FMLA question « Back to Group Discussions

[scowgirl]

I originally estimated that I would go out on leave from work after the end of this week (I'm 40w1d today). However, it's looking more and more like I will not have the baby by Monday. I asked HR what would happen if I needed to go out on leave prior to the birth, and they seem fond of just sending me boilerplate responses like "let us know when you have the baby and what type of birth it is, and we will begin processing your leave." I am pretty much completely checked out of work and REALLY don't want to work after tomorrow. It seems like I hear of a lot of women who have started FMLA (note, I am not concerned about the pay as I know FMLA is unpaid, just the legality) at 38 or 39w, but (and I guess this is a pretty stupid question), I am no longer certain of how you actually make that happen. Do I need a note from my midwife or something? The internet seems kind of vague on this point.

[Shinyredstar]

Is it an option to take vacation or personal time for the days prior? That's what I did and our HR dept was willing to process it that way- I was in the same mode. I just couldn't focus and had no desire to be at work, and as a result I was being totally unproductive anyway. While I'd originally planned to work till the day of delivery it was nice to have a few days to myself at the end of the pregnancy.

If they won't do that, maybe you could ask your midwife if she's willing to start your leave sooner? Maybe tell her you're feeling stressed at work, blood pressures, too tired, etc etc. I think most health care providers are relatively flexible with things like that.

[scowgirl]

Yeah, I can probably burn off my PTO... I guess it depends on how many days it is. I will have to go back and see how much I have (I've been using a few hours here and there to help mitigate that lack of productivity issue you mentioned ). If I go 2 weeks over (YIKES) then I definitely don't have enough, but if it's just a few days next week, I may be able to swing it. I guess, if I make it to Tuesday, I will just ask my midwife for a note then and use PTO prior to that. I can probably motivate myself to work tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure Monday is not happening. Plus, my workload is diminishing so I will need to do something if I go really far over and run out of both billable work and PTO. People don't seem that anxious to assign tasks to the lady who could go into labor at any moment.  I don't mind taking unpaid time, but we don't really have a policy for that if it's not FMLA, so I don't want to run the risk of getting fired or something.

My supervisor suggested I "just go home" (he was skeptical of me wanting to work past my due date anyway) but I don't think he knows the logistics of how that is actually done, and apparently, neither do I.

Thanks for the advice!