MATERNITY LEAVE?

Hi ladies- was wondering what everyone is winding up with regarding mat leave??
Seems to vary quite a bit company to company let alone state to state. if I go on my due date (12.21) then I will need to return on 3/1....10 weeks.
This counts the 2 weeks vacation and the 2 floating holdiays I did not take this year....
IF I need more time then I can take an additional 4 weeks but on FMLA- which means no pay.

Doesn't seem like a LOT of time...especially since babies are not doing much but eating,sleeping and pooping the first 2 months!!

Re: MATERNITY LEAVE?

Phyl, you are so right! Maternity leave stinks in most US states! I especially think the standard 6-8 weeks (depending on delivering method) is cruel to woman b/c you are definitely NOT feeling 'yourself' in such a short amount of time after giving birth. Between physical exhaustion, hormone fluctuation and emotional anxiety/stress and sleep deprivation - HOW ON EARTH can you be expected to do your job to the best of your ability???

Don't get me wrong - I was one of those woman that said I was going to work FULL time right up until my due date (super woman syndrome). However, by the time I was 8 weeks away from due, I was exhausted. But, I worked for a slave-driver! So, my doctor recommended that I start my leave early (4 weeks prior to due) and I happily complied! Thank goodness for my doctor. In California, your disability coverage begins at least 4 weeks prior, just based on the simple fact that the last month of pregnancy is extremely tiring for most woman.

The time off allows you to finish gathering your feathers for the nest!

Edited to add that my FMLA after the birth was slightly longer too - so, I was able to take off from April 15 - Sept 10 - but the first 4 weeks were paid time off under short term disability and then 7 weeks after delivery were considered my maternity leave. The rest was FMLA - unpaid leave.

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Mine stinks also. I work for the State and our leave is short-term disabiltiy, 50% of your pay but no more than $190 per week I have a couple of weeks of vacation, sick and personal too.
Then, of course you can take FMLA, but what's the use if it's unpaid??

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I get no maternity leave, other than the sick time I've accrued. Personally I think that is awful.
HOWEVER, my school district (and most others, I think) will give us up to 2 years off unpaid with the guarantee of a position somewhere in the district when we return, for each child. If I could afford to take 2 years unpaid, I'd be loving that!

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I work for a very small company (9 employees), so we don't get any maternity leave! Can you believe it. We don't even qualify for FMLA, due to our size. We are allowed to take a month or two off, but that is with no pay. We aren't planning on starting a family right now, but I don't know what we are going to do, when the time comes.

Re: MATERNITY LEAVE?

Wow. Sorry ladies. I thought I had a raw deal. Now I realize that my old company and California law really aren't so bad after all. Thanks for the reality check!

Re: MATERNITY LEAVE?

It does ****! If you quality, you can take FMLA leave, but that's not guaranteed pay, so it depends on your company.

My place pays a certain % depending of length of service, but unless you're a new hire, you have the option to be out 12 wks which is nice.

State disability is only 6 wks, since that's the amount of time the state figures you're literally disabled. the other 6 wks is family leave to take care of the child.

California is notorious for being pro-employer. They're always passing new laws to protect employees.

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This is one of the reasons why I love my job-- we get the regualr FMLA (12 weeks) but get this it is paid-- at least for me-- it depends on how many years you are there-- it works out to 2 weeks per year and then you can add on vacation personal etc--
so at least I know I will have my 3 months and not be worrying about money--- until of course after I go back
Laura

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JennRenee, my school district is exactly the same way. We get NOTHING during our leave, but we can take off for a year or two and still have a position when we return. (Which is nice, but I still want to get paid for those 6 weeks of maternity leave!)

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Melissa, I completely agree! We work so hard nurturing other people's babies... aren't we worth 6 weeks pay to nurture our own??

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In case no mentioned it you are intitled to disibility pay from the state for 6 weeks or more. It is based on your salary and you employer should have the forms for you.

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Just chimming in- the maternity leave policies in the US are so anti-child and anti-family it is insane. How does anyone expect a women to hand a 6 week old over to a day care worker, work a full day, then go home and get up every few hours, and then do it all over again the next day. The doctors all recommend breast feeding but with the maternity policies it is near impossible- you have to pump.

But I think you get the 6 week State disability pay no matter where you work (unless off the books). School districts are part of the same disability system we are all a part of. You don't get FULL pay, just around $300ish a week from the State.

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yah- and $300 a week barely covers diapers and formula or the breast pump and materials...so we are stuck.


Yep, the picture u painted is not IDEAL at all...but everyone at work thinks I get a FULL 3 months off- like it is a VACATION!!!
HAH! I will have to go back to work after 10 weeks...unless I want unpaid leave- which is only another 3 or 4 weeks.

ARGH

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Just wanted to say that can you believe my SIL who lives in CA said that they have an allowance of 80 'pregnancy' days off!!
I'm moving to CA for my next pg!!

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Or better yet, move to Canada - they get 1 year off with full pay (from the government)!!! -I'm not sure if this emoticon is supposed to be jealousy but with his green face that's what it looks like to me)

Actually, I guess I'm fortunate, I have 12 weeks of full pay starting from the day I delivered. The time I took before the baby was born was considered short term disability, also at 100% pay but filed through my insurance company. I don't even want to go back at all....but that's another issue...

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for you Elizabeth. While I cannot say I totally understand how you feel (no baby of my own yet) I don't want to go back to work after either. I thought women's lib was all about choice- and now living on LI it seems most of us don't have a choice but to work to afford a 'regular' house. Not fair at all!