Maternity Leave

skhynes · December 2010

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering what everyone had for benefits as far as paid maternity leave. I work for the government and we get nothing, not even six weeks short term disability (there's no such thing for federal employees). I can take my 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA and can use any PTO I've accrued during that time, but I'm wondering how common paid maternity leave is elsewhere.

buddhagouda · December 2010

Mine was unpaid, but we had our own short term disability insurance.

_Fenton · December 2010

I have 12 weeks paid at 60%, but every other place I worked for didn't qualify for FMLA (less than 50 employees in one office) and I would've been lucky to even get 6 weeks of unpaid leave and keep my job.

Novemberrocks · December 2010

My maternity leave was pretty generous. 13 weeks at 100% pay. They also allow you another 13 weeks unpaid. I just took the 13 weeks and added 3 weeks of vacation time to the end of it that I was about to lose, so I was off for close to 4 months and got paid for the entire time. It was great.

cmc714 · December 2010

I've never worked anywhere that offered paid maternity leave aside from 6 weeks STD (usually 60%). It's going to be FMLA time for me.

mashedpotato · December 2010

we get 8 weeks, you have to use any sick time you have and then can get extended sick leave benefits which I believe is 2/3rds of your salary.

However, I'm salaried so I wonder if I would just get my full pay anyway? I never looked into it since I have no pregnancy plans. I do know that I will get full pay for the weeks I'm out for my surgery, probably 2-3 weeks.

SarahBethBR · December 2010

We're pretty lucky. We get 100% paid leave for 6-8 weeks, depending on the birth. Then we can use our vacation, and I'll probably take 4 weeks on top of that. They're generous with our vacation, and we have flex time so we don't have to use it for doctor visits, sick kids, etc. My department is extremely flexible with time, which is one of the reasons I moved into this job. It's great for parents.

New dads get a week paid, and adoptive parents get 4.

AngieP900 · December 2010

cmc714:
I've never worked anywhere that offered paid maternity leave aside from 6 weeks STD (usually 60%). It's going to be FMLA time for me.

Me too. Although a c section got me 8. I will be back to work after Christmas. I wish I could have had her in another country.

BobLoblaw · December 2010

2 weeks paid, then 10 weeks sick time (assuming you have 10 weeks to take, but we accrue it pretty quickly). Runs concurrently with FMLA.

KristenBtobe · December 2010

I had to use my sick and vacation time as maternity, Otherwise it would have been unpaid. Mike used sick to take paternity leave, their sick doubles as STD.

skhynes · December 2010

Well it's good to know I'm not alone and I realize small companies have it even worse since they don't have to hold your job. I was just surprised that with all the government benefits, this wasn't one of them. Hell, we get Columbus Day off but having a baby gets you squat.

wingedbride · December 2010

I'm in the same boat as you skyhiney.

Something that made me extra sad was- I had Dagger a week before school gets out (I took the week before that too), so I got two weeks of the 12 weeks of FMLA. For some reason, I assumed since I don't work over the summer, I would get the other 10 weeks as an option in the fall, but that is not the case.

KristenBtobe · December 2010

I totally agree, it's bunk. Since I just work part time I don't accrue days very fast so my coworkers had to donate sick days to me in order for me to have 10 weeks paid with Owen. We are a super small place and very family oriented and i could have taken more time but I couldn't afford to go unpaid.

mulva33 · December 2010

my firm doesn't have paid mat leave which I find really surprising since they are pretty progressive otherwise. I get up to 12 weeks of STD. The catch w/ that is, though, that you have to find a dr. willing to disable you for that long.

noisy_penguin · December 2010

We get 12 weeks FMLA, and I have short-term disability insurance that paid partial salary for 6 weeks. I had to use all my sick time before the disability would kick in though, and I didn't have enough vacation to cover the remaining six weeks, so we just saved as much as we could in the months leading up to maternity leave.

And now I'm required to take two weeks off because we're totally closing down, and I've only been back a month and a half so I only had a few vacation days, and my choices are to borrow against vacation time (and have no vacation next year) or go without pay. =/

wingedbride · December 2010

noisy_penguin:
And now I'm required to take two weeks off because we're totally closing down, and I've only been back a month and a half so I only had a few vacation days, and my choices are to borrow against vacation time (and have no vacation next year) or go without pay. =/

That's bullcrap. you should get it paid if they are closing down.

noisy_penguin · December 2010

That would be awesome, but they're closing down to save money.

