[supermuma]

So, I just have to get this out..and I am assuming that this would be the best place to do it. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">:<br><br>
Just before we decided to start ttc, I was told that I would get 12 weeks PAID leave. WOW, I thought..that is GREAT! Fantastic!<br><br>
FFW....to about 3 months into the pregnancy.....financial/pay person here tells me that is wrong, that they only pay for 6 weeks (as long as I had been here one year, which i had)...but that I can use my vacation time to take the other 6 weeks if I would like to. ...GRRR...okay, fine, whatever. That is still pretty good and I add up all of the vacation time I will have earned by the first week it would be safe for baby to be born and its all good. I will have JUST 6 weeks. Okay. Fine. GREAT. Not as good as what I first though..but workable. Great.<br><br>
Okay...FFW to TODAY...25weeks into the pregnancy. I AM GOING TO SCREAM. Another co-worker just found out that she was pregnant and what SHE heard was that you had to use short term disability and then your vacation.....so great....but I only have 2 WEEKS of short term disability built up in the nearly 2 years that I have worked here........2 WEEKS. 6 weeks is the MAX.....but you have to work for 3 YEARS to get 6 weeks built up. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/censored.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="censored"> ...why wouldn't the financial person have TOLD me this VERY important detail???????<br><br>
AND on top of that I find out TODAY...that my vacation time caps at 208 hours...so I am NOT earning the vacation time that I had PLANNED out for myself until the baby could come out safely at all!--you CAN move vacation time into your short term disability fund so that you can continue to earn vacation time each pay period...but IT WOULD HAVE HELPED IF SOMEONE TOLD ME THIS!!! Guess what I am on? 208 hours....and have been apparently for at least one pay period.<br><br>
So, who knows how long the paper work is going to take to transfer hours...I might not ever get anymore vacation time built up before the baby is born at this rate. (It takes soooo long to get anything done around here).<br><br>
So right now, at this very moment (if my paperwork doesn't go through quickly) I can take a total of 7.5 weeks off with pay.<br><br>
Far cry from planning on 12 paid one way or another. It changes EVERYTHING. We have created a plan of our lives around this leave...and it is such short notice to change it now....when it was information that SHOULD have been given accurately to begin with. It should be standard info. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/hopmad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="hopping mad"> If I had been given the accurate info to begin with...then there would be no problems. It would be just fine.<br><br>
Why oh why can people not just give me accurate information? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/banghead.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="banghead"><br><br><br>
I just want to scream with frustration. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/splat.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="splat"><br><br><br>
If you have gotten this far, thank you for listening.

 

[DandeCobb]

wow, that must be so frustrating, i would be very upset at the lack of communication and people not knowing what they are talking about. are you allowd to take unpaid leave in addition to you paid leave? i don't know if its an option but maybe you could extend your maternity leave a couple weeks with out pay? good luck and hugs, when you are pregnant is the worst time for people to screw up!

 

[claras_mom]

If you haven't already made the appointment or had the conversation, seems a good time to talk to the nice people in your HR (or whatever office handles it) and get everything straightened out and put into writing. If you have anything in writing from previous conversations, be sure to bring that in. Might also be covered in an employee manual, if there is one where you work.<br><br>
I got lucky when I had to deal with this in that my main point of contact (in my office) was someone who had been through the drill previously, for herself, so she knew who to send me to in the office that actually handles all the paperwork. But it was still a PITA.<br><br>
Good luck!<br><br>
ETA It's possible that if the error was on their side, they can find a way to cut you some slack, or expedite paperwork. Thing is, using vacation hours may be a better deal overall than short term disability (which in my experience wouldn't cover my usual salary), so depending on the circumstances, you probably only want to transfer as many hours as you need into short term disability, and keep as much as possible as vacation time.

