Maternity Leave

[miso_soup]

Beware: angry post!

So I found out yesterday that the institution I work for (a small university in the US) offers ZERO paid maternity/parental leave. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Beyond the mandatory STD (short-term disability after the baby is born, which is at half pay for a length of time as determined by your doctor) and 12 weeks FMLA (Family Medical Leave, which serves only to protect your job during the period of leave and is unpaid and therefore almost completely useless, IMHO).

This makes me sooooo ANGRY! If there's a clearer way for an institution to show precisely how much they don't value an employee, then I sure as sh*t don't know about it. I'm originally from the UK, where paid maternity leave actually exists, and is pretty damn good (39 weeks paid, 6 weeks at 90% of full pay and remainder at a flat rate or 90% of your salary), so maybe this explains (in part) my anger. I mean, I knew that the US wasn't going to offer such generous terms, but I at least expected a couple of weeks. How the hell is anyone supposed to actually have a baby in this country, seriously? I mean, it's not as if we all have endless streams of family members willing to take on daily childcare duties, OR endless streams of cash to pay for overpriced childcare. This just leaves me with so few options, I could scream. And don't even get me started on the laughable scenario that having a baby falls under 'short term disability'. Ha! So what - giving birth means I'm disabled now? Ugh.

I do plan on writing a scathing letter to the administration of the university where I work to let them know how I feel about this, and encourage them to at least consider a short-term paid parental leave, if for no other reason that to stem the consistent departure of valuable female employees of child-bearing age. Not to mention the fact that, uh, it's the decent, socially responsible thing to do.

According to my research, the US is possibly the ONLY developed nation that does not mandate paid parental leave. In which case: remind me next time I have a child to do it somewhere else.

/rant over

[sharr610]

Its pretty ridiculous, isn't it!

I will say that being a regular on and off employee of the higher education system that this is par for the course. There are VERY few institutions in this country that will offer any kind of pay for maternity leave. As our moms will tell us, the 12 weeks of FMLA is much more than they got...

So, if you've been with the university for at least 12 months, and you qualify for FMLA, your insurance will remain active. The STD will last longer if you have a c/s(not a reason to have a c/s, but just something I learned...). And most places will let you use your accrued paid vacation/sick leave during this time so that more of it can be paid. Honestly, that is the way I did it. 3 weeks vacay pay, plus the STD got me 3 months of scraping by...

My next door neighbor is talking about going back to work 3 days after the baby is born. She has a pretty low pressure job and can take the babe to work, but REALLY?! But its her only option...they need her paycheck. Doesn't that just suck?! Isn't it just WRONG!

Momsrising.org is a great group that is fighting for the rights of families and working moms in this country. They make it easy to be an activist about this.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

[lillymonster]

I agree it's bad here, I only got 6 weeks STD offered from my job. Well my OB requested 8 weeks because I had a pretty bad recovery from the c-section and work disability DENIED 8 weeks and I only got 6. I think I even had to use up all my vacation days before STD even kicked in, so I got no time off when I got back and had to start accruing vacation leave from scratch.

Never mind that 2 days after I delivered my boss called and asked if I could come back early or work from home - I still had my staples in!

I mean you could write a letter, but that is pretty much standard with any job. Very few I knew get additional time off. Unfortunately the only way it's going to change is if a new law was added. Until 1993, we didn't even have the FMLA law!

Yes the laws need to change, but until then, businesses here are going to get by with the absolute minimum they can. And like I said, they still call you while you are recovering and ask you to work! (I should have known they would pull that when I was recovering from mouth surgery and on large does of vicodin and they asked if I could come in to work!)

There was 2 weeks parental leave option, but that ran concurrent with FMLA, so basically, I got nothing. And I don't think you get an ADDITIONAL 12 weeks, if you get 6 weeks STD + 2 weeks Parental leave, then you only get 4 weeks FMLA

The whole thing sucks!

[finnegansmom]

Companies are horrible sometimes.

I had to use all my saved vacation, which meant I couldn't call in sick or take any days the whole time I was pregnant because I needed the time after I gave birth. I had the standard 6 weeks of disability at whatever reduced amount, and then had to pay taxes on it. I had to pay for my full health insurance (my employer had contributed part of it when I was working but wouldn't when i was on maternity leave) AND as the kicker they made me pay for my parking pass in full (they normally paid for half since I worked in the city) even though I wasn't using it for 3 months. I mean, REALLY NOW.