BobLoblaw · December 2010

I have to take vacation time for our shutdown, too. Or bank comp time, but I hate staying late so I usually have very little comp time saved.

oklagirl · December 2010

Bob and Noisy, that sucks. We are closed for a week and a half-ish, but it is paid and we don't have to use PTO. I have a pretty sweet deal here.

wingedbride · December 2010

oh, well that would be counterproductive then.

skhynes · December 2010

Ugh I also think it's so shitty to force you to take PTO or unpaid leave when they close down for the holidays.

At least I do have the option of working comp time, which I am doing now. I'm exhausted but I'm trying to get in as many hours as I can now to use later. If I didn't even have the option for comp time, I don't know what I'd do. Having babies and working sucks, yo.

CaliopeSpidrman · December 2010

My maternity leave is also unpaid. I have to use sick and vacation time if I want to get paid. I do have STD, but it's the dumbest piece of crap plan ever. It doesn't kick in for the first 31 days of your disability (which, seems to me, to be the definition of "short term disability" but what do I know?). An uncomplicated vaginal delivery earns you 6 weeks of benefits, but since they don't kick in for 31 days, you only end up getting 11 or 12 days of benefits (at 60% of your salary). It's the most useless plan in the world.

noisy_penguin · December 2010

CaliopeSpidrman:
My maternity leave is also unpaid. I have to use sick and vacation time if I want to get paid. I do have STD, but it's the dumbest piece of crap plan ever. It doesn't kick in for the first 31 days of your disability (which, seems to me, to be the definition of "short term disability" but what do I know?). An uncomplicated vaginal delivery earns you 6 weeks of benefits, but since they don't kick in for 31 days, you only end up getting 11 or 12 days of benefits (at 60% of your salary). It's the most useless plan in the world.

When I started working here we had to pick between paying something ridiculously stupid like $4/month for the plan that kicked in after 7 days, vs. $3 for the plan that kicks in after 14 days and $2 for the plan that kicks in after 30 days. It's a difference of $24 a year. I don't know why anyone would bother with the 30 day plan.

lisaiesha · December 2010

noisy_penguin:

We get 12 weeks FMLA, and I have short-term disability insurance that paid partial salary for 6 weeks. I had to use all my sick time before the disability would kick in though, and I didn't have enough vacation to cover the remaining six weeks, so we just saved as much as we could in the months leading up to maternity leave.

And now I'm required to take two weeks off because we're totally closing down, and I've only been back a month and a half so I only had a few vacation days, and my choices are to borrow against vacation time (and have no vacation next year) or go without pay. =/

Could co-workers donate vacation time to you like Kristen's co-workers did? My H had some use-it-or-lose it leave that he wasn't sure he'd be able to use (tons of comp time because he is so busy at work) and he donated it to someone he didn't even know because they had made a request for donated leave.

lisaiesha · December 2010

I work for the state, but I am technically a non-perm employee (even though I have been here for almost 3 years - whatevs) so I do not get annual leave or sick leave. I do surprisingly qualify for a STD plan that would cover 60% of my salary. I only have to be enrolled in it for about 2 months before I can utilize it.

sparrowsocks · December 2010

I get 12 weeks FMLA unpaid. Normally they use your sick/personal days until your run out so that you get some pay, but unless you've accrued 12 weeks, you don't get paid for the entire leave. I also have STD for 60% of my pay. They use your sick/personal days until STD kicks in. I have the option of telling them to use my accrued sick and personal days instead of STD so that I get full pay, which I'll do with this kid. I have enough paid days to be able to take close to 8 weeks, but unless the spawn comes early, I won't need it. I will only need to take between 5 and 6 weeks of leave and I'll still have some left over.

Winged, we have the option of saving some of our time for the fall if you have a spring/summer kid.

mulva33 · December 2010

Ugh, that blows re having to take comp time during office holiday closures. I would never do that to an employee. What a bunch of hooey.

shanollee · December 2010

wingedbride:
I'm in the same boat as you skyhiney.

Something that made me extra sad was- I had Dagger a week before school gets out (I took the week before that too), so I got two weeks of the 12 weeks of FMLA. For some reason, I assumed since I don't work over the summer, I would get the other 10 weeks as an option in the fall, but that is not the case.

Hmm, I've always assumed the same thing. Eeeeenteresting. I'm glad to get this information well in advance, because I was thinking (when the time finally arrives, which will not be within this next year) having a summer baby would be the best so I could build in some extra time off. I suppose it could still work in my favor, but I'll have to plan it out a bit more.

Also, I don't think I opted for short-term disability when I signed up for my benefits. I've never had that as part of my benefits package, but I'm more and more thinking maybe I should for some added protection just in case

Maternity Leave

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