Maternity Leave and the workplace

[AGDee]

The 6 required weeks (usually 8 if you had a c-section) is generally the time period that you qualify for disability pay after birthing a baby. FMLA allows you take 12 weeks off without your company being able to penalize you. Employers have no obligation to pay you anything for any of it if they don't offer short term disability pay in general for surgeries, etc. No matter what, you are entitled to 12 weeks without pay per year as part of FMLA. This can be for your medical issues, to care for a new born, or an aging/ill parent, etc.

At my work, short term disability kicks in after you've had 7 calendar days off work (5 work days) and is paid at 60% of your pay. When you get back, all of your paychecks for the rest of the year are reduced because they have to deduct what you pay for health, dental, etc. at a higher rate since you missed the 6 -12 weeks of those deductions while you were off work.

We have one of the shortest and weakest maternity leave policies of any developed country. Most of Europe and Canada have 6-12 month paid leaves. But, our priorities are pretty messed up anyway and to have leaves that long would be a socialist redistribution of wealth so it's not done here.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by AGDee

The 6 required weeks (usually 8 if you had a c-section) is generally the time period that you qualify for disability pay after birthing a baby. FMLA allows you take 12 weeks off without your company being able to penalize you. Employers have no obligation to pay you anything for any of it if they don't offer short term disability pay in general for surgeries, etc. No matter what, you are entitled to 12 weeks without pay per year as part of FMLA. This can be for your medical issues, to care for a new born, or an aging/ill parent, etc.

At my work, short term disability kicks in after you've had 7 calendar days off work (5 work days) and is paid at 60% of your pay. When you get back, all of your paychecks for the rest of the year are reduced because they have to deduct what you pay for health, dental, etc. at a higher rate since you missed the 6 -12 weeks of those deductions while you were off work.

.

That is how my company works- except for the reduced pay for medical deductions- we have to send in a check to cover the amount rather than it being deducted throughout the rest of the year.

Oh, and FMLA only applies to companies with 50 or more employees, and since my company has less than that, they don't have to comply with it. However, to keep employees happy, we do follow the guidelines and allow for FMLA-type time off.

As far as other things my company does- they set up a pumping station for Moms who want it and we have "flexible hours as long as they are not abused"- so if I have to take one of the kids to the doctor, I can take a long lunch to do it. Or on the days that my sitter has her night college classes, I can adjust my schedule to 7:30-4:30 (rather than 8-5). But those things are open to employees without kids as well. So if my co-worker takes a long lunch to go dress shopping or something, it's okay as long as it's not everyday or abused.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by AGDee

But, our priorities are pretty messed up anyway and to have leaves that long would be a socialist redistribution of wealth so it's not done here.

lol

[33girl]

Question...

For the countries that do allow maternity leave up to a year, is the firm compelled to hire someone else to do that person's job while they're gone? Or does their work just get shoveled onto their coworkers' load?

I understand and do agree that parents should have more time off, but speaking as someone who had to partially take on the workload of someone w/ an FMLA issue, the only thing that got me and the other people affected through it was knowing it was going to be over soon. If we'd had to work like that for a year, there would have been several nervous breakdowns.

It sounds great the way other countries do it, but think about the people who are left behind as well.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Question...

For the countries that do allow maternity leave up to a year, is the firm compelled to hire someone else to do that person's job while they're gone? Or does their work just get shoveled onto their coworkers' load?

I understand and do agree that parents should have more time off, but speaking as someone who had to partially take on the workload of someone w/ an FMLA issue, the only thing that got me and the other people affected through it was knowing it was going to be over soon. If we'd had to work like that for a year, there would have been several nervous breakdowns.

It sounds great the way other countries do it, but think about the people who are left behind as well.

I hear ya. The question is whether the costs outweigh the benefits. We'd have to know all the costs to the employers, families, and overall society.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Question...

For the countries that do allow maternity leave up to a year, is the firm compelled to hire someone else to do that person's job while they're gone? Or does their work just get shoveled onto their coworkers' load?

I understand and do agree that parents should have more time off, but speaking as someone who had to partially take on the workload of someone w/ an FMLA issue, the only thing that got me and the other people affected through it was knowing it was going to be over soon. If we'd had to work like that for a year, there would have been several nervous breakdowns.

It sounds great the way other countries do it, but think about the people who are left behind as well.

I found this: http://www.thelocal.se/14022/20080829/

Which does explain that the state pays the parental benefits which are up to 480 days with a minimum of 60 for any one parent, but an expectation that the parents will split the time equally.

So the company has the money to hire someone because they're not covering that leave time, but I couldn't find an indication if hiring is common practice or required by law or neither.

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Question...

For the countries that do allow maternity leave up to a year, is the firm compelled to hire someone else to do that person's job while they're gone? Or does their work just get shoveled onto their coworkers' load?

I had a friend who was in a foreign country while her husband was in school there and got a job covering someone's year-long maternity leave. It was perfect for her because they were only in the country for a short amount of time, but I don't know if there's a large pool of workers who would want to hang their shingles to be long-term temps. I also don't know if that's the usual practice or if that company was unique.