It's pretty gross if you ask me.

[poorlittlefish]

Yeah, pretty standard.

I get 6 weeks unpaid leave from a professional job as well.

Sorry you are so angry and please write your letter but know that this is how it is for many people across the US.

[umsami]

Sadly, all I can say is welcome to America.

I used to work for a large multinational company, and it was all the more annoying knowing that many of my colleagues in other countries got great maternity leave and job security, but I did not. I remember when I left to have my first child, so many of them couldn't believe that I would have to return so soon. (I ended up quitting rather than return.)

The US does not value its children or mothers. I'm not sure why not, but we surely do not. If we did, you'd think that at least we'd have free universal health care for all kids and pregnant women.

[miso_soup]

sharr610
Yeah, I too was advised to use my remaining sick/vacation leave to top up my STD (as an aside: whenever I see/type that acronym, all I can think of is 'Sexually Transmitted Disease', lol). Unfortunately for me, I don't have any left - my sick leave was all used up in March on a trip to the UK when my father passed away, and I am taking the last of my vacation in July because... I need a VACATION, dammit! I think it's pretty cynical that women have to take vacation to have a baby. Oh, and thanks for the link, btw - will definitely check it out.

lillymonster
I can't believe your boss called you two days after your delivery!! Wtf??! That's just insane! And yes, you're right - the FMLA runs concurrently with STD, not in addition to.

finnegansmom
Wow. Just... wow. They made you pay in full for your parking pass while you were on maternity? Couldn't they just let someone else use it (and pay for it) temporarily? Or just continue to subsidize it in the short-term? That's so awful!

poorlittlefish
Yeah, it does seem to be standard across the US - I certainly don't imagine that I have it any worse (or better) than anyone else. It's just unacceptable in any form, you know? And I know that a letter isn't going to change the world (or even, my institution's policies), but it's a place to start, at least.

umsami
Thanks for the welcome . I, too may end up quitting. I honestly don't know if any other solution is worth my time or energy. Or money. I'm with you on the health care issue, too. It's so strange to me that a country that is comprised of so many caring, wonderful individuals (as the overwhelming majority of my American friends, family, colleagues and neighbors are) has not evolved a more compassionate and enabling approach to child-rearing at the macro level.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by miso_soup

umsami
Thanks for the welcome . I, too may end up quitting. I honestly don't know if any other solution is worth my time or energy. Or money.

I ended up quitting too. Of course, I also figured out the cost of daycare to how much money I was making and added my 40+ minute commute one way, and well, I ended up making $100 or less a month. (and I didn't include gas to and from daycare) So it's bad not just with leave, but with daycare options too. And forget it if you have more than one child in daycare!

[AmyKT]

Funny, but it takes someone from another country to remind us how messed up our parental leave system is. I work at a university and we also get no paid leave. I don't even know what this short-term disability thing is you speak of. Luckily, my university system is pretty generous with annual leave and sick leave, so it accrues pretty fast. As soon as I started planning to make babies I basically took very little time off for sickness or vacation, so I've been able to accrue between 12 and 16 weeks each time. I also plan to work from home a little bit starting a month after the baby is born, so that will extend my time a little. Of course, I have to give up the FMLA protection to do that, so I'm counting on the goodness of my bosses to actually leave it up to me when I return full time. We've discussed the terms and they fully agree to them, but I just have to trust they don't change their minds.

It was important for us to have one parent at home with our babies while they are little, and since I have the higher paying job, my husband stays home. I feel really badly for families who don't have that option at all, but like others have said, that's how it is here, and we're pretty used to it. It still sucks.

[Climbergirl]

I worked for a pharma company and got "lucky" so to speak (because I was also in CA - which seems to be a least a little bit better). I took 2 weeks off (company short term disability) before labor because my OB said I was "disabled" (yes, I agree with your issue with that term). I could have had more, but I really needed to finish some things up (honestly though, I SHOULD have taken more). Then I got 8 weeks off (full pay) because I got a c/s through my company maternity leave. Then I "went back" for a day (took vacation), took the holiday shut down (holiday time which I didn't get if on leave), and then went under the CA STD, which was at half pay. So, it worked out to be 4.5 months (with some money coming in) and I still had some other time under a different leave (forgot what that was) that I could have taken at no pay.