 

[PiePie]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>supermuma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7950591"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Okay...FFW to TODAY...25weeks into the pregnancy. I AM GOING TO SCREAM. Another co-worker just found out that she was pregnant and what SHE heard was that you had to use short term disability and then your vacation.....so great....but I only have 2 WEEKS of short term disability built up in the nearly 2 years that I have worked here........2 WEEKS. 6 weeks is the MAX.....but you have to work for 3 YEARS to get 6 weeks built up. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/censored.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="censored"> ...why wouldn't the financial person have TOLD me this VERY important detail???????<br></div>
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first of all, sympathy for you. we should all have paid leave through the gov't, imho. but i think there may be confusion -- are they talking about your employer's privately purchased short-term disability policy, or something provided through the state?

 

[jessitron]

Oh that stinks. Is there any way you can fight to get at least the vacation time that you SHOULD have earned if they had told you what you were supposed to do to earn it? whether you get it as STD or vacation, whichever. Backdate the transfer, or something?<br><br>
That is crap. I would be making a stink. What does your boss say about it?<br><br>
A coworker here had a similar problem where he was cheated out of vacation because he was told one expiration date and the system used another. Our boss told him to take the time whenever he had planned, and she'll just pretend he was here (or "working" from home).

 

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

The only way you are going to know for sure what the policy and steps are is to talk to HR -- not to a co-worker or your boss (assuming this is a moderately large company. If not, talk to the owner or whoever is in charge of HR stuff.) The PP is righ -- make an appointment to go over your specific situation and get it in writing. If they don't offer it in writing, go from the conversation to your desk and write a memo that says "This is what I understand you said. If this is not correct, please provide additional information." That will get you covered so they can't change again.<br><br>
Don't forget that you can probably also use your sick time. Don't use it all though because you might need something later.<br><br>
I know its not helpful, but look on the bright side of this -- even 8 weeks is much better than some of us get. I went back to work aftern 5 weeks (with a C-section no less) because I got absolutely nothing paid. To get the 5 weeks partly covered I used all of my vacation time and all of my sick time. The whole thing sucks, of course.

 

[supermuma]

First of all, THANK YOU so much for the support! I really needed it and appreciate all of your kind words and helpful suggestions <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">. Thank you.<br><br>
I should have clarified more, the person who gave me wrong info twice, was the HR person (I think I called her the financial person...too mad to be typing I think--and making sense anyway!). I am not sure why she has given me any of the info that she has thus far..unless she really just does not know what she is talking about...which is very VERY frustrating.<br><br>
The info that I got today was from my co-worker who just found out that she is due in December...she found it in the employee handbook (haha, never got one of those either....and I trusted what the HR person said..not very smart..I admit..). Then I asked another co-worker who is due a bit before me and she confirmed what the handbook said...this HR person told her the accurate info I guess.<br><br>
Not sure if I caught her on a bad day-TWICE-or what..but for whatever reason I am not getting the same info.<br><br>
She was not there today and neither was my boss...so I am planning a meeting with each of them tomorrow to find out what I can...and thanks to the poster who suggested getting it in writing..I guess I should have done that before too! Darn!<br><br>
I am hoping that my boss will be understanding, and she usually is. I think that this was just the icing on the cake for my frustration at this job though..and it sent me a bit over the edge.. I was also told this week that the "work from home half time" arrangement for after the baby is born is being fought by upper management. My boss (wonderful woman that she is) told me that she will let me do it anyway..I just have to do it "off the radar"...it just makes me nervous though...so, I am sure she will try her best to help me work this out....at least I hope!<br><br>
--and to answer a few questions (I hope I didn't forget any)...I am not sure what this short term disability is through...I don't know if it is an employer purchased thing or what. That is probably bad...that I don't know..but, all I know is I get like 2.4 hours each pay period..so it adds up VERY slowly....<br><br>
--and my sick time is really the same thing as my vacation...sorry, should have clarified that too! It is Personal Leave Time......<br><br>
--and I do know that it is pretty good compared to what other get...it is just the frustration of being told so many different things and making plans/choices for the near future etc.<br><br>
--If all else fails then I may take a few extra weeks without pay...I can do that, so that is something as well.<br><br>
Sorry this is so long..I hope I answered all of the questions!!<br><br>
Thanks again for all of the support...and any more suggestions are very welcome!!!<br><br>
I will let you know what I find out tomorrow...hopefully I can at least get the vacation time dated back to when I file the form to transfer hours (Which I will do tomorrow when the HR person comes back...). ...I hope!!!! That is a whole extra week that would be added on if it can be!

