Maternity Leave

[ah1126]

Just a quick question... What does your job offer for Maternity Leave? Do they pay you full or part of your pay? Do you get paid disability?

I am in the process of talking my husband in to trying to get pregnant and looking into things at my work. I just wondered what other companies offered.

Also if a job offers nothing, is that reason enough to look for another job?

Thanks!

 

[ceiligh1]

I recieved 60% of my pay once my sick leave and vacation ran out. They paid for up to 6 weeks but since I had 2 weeks of vacation and sick leave they only gave me 4 weeks of 60%. I recieved this as disability pay. I was then able to stay home for an additional 6 weeks but was not paid anything for that.
My DH works for a company that gives him paternity leave. He recieved one month full pay to stay home with me and the baby. If you are a woman in his company you get both maternity and paternity leave for a total of 4 months full pay. YOu are then allowed to use up your vacation and sick leave (note at his company the fact that you saved vacation actually helps you stay home longer). His company also offers paternity leave for those who are adopting.
My company only offered their maternity plan if you have worked for them over 1 year.
I forgot to add talk to your HR and know your rights. MY company which is nationwide acted like the 3 women in our clinic were the first to ever have had babies while they were employed. Also keep track of how much you are paid as disability. At least with my work they forgot to add it to my tax statements at the end of the year causing me to have to send in a amended tax return.

 

[SalandJeff]

I work for a very large international company. They provide 6 weeks of disability leave that is paid. It is, in effect, "sick leave" for the mother because she just had a baby. Any employee on disability leave receives the same pay, which ranges from full pay to none. It depends on years of service and date of hire.

As for leave for the "care of newborn child", you are entitled to take up to one year, but without pay.

 

[rmjkharrisfam]

Our company gives up to 14 weeks plus any vacation you have. But it's not all paid. The first 6 weeks (8 wks if you have a c section) are paid the full salary as short term disability. The next 6 weeks are unpaid as a part of FMLA. So the normal plan is 6 wks paid, 6 wks unpaid. I did that once. With the 2nd child I did 6 wks paid, 8 wks unpaid. Our company also gives profit sharing which is usually the equivalent of 2-3 months of pay. So, with a little careful planning for the time of the baby we were able to utilize this to supplement my unpaid time.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I am in the process of talking my husband in to trying to get pregnant

WOW!! What a miracle that would be...let me know how that works for you guys.

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

I work for the State of NH and they give you the 12 weeks of FMLA, but they don't pay for any of it. So, if you don't have enough time (whether it be comp time, annual time, or sick time) then you would have to take all 12 weeks unpaid. But,they limit how much sick time you can use: for a ******l birth, you can only use 6 weeks of sick time and for a C-section, you can use only up to 8 weeks of sick time. Luckily with all of my kids, I had enough time to cover all of my maternity leaves. Working for the State of NH, you earn A LOT of time off.

 

[endy]

In Canada as long as you have enough time, you get to collect unemployment for nearly 1 year. Or the dad can take unemployment for up to 24 weeks and the mom the rest. Not 100% sure on the amount as mine is almost 11. I believe most companies will hold your job for 1 year.

 

[Lisa_M]

I have a part time job that I have had for 3.5 years. It is convenient, but the pay is bad (never got a raise). I used to do it full time, but the benefits or lack of are the same regardless. I get 30-90 days off/leave of absence for maternity leave with no pay at all. This is particularly troubling because I am due in February and at any new job, I would not have worked long enough to qualify for their maternity leave. The only reason I stay put with this job is that is very flexible and easy (not really a great reason).

In the meantime, I have been doing consultation work for school districts to make and hopefully save extra money. We are planning on moving back to NY in March so our expenses will drop to the tune of $900 per month. I am really looking forward to that. We are only staying here until the baby is born for insurance purposes (I'm on DH's insurance and it's very good). Once we move, we will reassess my employment situation.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I can take whatever sick leave and annual leave I accrue, otherwise it would be unpaid and I can take up to 12 weeks off unpaid.

 

[CEDmom]

My company gives 12 weeks paid (including adoption) and then you can extend leave another 12 weeks unpaid under the family leave act.

When we adopted our DD I was able to stay home with her for 7 months(used vacation time as well) and then scaled back my schedule to 3 days a week .