Yes, it is ridiculous. There were people in my department in Ireland and they got at least 6 months off at full pay. Honestly, I thought it was pretty shitty the same boss had people out for a lot longer, but they could not extend the same to me.

Our social programs suck. Just look at the issues we had for trying to get universal health care. It makes me sad to see how we treat families here (and scream how family oriented we are). Blah. You should be angry. I am angry about it.

[wholebreath]

My husband is English, and has always shook his head over our crappy social safety net, but he really went off the deep end when DS was born and it really sunk in that there was NO help for us. He works for a small (less than 20 people) company and I am self-employed. We just had to patch it together. Due to the nature of my work, I stopped at 30 weeks and then went back when O was 11 weeks old. Much longer than some people can manage, but I really wanted to be with him longer.
Now with this next baby, for the first time there have been some semi-serious discussions about moving to England. We'll see.....

[lilmiss'mama]

Just adding my frustration to the mix!
Our system is horrible for mothers & families! I also only have FLMA. We are required to take all of our paid leave (vacation & pto) and then the FLMA kicks in. I don't have any vacation or pto as most of mine was eaten up when my older kids had chicken pox early this year.
I think what we do to families in this country is criminal! There is no support and stay at home mothers are no longer valued. Does anyone remember when GWB was president and he was interviewing a woman at some rally and she said she worked 3 jobs & he told her that was great it was the american way! How f'ing ridiculous! No one should have to work 3 jobs to make ends meet.
This issue really gets my fire burning! Some how although I have no idea how we will stay afloat I am going to quit my job after this baby. Neither of us can imagine putting an infant in daycare at 12 weeks & it makes me so sad for women who have no other choice.

[Pinoikoi]

I saved up my "leave bank" so that if I had the baby during my work period, I would still get a paycheck.. I think I had something like 40+ days saved.. but what sucked I found out and seems SO unfair, is that if I had had my baby during the school year (instead of the summer break) I would have qualified for additional time off paid.. for example, if I had had the baby in January, I would have gotten my 6 weeks (and I have enough leave to cover it so it would have been all paid, but even if I didn't I could have dipped into the "leave bank" which most people I know donate 1 day each to to cover other employee's emergencies) PLUS gotten my summer time off with pay.. because I am having a june baby, I only get the summer time off with pay (I elected to have a 12 month salary even though I don't work 12 months)..

So essentially my workplace rewards employees that have their babies during the school year with more paid time off than the employees that have their babies during their break time.. I think this is really unfair.

I am glad that I have leave that I can choose to access, but the rules imho still need some ironing out..

OP, I would definitely push this issue with your union.. yes, it is a National problem, but I think the solutions are more readily available at that local level..

[Noah's mommy]

Just a big hug...it sucks in the US. I had six weeks unpaid with both kids (as a public school teacher). I wouldn't have had a third baby there because it was too difficult to manage the maternity leave, but we took international teaching positions and now live in Brazil. I get 4 months paid, 15 days for breastfeeding, and 30 days of vacation (because I'm due over our vacation). Add that time to my school break and as of today I am off until late January. Far better solution in my opinion....

[umsami]

And to offer some contrast, this article on Sweden's Paternity leave was in the NYTimes today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/wo...FiudyVb7ZBbiSw

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

No offence to anyone but that is messed up, i used to be under the illusion that America would be a better place to live and have children and then i came to this site and was proven wrong i hope things change in the very near future it sure needs to big 's to all the mummies who have to be away from there precious bundles so soon after birth because of this.

[is it puppies?]

I have to say when I think of how terrible it is in the US I am glad to be in Canada even though I complain about it all the time! I have one year of job protected combined maternity and parental leave (part of it could be taken by dh but he is the bigger earner so it doesn't make sense)- I get Employment Insurance payments pretty much the whole time, which I admit are not a lot but I will be making around $400/wk for 50 weeks (which I will get taxed on)! I would complain about it much more if I were making a lot of money because it tops out at about $455/week at max 60% of your salary but it's okay with how little I earn working at a not for profit. I banked almost a month of overtime and vacation time so I had all of May off and now I got a note to take medical leave from my last paid work day (May 15th) for having tendinitis in my wrists (again paid as part of EI) until the 15th of June so hopefully by then I have the baby and will start mat leave officially!

