Working Moms Week of 9/23/19

mrszoobear · September 2019

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rjgmcmanus · September 2019

FMLA paperwork approved for the full 12 weeks. Yay! Things found out though: I have to use ALL my accumulated time for my maternity leave. And after that, it's unpaid. Wasn't expecting that. I knew about the unpaid bit, but I didn't realize I'd be required to use all the leave I'd built up--I just thought it'd go on a freeze (no accumulation during that time), and then when I got back, I'd have what I had prior to leave and could use that time when needed, like for doctor appointments, family vacations, etc. Nope. No such luck. So not only is the leave unpaid after using my accumulated time, I'm literally going to be starting at 0 and will have to rebuild all accumulated time after I get back. Lame. Luckily, DH is Navy, and currently has 30 days of leave built up and will be in a "use or lose" situation, so he'll be able to help manage any possible pediatrician appointments/possible sicknesses those first few months while I'm rebuilding my time. But yeah. A little frustrated, to say the least.

Also, didn't realize I had to pay the insurance premiums while I'm out. I suppose that makes sense, but yeah...that was a little bit of a surprise, and wasn't something that was even on my radar.

This on top of the pumping thing I mentioned few weeks ago.

Have I mentioned America SUCKS when it comes to caring for mothers/babies? And that I'm growing increasingly frustrated with each new little thing I find out about leave with my company? It's like the bare minimum is being done. Things to note for the next company when we leave the area in a couple years and I have to find a new job...

Stac928 · September 2019

@rjgmcmansus yes we do suck at this parental leave thing, it's so disheartening.

mrszoobear · September 2019

@rjgmcmanus - Ugh that does suck. I'm 100% in belief that FMLA protects employers from getting sued for letting sick or pregnant people go and not to protect American workers like it claims. 🤷‍♀️

It sucks you have to pay for your insurance on leave too. I don't know how big your company is but it makes me mad when large businesses don't step up for their employees. I know mine is huge and they do the bare minimum so their shareholders make more money. Employees are just game pieces to move around in order to make the most profit possible.

blueskychicago12 · September 2019

@rjgmcmanus I'm in the same boat as I, too, will have 0 hours of PTO remaining once I return from maternity leave. It's nerve wracking. I haven't been able to get a clear answer as to whether they can give me a hard time if I need to take additional (unpaid) days after returning, such as to care for a sick baby, since my FMLA leave will be used up by then.
So you will have to pay the portion of your health insurance that your employer currently pays?

ale9687 · September 2019

@rjgmcmanus with my first pregnancy I had to use all my PTO but 8 days. I gave birth in March so only having 8 days for half the year was rough but my boss at the time was super nice and let me go on vacation without taking PTO. This time we are only allowed to carry 5 days over from year to year anyway so it’s not a big deal to use up all my PTO since they will just take what I have left in 2019.

For the insurance I believe I won’t be paying for it while I’m out since my company isn’t providing my paycheck, an outside company does. So when I get back I’ll essentially need to make up for those 6 payments I missed.

bookworm492 · September 2019

@blueskychicago what I've seen at other employers, is that you know how you have a portion of your paycheck deducted for health insurance? Since you are taking unpaid leave you have to send the company that portion, seeing as there's no paycheck to deduct it from. If they're asking her to pay the entire health insurance premium, ER and EE, that's pretty excessive IMO compared to standard American compliance.

McKBaby · September 2019

Just got into a shouting match with my
boss because he’s trying to dump more
work on me (that’s he bored of doing) and I said no.

My reasoning for not wanting to do this project is that this has been on-going for months and months and I have had little to no involvement. To get up to speed at this point is a hardship and will compromise my current work. I work part-time (5 hours/day Mon-Thur) and my hours have not increased. He just recently dumped a new project on me, and can’t continue to take on more projects and get my other work done.

Plus, I’m going to be out for an extended period of time in a few months and asking me to get up to speed and take over a long-term project that I have had little involvement in, is not an efficient use of my time here.

Regardless, this probably doesn’t bode well for my “work from home after baby” case.

klmcguire · September 2019

@rjgmcmanus Not only does America suck, but I live in Alabama where ML is the worst of the worst. I hate that it hasn't improved and one day I hope all of our children get to enjoy better ML.

