As someone that was born and raised in Austria, Europe, where you get either a 2 year PAID leave or 1 year DOUBLE PAID leave plus 2-3 months off prior to your delivery, having moved to the US it is honestly shocking to me, to have a few weeks tops off paid. Therefore I am currently unemployed, because I am not going to sacrifice essential time with my baby to be working. Hell to the no, fortunately we get by pretty well with my husbands income, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do so, obviously. But I did tell him "you wanted me to move here instead of you coming over there, I do not care how, but I am staying home with each and every child 2 years at least before starting to work again, because that is how I grew up, if you want it differently, we can always move back to my place." Maternity leave here is an absolute joke and a big embarrassment to a western, civilized country like the US, in my personal opinion. I feel sorry for all the moms that are not in such a privileged position as I am.
Maternity leave is not supportive of mothers who want to breastfeed and not pump (or cannot pump). It would be amazing to have more opportunities for flexible work or ways to still earn an income while actually being a real mother as well.
I'm a professor in California and get 6-8 weeks of short-term disability and then 12 weeks of FMLA after that, all at half pay. The only issue is that if I take all that leave, then they delay my tenure by a year 😔.
5 DAYS I have been with my company 3 years- we are small but successful. We had no vacation or PTO policy in effect until February this year. I get 1 day PTO a month. When my son is born I will be able to take 5 days off to spend healing and bonding. That is all the time off I will have for the rest of 2022. They did offer me unpaid leave- but I’m a mother of 2 already and sole custodial parent and provider- we live paycheck to paycheck so it wasn’t even something to consider. Would be honored to get even 2 weeks much less 6 or 12.
I'm a professor in California and get 6-8 weeks of short-term disability and then 12 weeks of FMLA after that, all at half pay. The only issue is that if I take all that leave, then they delay my tenure by a year 😔.
Is that legal to delay your tenure because you had/have a child??
It definitely doesn't feel fair to me, but apparently it's state ed code that you have to work at least 75% of the school year for that year to count for the tenure process. Otherwise, you need to repeat the year. I checked with my union, and they confirmed the information.
I wish I had known this earlier. I would have timed this pregnancy differently.
I am incredibly fortunate for a US resident when it comes to my leave. It is sad because it's pitiful in comparison to a lot of European countries, but still, I'm grateful to have the luck I do. My work had a policy change go into effect in November (I'm due next February) which gives me six weeks of paid leave that I don't have to use my personal leave for. After that, if necessary, I can use my leave for an additional six weeks. I have well over six weeks leave saved if I end up needing it. After that, I work from home most days so I can still stay home and recover and bond with her while I work all but four days a month.
As a Canadian I get 12 months at 60% salary, or 18 months at 33% salary and then as a teacher my first 16 weeks my school district tops me up to my full wage.
After I have used up all the paid leave I can return to my job but continue to use unpaid leave for up to 2 years. meaning as a teacher I can work 2-4 days a week and job share.
How do you guys find child care for babies that young? I already have my unborn baby on 5 wait lists for when he is 1 and I return to work, the earliest we can start is 6 months old…
Oh ladies. Just skimming these comments makes me sad.
I live in Canada. I get 15 weeks of maternity leave plus 35 weeks of paternity PLUS my partner gets 5 weeks of paternity. None of this has anything to do with where we work, in fact the companies we work for could but don’t kick in any coverage aka this is all government regulated. Also, I have heard you have to pay a hospital bill when you have a baby? Oh man. With my daughter I was in and out of the hospital for a few days (getting checked), received some pain meds, when I got admitted (4cm and water leaking) I was there for just over 24 hours, had a private room, a team of nurses, and a meal. No bill. Like, zero cost.
We don’t even pay a monthly health fee anymore. This is just the standard care for certain things.
Now, don’t get me wrong I pay into EI and we get taxed on our pay cheques aka the money comes from the government because of those things, of course. But ya. Man. I am not trying to brag… just both grateful and imagining how I would navigate without this support. You all rock.
**edit to add I could take a longer leave for paternity but the pay is too low. So the pay I get for the 15 + 35 is 40% of my income with a cap of 660$ weekly. And my job is held for me the whole time… by law.
Re: Thoughts on maternity leave?
I have been with my company 3 years- we are small but successful. We had no vacation or PTO policy in effect until February this year. I get 1 day PTO a month. When my son is born I will be able to take 5 days off to spend healing and bonding. That is all the time off I will have for the rest of 2022. They did offer me unpaid leave- but I’m a mother of 2 already and sole custodial parent and provider- we live paycheck to paycheck so it wasn’t even something to consider. Would be honored to get even 2 weeks much less 6 or 12.
It definitely doesn't feel fair to me, but apparently it's state ed code that you have to work at least 75% of the school year for that year to count for the tenure process. Otherwise, you need to repeat the year. I checked with my union, and they confirmed the information.
I wish I had known this earlier. I would have timed this pregnancy differently.
I live in Canada. I get 15 weeks of maternity leave plus 35 weeks of paternity PLUS my partner gets 5 weeks of paternity. None of this has anything to do with where we work, in fact the companies we work for could but don’t kick in any coverage aka this is all government regulated. Also, I have heard you have to pay a hospital bill when you have a baby? Oh man. With my daughter I was in and out of the hospital for a few days (getting checked), received some pain meds, when I got admitted (4cm and water leaking) I was there for just over 24 hours, had a private room, a team of nurses, and a meal. No bill. Like, zero cost.
We don’t even pay a monthly health fee anymore. This is just the standard care for certain things.
**edit to add I could take a longer leave for paternity but the pay is too low. So the pay I get for the 15 + 35 is 40% of my income with a cap of 660$ weekly. And my job is held for me the whole time… by law.