 

[Flor]

I'm so sorry. I had a similar experience and I really can't tell you exactly what happened because it never made sense to me. I got 6 weeks disablity (state, federal? Don't know, all I know is that teachers don't get disablilty cuz we don't pay into the system, so--?) at full pay rate, then I got to take my sick leave (like 2 weeks) then my pay was supposed to stop, but for some reason for a few weeks I was getting my pay minus the cost of paying the sub, so a bit each day for a month or two. Not sure why <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/dizzy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Dizzy">: but hey, not going to argue. I then took off another 12 weeks unpayed. They were always very hazy about everything I did all the paperwork wrong. Apparently talked to all the wrong people. When I told the HR person, but I had no idea about X,Y or Z, she said, "Well, your union should have told you." If I had told them I was pregnant, but I didn't know I was supposed to tell my union that. I've never told my union <i>anything</i>.<br><br>
If I had to do it again, I would (will) sit in that HR persons office and not leave until I fully understand everything and get it in writing.<br><br>
And, during my unpaid leave, I had to pay them $900 a month to cover my benefits!!!<br><br>
This year I am working partime. I didn't even know that was possible at the time.

 

[supermuma]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Flor</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7953202"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">If I had to do it again, I would (will) sit in that HR persons office and not leave until I fully understand everything and get it in writing.<br><br>
This year I am working partime. I didn't even know that was possible at the time.</div>
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I am definately going to get something in writing tomorrow (or at least try to...) and I am also considering working part time...if the ruling comes down that I can not work from home (they don't want me setting an example for other pregnant women--though the director who just gave birth last fall works from home two days a week..<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/dizzy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Dizzy">: WTH?)...rather than pay a full time daycare bill for babe I may go down to part time--though, they may decide that there is some reason that I can not do that either.... *sigh*.....get it in writing..get everything in writing...<br><br>
--and i am sorry you also had to deal with a similar experience. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad">

 

[claras_mom]

Don't feel bad about the "in writing" thing. I think that many of us want to trust the people we work for, and in general can, and don't think to be paranoid to that degree. In my case--a university situation; not ladder faculty--I'd always assumed that I'd only be eligible for short term disability then found out that I was actually eligible for fully paid childbearing leave (only 6 weeks, but I knew I could swing taking dd to work with me so I didn't sweat it too much and in any case, when I came back to work it was on modified duties--can't take over a class midstream <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shrug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="shrug">). But to get all the paperwork done, I was dealing with people in two different offices, one HR and the other academic personnel. And the HR people were confused at times!<br><br>
The only thing I ever had in writing was a memo from my boss confirming the leave (as per university regs) and the nature of my modified duties.<br><br>
It's <b>great</b> that you have the support of your boss! Good luck working everything out.

 

[canadianchick]

Could you contact the labor board? I once worked for a place that threatened to not pay their staff.... I called the labor board and reported them and there was no more of that kind of foolishness.

 

[supermuma]

Well I spoke with the HR person (again) and it is true that I only get STD and my personal leave time....she did have me fill out the form to transfer hours from my personal leave time into the short term disability..she said that it can take 3 pay periods to take effect <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">: ....but she did say that she would try to get it pushed through quickly for me, given the circumstances. (and see if they might date it back to when the form was filled out at least..keeping my fingers crossed)<br><br>
I also learned that while I am taking my personal leave time and short term disability I will continue to earn personal leave time...so that makes me feel a little bit better. I will be able to add on a bit of time at the end, once I earn some time while I am off...not that much, but still--better than nothing!<br><br>
I also spoke to my boss quickly this morning and she told me not to worry about it, that we would figure something out. She is going to talk to me later today.<br><br>
I am feeling much better today (though still highly annoyed by the lack of accurate information that brought this about!) and I thank you all again for your wonderful support. It helped SOOO much.<br><br>
I will keep you updated--once I talk to my boss today.<br><br>
I wish that we <i>all</i> just got enough time for ourselves and our babies. *sigh*