@McKBaby I am glad you put your foot down and said no, but sorry that this doesn't help your case for working at home post baby.

I have enough metrics to try to meet this week for my quarterly bonus, that I could really use for savings for my ML. I don't see it happening which sucks. I am ready to have some time off with my family and sweet baby boy. Come on December!

Stac928 · September 2019

I was just reviewing my leave hours. DS being constantly sick for the last few months has really eaten away at my hours. I still have enough to take 12 weeks paid, but barely. I will accumulate time off while I'm out, so that will help but I will be running lower than I've ever run before when I return. It gives me great anxiety. It also means I won't get as much time off before as I was wanting. I had wanted to do two weeks before birth (I did last time), but I might be able to pull off one week if I'm super careful.

Two maternity leaves in two years is killer, even with a well stocked bank of leave. It's going to take awhile to recover from this.

anniemarie887 · September 2019

@rjgmcmanus the parental leave situation in this country is a shame. the fact that it's also not federally mandated is nuts, there is absolutely no reason healthcare/disability etc should be so difference across state lines. sorry the insurance premium thing came as a surprise - just know if you've opted in to any addt'l benefits like addt'l life insurance you most likely will owe you portion of those premiums as well. what's scarier is when people become terminally ill, go out on FMLA, use it up... and then get let go from jobs and lose life insurance before they pass away. people think it will never happen to them, and it's the hardest convo i have with ppl. sorry, i will now step off my insurance agent soapbox.

ugh @McKBaby i'm sorry! i feel like i'm finally getting to the "pregnant = emotions running high" stage.

rjgmcmanus · September 2019

@blueskychicago12 I'm lucky that I'm on Tricare for most everything, since my husband is Navy--so health is totally covered. I only do two things through my own company: vision (because Tricare's vision plans are pretty terrible), and a supplemental hospitalization insurance that I just started this year...basically, it pays for your hospitalization automatically, but since Tricare covers my hospitalization during the time I'm delivering, we're using it to help supplement my income that we'll be missing out on...because when open enrollment came for me to do the short term disability insurance that would cover my whole paycheck back in July, I was told I couldn't do that, because pregnancy is a "pre-existing condition." The only reason I didn't sign up LAST year for it, when we were sort of starting to talk about having kids, was we had just purchased our house, so we weren't about to shell out for what we thought was a "frivolous insurance" at the time. Yes, we're kicking ourselves. Anyway. Fortunately, I don't have to shell out much ($44 a month), so it's not like we're in a bind, but the fact that I have to do anything at all is a a bit disheartening, and I'm feeling bad for the women who do ALL their insurances through the company, who might be making much less than I am.

I'm a firm believer that we need more Millennials in Congress if things are going to change in this country...because really, the Boomers and older just don't care. Anytime I try to talk to my own mom about the issues I'm facing, it's like it's a competition, and she goes into the whole, "Well, back when I was giving birth to YOU"...cue some story about walking uphill in the snow both ways with a goblin boss and mere hours of leave, or whatever overdramatization she feels like talking about at the time.

I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of stressed out. Between figuring out leave, making sure I pay my insurances when they're due, prepping for the baby, freaking out about having no time after I get back, not being paid to pump, and working through childcare, I can understand why there are a lot of women who opt to be stay-at-home moms if they're able. All of this is ridiculous. Not that it's easy to be one, but the appeal of not having to deal with all this corporate nonsense is legit.

mrszoobear · September 2019

Rant of the day: I'm stuck working from home which for the most part is great. I really appreciate the accommodation.

However, it means I don't have access to a work printer, scanner or fax machine. One of our clients is a pain and ALWAYS sends their orders in wrong. So they have to be printed off and individually re-scanned before they can be entered. I told my co worker that if she printed and re-scanned it (which ends up being 30 individual orders), I would get them all entered tonight no problem. She wouldn't have to deal with a single one.

Apparently she didn't have time and decided not to ask anyone else to do it either. Because she left for the day without scanning a single order into the system. So I signed out early and will work on it tomorrow. I'm just frustrated because its work that could have been done tonight but I have no way to access it.

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