FMLA - Family Medical Leave Act - basically says your employer cannot replace your position while you are out on this type of leave.

STD - (I always snicker at this too) Short Term Disability... odd to think that having a baby is a disability, but it is a nice way to get a length of time off usually with at least some of your pay.

PTO - Paid Time Off... not all companies differentiate between vacation and sick days... just general paid time off provided by your company.
Thanks! Wow that's so different to the UK - we have similar laws to your FMLA, but STD and PTO is completely different!

We have statutory maternity leave of which you can choose how much time to take off (government pays for a part of this) with the option to split between yourself and partner.

Sick leave is calculated separately from holiday time.

Same here, I won't have to take any sick days, holiday or PTO time either.

amandac12581 · November 2015

"Same here, I won't have to take any dick days, holiday or PTO time either."

@thaisac1 that is the most epic typo ever!! LOL

thaisac1 · November 2015

amandac12581 said:
"Same here, I won't have to take any dick days, holiday or PTO time either."

@thaisac1 that is the most epic typo ever!! LOL

Shoot , I corrected immediately but you caught it! Hahahahaha typing on my phone, D is right next to S.

g&tlewis · November 2015

Thankfully my company's STD policy is changing on January 1 for the better. I'll be offered 10 weeks of STD at 80% of my salary with a 2 week waiting period between my last day of work and the STD kicking in. I'll be able to use my remaining sick leave from our old plan and whatever PTO I accrue in 2016 for 100% pay in the 2 week waiting period.

My husband works for the same company, and unfortunately doesn't get any paternal leave. He'll just have to use some of his PTO if he wants to take off the first week or so after the baby is born.

sarahufl · November 2015

redselig said:

16 weeks paid maternity leave with an additional 4 weeks if breastfeeding or multiples birth. Additional full-time parental leave of six months paid at social minimum wage (1800 euros per month). Additional vacation time accrued for one year (4 weeks). This is Luxembourg. I am eternally grateful.

Out of sheer curiosity- do you have to provide proof you are breastfeeding? That seems like a great extra benefit, but who controls it?!

sarahufl · November 2015

I plan to take 6 weeks paid (8 for a c-section) in full. Then the 12 weeks FMLA (which runs concurrent, so really just 12 weeks). We get a ton of PTO, so I may add to that.

Full disclosure, I am about 99% sure I won't return but I want to keep options open.

H gets great paternal leave, but he works for a relatively well known internet company, so they get benefits galore anyway. I think he gets 12 weeks paid.

sprocketsngadgets · November 2015

Standard FMLA of 12 weeks. I have a 2 week waiting period that I must use PTO for before STD kicks in for 4 weeks at 60% salary. I can take the additional 6 weeks unpaid or use any PTO I have. I only took 6 weeks off when I had DD since I was afraid to burn all my PTO if she got sick or we wanted to go see DH's family (because why would they come to us).
I'm hoping to take 8 weeks this time just because toddler + newborn just sounds exhausting even with DD1 still going to daycare. DH works from home and doesn't have set hours so once we get home from the hospital he pretty much just starts working again. It's nice because he's still able to help if I need him, but he gets absolutely no PTO (vacation, sick, or holidays) so any lost work time for him is complete loss of income.