MemberI work for the worst organization.
they only allow 4 weeks for maternity leave and no time to care for new baby. I swear if men were the ones having babies this would be completely different. It just sucks that I’ll barely have time at home with my newborn. I’m actually contemplating finding a new job now or quitting during my leave.
MemberThat sounds stressful. Do you have any other personal days off you can roll into your maternity leave?
Are you pregnant now? Just be aware that if you were to find a new job now you might not get their full maternity leave policy straight away, at least where I live you usually have to work at the company for 1 year before maternity leave.
MemberI recently came off leave and could only afford 8 weeks off so I feel you. No advice, just commiserating.
Membermamawifeme : Wow, I’m so sorry. Four weeks for mat leave is effing absurd. Is that even legal? I thought they had to give you six weeks in the U.S. even if it’s unpaid. In any event I definitely support quitting and finding something else if you can.
Membermamawifeme : Are you in the US? If your employer is larger you should be able to take 12 weeks FMLA leave. It is unpaid but that should be available to you
Do you have a small employer?
Side note…I agree our maternity leave laws in the US really suck.
Memberyes, I’m newly pregnant (5 weeks). We decided that I should stay at my job just in case. Before the news I’d been planning a career change and have several interviews lined up! This is so stressful.
also by by due date, I’ll have about 2 weeks of vacation time that I’ll be using. To make the 4 weeks into 6.
MemberIf your company has at least 50 employees and you’ve been there for a year you qualify for FMLA which may mean unpaid leave but would allow you to be out longer. If you have a c-section I don’t think you even get cleared to return to work that quickly.
If men had babies our species would have gone extinct long ago.
MemberDo you qualify for FMLA?
I don’t think your doctor will even clear you to return to work before 6 weeks.
MemberSorry don’t want to reply individually to not hijack the responses.
anyway, yes I’m in the US.
My company is a fairly large company. They “offer” 6 weeks but there is a 2 week elimination period in which i have to use my paid time off and then get 4 weeks of short term disability. Theoretically, that’s only 4 weeks and not 6, since I’ll be using my vacation time to cover it and it sucks because baby is due around the time i take my vacation each year.
I have FMLA but I can’t afford unpaid time off. Do you know if short term disability is separate from FMLA? Can i do my company’s 4 weeks and then extend it another 12 weeks with FMLA.
Membermamawifeme : ugh that makes me so mad. It sounds like they cheaped out in their short term diability policy so that your vacation covers part of it. What I’ve found to be standard is 6 weeks (or 8 weeks if you have a c section or your doctor writes a note) on a short term disability policy and then whatever vacation you may have. I still think that’s way too little and companies are losing employees because of it. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again a company with a bad maternity benefit is just a bad company in general.
But to answer your fmla question, it does not state that you have to be paid but it does state that your job is protected for 12 weeks if you choose to take them or not. Whether you get paid or not for any of the weeks is entirely up to the company. I’m sorry I hope you get out of there!
MemberMaternity leave is so archaic in the US. It drives me nuts.
Puppies can’t even be sold before 8 weeks so they get the proper bonding time with their mother. But humans…whatever.
MemberThe USA is one of the few, if not the only, developed countries in the world that does not offer a decent paid maternity leave.
Even with the 12 weeks of FMLA, the USA is behind places like Iran, Mexico, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo by a margin of at least 12 weeks.
This is not going to change until more women get more politically active, elect more women and demand change from their elected representatives.
MemberI mean, you’re entitled to 12 weeks under FMLA. It you can’t afford that, since its unpaid, that’s a different story.
If you look for a new job, you might run into more issues. Some don’t offer maternity leave before a certain time period worked, and if you work less than a year at your new employer, I don’t think you qualify for FMLA (I could be wrong, though).
MemberJust wanted to say that women at my company complained about our 12 week paid policy and we now have 16 weeks paid. If you’re not comfortable saying something about their policy now please be sure to tell them this was a determining factor for why you left.
Also everyone please VOTE, preferably for someone who realizes that maternity leave in the US is a disgrace
MemberGreat news! There is still time to register to vote in the midterms! If you are sick of bullshit policies like this, you should register and vote for candidates who support working women. Hint: that’s usually the democrats. Tell your friends! Employers aren’t going to give you shit unless they’re legally required to.