 

[p.s]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>supermuma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7957026"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I also spoke to my boss quickly this morning and she told me not to worry about it, that we would figure something out. She is going to talk to me later today.</div>
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<br>
That's great! I would be sure to get that in writing, just to be safe.<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up">

 

[jessma]

I'm glad that it looks like things are working out for you. I've had one heck of a time negotiating my leave (we are too small to be covered by FMLA) and had the same sudden - "no you can't have what you thought you were supposed to have" issue - so annoying! Good luck in getting everything worked out!

 

[supermuma]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>jessma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7958364"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I'm glad that it looks like things are working out for you. I've had one heck of a time negotiating my leave (we are too small to be covered by FMLA) and had the same sudden - "no you can't have what you thought you were supposed to have" issue - so annoying! Good luck in getting everything worked out!</div>
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Oh that is no good! I am sorry that you are having trouble getting time! It is so frustrating! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/hug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="hug">

 

[siobhang]

Glad to see things are working out! I found that having a supportive boss makes all the difference for leave. I had the opposite situation you have - great HR department with lots of great programs and options, but a boss who was being a PITA about my leave. I ended up quitting b/c I figured if he was going to be a PITA about maternity leave, things could only get worse (dealing with an ill baby, pumping, etc).

 

[WNB]

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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>supermuma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7957026"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Well I spoke with the HR person (again) and it is true that I only get STD and my personal leave time....she did have me fill out the form to transfer hours from my personal leave time into the short term disability..she said that it can take 3 pay periods to take effect <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">: ....but she did say that she would try to get it pushed through quickly for me, given the circumstances. (and see if they might date it back to when the form was filled out at least..keeping my fingers crossed)<br><br>
I also learned that while I am taking my personal leave time and short term disability I will continue to earn personal leave time...so that makes me feel a little bit better. I will be able to add on a bit of time at the end, once I earn some time while I am off...not that much, but still--better than nothing!<br><br>
I also spoke to my boss quickly this morning and she told me not to worry about it, that we would figure something out. She is going to talk to me later today.<br><br>
I am feeling much better today (though still highly annoyed by the lack of accurate information that brought this about!) and I thank you all again for your wonderful support. It helped SOOO much.<br><br>
I will keep you updated--once I talk to my boss today.<br><br>
I wish that we <i>all</i> just got enough time for ourselves and our babies. *sigh*</div>
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<br>
I think they ought to be able to retroactively shift it from the time you maxed out on your vacation hours. Seriously -- all they are doing is recalculating some value on a spreadsheet. There's nothing magic about the date you filled the form out. Considering you started asking for detailed information about the leave policy long ago, and received inaccurate information from the staff person whose job it is to know and understand the company's leave policy -- you would seem to have some "moral" leverage to get them to do the right thing.<br><br>
(You might figure out how much of a difference doing this would make, though, before making a big stink about it. If you haven't been maxed out on your 208 hours of PTO for very long, you might not get much more time from the short-term disability transfer.)

 

[BinahYeteirah]

Definitely get everything in writing. I remember I went through all this when I was pregnant with my first. First they (the HR dept.) told me I'd get 1 year of STD after having a baby. I can't believe I believed that, lol. It turns out that that is the max amount of STD for someone who has complications that prevent returning to work after birth. Then they told me I'd get 12 weeks paid. Then they told me 6 weeks. Then they fought we me taking off starting two weeks before my due date. In our employee handbook, it said something to the effect that a woman can "usually" go on STD starting two weeks before her due date. The STD company wouldn't tell me what determined if they would pay the STD claim before the birth, as if I were trying to figure out a way to cheat the system (I guess I would tell my HCP to write whatever they told me???). Anyway, it was the most stressful thing to deal with at the end of a long, tiring pregnancy, especially since my income was the only thing we had to live on at the time.