 

[Todd&Copper]

Anyone know what the federal government gives to its employees? My current employer allows up to 16 weeks of disability pay (60% of salary). You can take off more time after that, but it is an unpaid leave of absence.

 

[ahonjen]

When my first son was born, I was at a small, private company. They gave me 8 weeks pay, and then allowed me to work the next month at home-- kind of like a transition period.

When my second son was born, I was at a large corporation. I received 8 weeks short term disability plus 2 weeks of company-paid parental leave (both men and women received this.) There was a week waiting period for the paid disability to kick in though, so I used all of my sick time for that week so I could get paid. Under FMLA, I could have extended my leave, but it would not have been paid.

 

[rhiansmom]

Anyone know what the federal government gives to its employees? My current employer allows up to 16 weeks of disability pay (60% of salary). You can take off more time after that, but it is an unpaid leave of absence.

They follow FMLA guidelines but what is paid is coming out of your sick leave/annual leave and comp time.

Luckly when I was a GS employee I had enough saved up for 12 weeks off with leae to spare because she came 5 weeks early and since they already had a temp in place the allowed me to take all 17 weeks!

 

[LisaNJ25]

everytime I went out I went though the state disability. They paid either 60 or 80%.. I dont remember right now. I got 4 weeks before and 6 weeks after for reg and 8 weeks for a c-section.

 

[atisikitabasket]

Mine is the first week you must use sick time for the first 7 days then if you purchased short term disability it will kick in after the first 7 days at 60% or your regular pay for 6 wks for v-birth or 8-weeks for c-section then you can take the remaining time for FMLA for a combined 12 weeks unpaid. You also have to be employed for 12 months full time or you get nothing. My DH we work at the same place gets nothing he would just use vacation but if we adopted we would get 3 months time paid at 100% without using any vacation.

Watch taking a new job many places you have to be employed a year to get some of the benefits for having a baby.

 

[gabriellewatson]

My company is fairly small. Because I am not a salaried employee I cannot take paid time off unless it is 1 week vacation, and they short me on those hours too.

I typically work 40-45 hours / week. My vacation time is an alotted 30 hours / year. That's not even a full work week. It does not progress unless I become salaried [(1-5 years / 2 weeks / year) (5-10 years / 3 weeks / year)].
My company has also not been paying for my overtime hours (1.5 / hour over 40), which is illegal. As much as I love working here, they don't offer benefits of any kind. Well I get 401K but that's after I'd been here for over 2 years.

My husband and I are trying to conceive as well. Luckily we have great insurance through his company.

 

[puffkin]

At the large company I work for it really depends on years of service for the paid part.

For employees with 1-5 years of service I qualified for FMLA and I got:

5 weeks full pay
3 weeks half pay (I had a C-section, a regular birth would be 1 week half)
Any unused vacation time
Balance up to the 12 weeks unpaid

Since I had two weeks vacation it ended up being 8 1/2 weeks pay and 3 1/2 weeks unpaid which wasn't too bad. And at least with us, we were spending a lot less money (gas, lunches, dry cleaning, eating out, shopping) because we spent most of our time at home.

 

[ah1126]

Thanks for all the info! I guess it just depends on what your company wants to do.

 

[dcgrumpy]

6 weeks paid disability, it used to be 4 weeks regular birth and 6 weeks for a c-section but when I had my last child it was changed to 6 weeks for either. You can take up to a the baby's first birthday without pay. I attached vacation days to each end of my leaves so I ended up with 13-14 months off.

 

[tink&cinderella]

I was able to take one full year off with full pay.l The year is paid by Unemployment insurance via the goverment, however, my work place topped me up to 90% of my full wage for the first 4 months, then stayed on unemployement (the maximum) for a year. You are able to take off an additional year after that without pay and the employer holds your job for you.

 

[summerrluvv]

I work for a small company. We get 12 weeks FMLA (although they don't have to give us that since we have about 20 employees total..shh don't tell them though!). We only get paid what the state pays though. It's $140 MAX for 6 weeks (although one week is a waiting period, so you really only get 5 weeks..not sure why they say six!). I've actually extended my leave, so I'll have five months off. I have been going in a couple of days a week here and there though since she was 5 weeks old and bringing her with me. Fortunately I'm a good budgeter and saved quite a bit of money prior to, or I would have been back at six weeks.