I know there are some cases here (due to unions usually) where the pay is topped up and it usually works out better for some and worse for others, for example teachers in some divisions would as a pp mentioned have full pay top up for a while if they deliver in the school year but not over summer, and I've got friends who work for some gov't departments that have up to 6 months full pay top-up! (plus of course the balance of the year leave at EI rates).

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by is it puppies?

I know there are some cases here (due to unions usually) where the pay is topped up and it usually works out better for some and worse for others, for example teachers in some divisions would as a pp mentioned have full pay top up for a while if they deliver in the school year but not over summer, and I've got friends who work for some gov't departments that have up to 6 months full pay top-up! (plus of course the balance of the year leave at EI rates).

I am big fan of leave banks and paid leave accrual.. I mean I think that it is important parents get paid time off, but there are other instances that I think should qualify as well (like cancer treatment for instance).. I worked for the State gov't and the leave system there was much preferable to what my school district has.. you HAD to keep two weeks of paid leave in your bank (in case of emergency) but any more than that and the employee had the choice to cash it out.. and there was only the one type of leave- you could use it for personal time or for maternity or for sick time, etc.. the district has two banks- one for personal leave (I used mine to volunteer for one of my kid's out of town field trips), and the other is sick leave (pregnancy related stuff, illness, doctor/dentist appts etc).. cannot cash out sick leave at all, can cash out personal leave, but it is only like 3 days per year, so doesn't come to much..

the problem I had with the discrepency between the school year and the summer vacation as a teacher is that it essentially rewards teachers that take time off during the school year (they get more paid leave time).. and I have students that need to pass their exit exams to graduate on time.. there is no way that a substitute teacher can keep my graduation rate that I work so hard to maintain as high as I do.. so those students end up suffering if I am out of the classroom.. I realize that pregnancies happen WHENEVER for a lot of people, but I have met teachers that "planned" their pregnancies to get more time off and that just doesn't seem right- they stick their students with a sub for 6 weeks so they get more paid time off, essentially.. I think fair and equatable is the better deal, but I am not sure how to make it happen.

I would also like to see better guidelines regarding more break time for women that are nursing, but I guess that is a different (although somewhat related) issue..

[Hannah32]

Yup, it's the American way! We should change our national motto to either: "Good luck with that!" or "You're on your own."

Being a K-12 teacher is better than most things, if you can time it right. I'm due very soon and I've been banking sick days for quite a long time at my job. The baby will be over 4 months when I have to go back and since hubby is underemployed on a seasonal basis, we'll have a full-time parent at home. I'm luckier than many people and have been treated well.

But I still think we need better laws.

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by Pinoikoi

but what sucked I found out and seems SO unfair, is that if I had had my baby during the school year (instead of the summer break) I would have qualified for additional time off paid.. for example, if I had had the baby in January, I would have gotten my 6 weeks (and I have enough leave to cover it so it would have been all paid, but even if I didn't I could have dipped into the "leave bank" which most people I know donate 1 day each to to cover other employee's emergencies) PLUS gotten my summer time off with pay.. because I am having a june baby, I only get the summer time off with pay (I elected to have a 12 month salary even though I don't work 12 months)..

So essentially my workplace rewards employees that have their babies during the school year with more paid time off than the employees that have their babies during their break time.. I think this is really unfair.
.

My 1st was due during spring break and the principal told me to hold out until then, b/c if he was born during break, I would get those 2 weeks and then my leave would start after spring break ended... of course he was born 1 week before spring break and so I lost 2 paid weeks. I had it pretty good, though - I think I had 6 weeks full pay, 4 weeks half pay, and then 2 weeks no pay, and then there were only 2 weeks till summer break, and she let me work part-time and my MIL brought ds1 to the school during morning break to let me nurse him. Then for my 2nd year schedule, I got my free periods 2 in a row, and I planned to go home to nurse him (30 minutes total, half of one period) and they said that I wasn't allowed to do that DURING MY OWN LUNCH so I quit.

Now I work for myself so I can't really have any leave! Ha ha ha. But at least my boss is nice and I can bring the baby. But America does suck for this reason and is so hypocritical about "family values."