No maternity leave?

[piglet too]

Wow EG, that was some major typo. Did most of the new moms take the 6 months??

 

[DMickey28]

Wow, that really stinks. My company gives 12 weeks paid maternity/adoption leave and then of course you can tack on 12 weeks unpaid family leave.

When we adopted DD I stayed home with her for 7 months since I had also saved some vacation time.

That's awesome. That's a company I'd like to work for!!!

We had the standard 12 weeks FMLA, 6 weeks paid at 60% STD. However, out of the 6 weeks STD you got a week at 100% pay per year you worked there. For example I had DS in late April, I had been there a year so I got one week at 100% pay and 5 at 60%. What stunk for us is that my two year anniversary was only 14 days away from his birthday!!!

 

[mommasita]

We have 1 year Maternity leave. It can also be shared by both parents. You can divide it any way you please..

This is at 55% of your salary..

 

[MareQ]

I thought that it was mandatory to offer maternity leave. Maybe that is just allowing time off, but with no pay??

Short Term disability covers Maternity leave here in NJ.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Do you mean paid maternity leave? That's not unusual, I worked for a huge company with great benefits and we didn't have paid leave.

When I had my kids I received 6 weeks paid on short term disability and then I wa sable to stay out until the baby was a year but it was all unpaid. I saved my vacation and went out a coupel of weeks before I was due with each one.


ETA
I have heard of people collecting STD from the state if they worked for a company without paid disablility.

 

[Buckalew11]

I had to take whatever time off unpaid. I took 7 weeks. Maybe that has something to do with only having 1 child!

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We get the STD, which has company paid premiums, it's not through the state. However, you are only going to get that for 6 weeks, maybe 8 with a c-section. After that you have to use your vacation.

Who is your co-worker going to find to watch a 2 week old baby? Most of the daycares here don't start until 3 months.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I work in a hospital, and we don't have maternity leave either, at least not paid. You can use whatever sick and vacation time you have, and after that, you can take FMLA, but it's not paid.

I didn't have paid maternity leave with either of my kids, and it made it tough!

 

[ChrizJen]

Sounds about standard or above standard to me...
Ours is the same. You save up whatever vacation/sick time you have, then after that's depleted, you get 60% on the short-term disability. I think the wait is 2 weeks, though, so as long as you have at least 2 weeks built up of sick/vacation combined, you don't have any time completely without pay. That seems like the only odd part. Good luck to your boss, OP and her situation. I don't even know of many doctors who will release a woman back to work before 6 weeks. And I definitely don't know of a daycare that would take a baby younger than 6 weeks...

 

[mamacatnv]

No paid leave in Nevada and no State disability. I have a short term disability policy that I purchased after DD was born and I pay the premiums. If your employer does that for you, then you have an added benefit. On short term, you can't purchase more than 60 or 66% of your income anyway (at least not here).

When I had DD I took off 6 months unpaid. I spent 9 months squirreling away money so that we could still make the house payment and I didn't have the immediate pressure to return to work. My employer was gracious to allow me that amount of time, I actually came into the office 1 afternoon a week during that extended time and did do some work from home to keep the ship afloat.

The only thing the law protects is the right to take maternity leave and the right to have your job protected.
I hate to say it but I don't think your manager planned very well and is now down to the wire without alot of options. Here, daycares cannot take an infant under 6 weeks.

 

[barkley]

I just found out that the company I work for does not have any maternity leave. You have to save your vacation, and then if you want more time off you have to work a week without pay and then short term disability will kick in and then you get paid 60% of your salary.

Now I found this out because my boss is having her baby any day now. She saved 2 of her 4 weeks vacation. Because of other medical bills, she will not be able to do the week of no pay and then get paid at 60%. So unless someone here approves for her to work at home, she will be back after 2 weeks.

Is this normal?

i don't think they are saying she has to come back to work for a week after being off then go off again to disability coverage. likely it's a state with state disability with a 7 day waiting period, so the employee goes off work and the first 7 covered days are unpaid under the state plane-but an employee can use vacation or sick time to cover it. once the 7 day period is up then they collect state funds. usualy only sick pay during the payable period under state disability counts against your check.

the boss needs to find out if the plan is through the employer or the state-if it's thru the state she probably will find that she's actualy eligible the first day of the second week she's off.

allot of employers, weather they have their own plans, state plans or no disability plans at all, require disabled employees to use at least a tiny portion of whatever accruals they have each pay period-reason being it keeps them in pay status and eligible for active employee insurance rates (my former gov. employer would have payroll use just one hour of leave each month to keep us in that status/saved people thousands over what they would have paid otherwise).

oh-and if a woman has issues that the doc feels should have her go off early-state disability will usualy cover this with the same 7 day wait period (my doc took me off at least 2 weeks before the due dates on both my kiddos)-only issue is that time will count against your fmla, so if doc. takes you off 6 weeks before, you're only looking at fmla protecting you for 6 weeks post-even if the doctor sez you need to be off longer (in california at least you would get dib from the state, but the employer would'nt have to hold your job and could terminate for failing to return at the end of the total 12 weeks).

 

[arminnie]

Maternity leave is generally covered just like any other medical leave. Any time that a woman is not physically able to work should be covered the same as a person who is not able to work due to an illness like cancer.

In California it was illegal to pay less for a pregnancy related leave than for other medical leave. I don't know if the reverse is true - if a company can pay more for a maternity leave than for someone who had a heart attack.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have to use whatever sick or vacation I have, nothing more is paid. I can take short term after a certain period of time though.

Because of my work, I'll likely take a couple weeks completely off and then start working again with baby in tow so we don't lose income.

 

[Evil Genius]

I all ways worked for companies that paid for maternity leave, so hearing all these responses is quite an eye opener. I feel bad for all of you who have had to take time off with no pay.

As for who's going to take care of a 2 week old, I'm assuming her mom. Unless she brings the baby with her and sets something up in her office. Which I can't see happening.

And yes most of the women took the 6 months off.

 

[disykat]

I always thought using sick leave, vacation time, unpaid leave, or disability was the norm - just like any other medical leave.

 

[DeterminedOne]

This is very normal. Most companies do not have a maternity leave benefit. Any leave is covered by FMLA./Vacation. The company I work for requires employees to use all available vacation time first. The FMLA ends up paid because we have STD benefits.

 

[Arielle22]

It is 2 different issues. First is the time off (whether or not paid). If the company has 50 employees within 75 miles and you have worked 1250 hours in the past 12 months then you are eligible for 12 weeks of leave. Family medical leave is unpaid. It guarantees you the same position when you return (there are some exceptions). However if you have used FMLA in the past 12 months then that time is deducted from what you have available. So if you took 5 weeks to care for a sick parent you only have 7 weeks for your pregnancy.

If your company doesn't fall under FMLA then you need to see if your state has an maternity labor law. Your company may not treat you any different than an employee who was out for another injury. So if your company gives time off for an employee who isn't covered by FMLA then a pregnant woman should get it also. However if your company doesn't fall under either FMLA or another maternity labor law; then it is up to the company how much time off to grant.

To be paid a company has several options. First is to offer paid leave (which is rare unless it is a large company). Second is a state plan. Only a few states have a plan and it is usually for a small sum (I believe NY is around $170 per week). Third, if the company allows you, use sick,vacation or PTO time. Fourth is short term disability. Most plans allow 6 weeks post partum (if there are no complications). There is a 5 day waiting period where you don't get paid.

Disability payments may be taxed. If the premiums are taken out of your paycheck pretax then the payments are taxable. If the premiums are taken out of your net pay (after taxes) then the payments are not taxable.

OP, it sounds like your boss is taking her paid time, then waiting a week and having her disabilty kick in.

Other than FMLA most labor laws are state specific. The best place to get particulars is from your state's dept of labor.

 

[lindalinda]

I work for the govt, and we have maternity leave exactly as described by the OP, except there is no short term disability. You save up your leave, both vacation and sick leave and use that, or take leave without pay. When I had my son I managed 5 1/2 weeks and had to come back.

Actually a new co-worker and I just had this conversation. She is brand new and just got pregnant and said to me "I get 6 weeks right". She kind of freaked out when I explained she had to use her vacation and sick leave. You can get advanced leave till the end of the current year. Of course then you dont have any more to use if you need sick leave or anything.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I'd just like to say that this is very very different than how maternity and parental leave. I think the way that you've described maternity leave working sucks!

In Canada, you can take a whole year off after/during/before you've had a baby. The government foots the bill so you continue to have some income. There are two types of leave. 1. Maternity Leave and 2. Parental Leave. Both can (and most often are) used in combination. Maternity Leave is for working parents and can be taken for 15-17 weeks. Then Parental Leave kicks in for 35 weeks. On top of that, you are entitled to 2 weeks vacation time.

For more info: http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/maternity.asp

I think if I were in the US I would be demanding more of the government around this issue. It sounds to me like they hardly get involved.

 

[yasmina]

According to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, pregnancy must be treated exactly the same as any other illness or injury, IOW, if a someone has a heart attack or breaks a leg, whatever benefits they receive, a pregnant woman must receive the same benefits for the time indicated by her caretaker (OBGyn, midwife) deems medically necessary. For many years, our school district really stuck it to pregnant women by requiring them to take unpaid leave instead of the benefits available to other employees.

You want to be really disgusted? Take a look at this list of maternity leave around the world. Isn't it nice to know that we rank with Swaziland and Lesotho? Oh yes, and Australia.

http://www.apesma.asn.au/women/maternity_leave_around_the_world.asp

This topic always ticks me off!