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01-18-2013 at 3:34 PM
nowuseeme4...
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nowuseeme4407 is not online. Last active: 05-23-2013, 3:06 PMNewbie

Build your own Maternity leave

My Company has never needed a maternity leave policy bc they employ mainly men. I work in the oil and Gas industry so I am 1 of 6 women in the whole 100+ company.

Now I know the majority of places do 6wks post delivery however out here in BFE there is one Daycare in about an 80 mile radius who does not accept infants until 8wks of age and no home care centers. My employers have already told me that since I am a member of management and I have a rather large office, that they wouldn't have a problem  with me bringing LO to work. Okay that is wonderful but I want to get things in writing since it is not in any of our policies.

So I am building my own leave policy and need to know what else to ask for besides the basic time off and allowance to pump or BF at work if baby is with me.

Anyone have any tips? 

Edit: to add the age daycare accepts.  


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01-18-2013 at 3:46 PM
tricia560
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My organization automatically allows 8 weeks if you have a c-section, and you can leave 2 weeks before your official due date.

You might want to include something about the possibility of working from home (if your job is one you can do from home) with pre-approval, or in the event LO is sick.  Or maybe flexing your daily start/end times to allow for pickup/dropoff in case you do find some kind of childcare.

If god forbid something happens to your child while at work with you, who's insurance covers it?  Yours or theirs?


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01-18-2013 at 3:46 PM
lalvillar0...
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What about FMLA? Shouldn't you qualify for 12 weeks leave with job protection if you work for a company with over 50 employees?
 
01-18-2013 at 4:00 PM
nowuseeme4...
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nowuseeme4407 is not online. Last active: 05-23-2013, 3:06 PMNewbie

lalvillar06:
What about FMLA? Shouldn't you qualify for 12 weeks leave with job protection if you work for a company with over 50 employees?

Dont you have to be at the Job for 12 month or have worked the equivalent amount of hours? I thought that is what I read about FMLA. Anyways I have not worked there long enough if that is a condition. This position is rather new being that I have not lived in this area for long. 

I am going to be putting LO into care when he/she is old enough 8wks or so, but I am glad I have the option to bring him/her to the office. I am just going to have days where I really have to focus on work. I could probably ask for 12wks and they would give it to me without a problem. I plan on going into the office a couple times a week just to make sure there is no crisis to be fixed and I dont get buried too bad. 

My company is wonderful about giving me what I need and they are very interested in my pregnancy as they are truly family oriented. I just dont know if leave and Bfding accommodations should be the only things to get on paper...or if there is more that goes along with it.


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01-18-2013 at 4:04 PM
nowuseeme4...
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tricia560:

My organization automatically allows 8 weeks if you have a c-section, and you can leave 2 weeks before your official due date.

You might want to include something about the possibility of working from home (if your job is one you can do from home) with pre-approval, or in the event LO is sick.  Or maybe flexing your daily start/end times to allow for pickup/dropoff in case you do find some kind of childcare.

If god forbid something happens to your child while at work with you, who's insurance covers it?  Yours or theirs?

I can do some things from home but most things are in office. They are not strict about start and end times I run the office here and only have the owner and his wife over me  so I pretty much have free rein. As far as the baby getting hurt. It will be my decision if and when I bring the baby to the office so I feel like naturally I would be the responsible party if something happened. I would sign something saying that for sure.

There is that one daycare facility here in town that takes babies at 8wks but I dont know if I will put him/her in full time or part. 


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01-18-2013 at 4:11 PM
Max'smom
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How long are they willing to let you bring the baby to work. the two extra weeks?

I would suggest trying to workout a work from home situation if at all possible or ask for the addtional two week. My company allows 6 wks for vag birth and 8 wks for a c-section. The recovery time is longer with a c-section.

DS1 was 2 months premature and I didn't have a daycare spot unit closer to my original return to work date. My work allowed me to return and work from home with LO. It wasn't too bad because he was bottled feed breast milk and on a great routinue. DS2 was term and literally was attached to my boob from birth to returning to work at 8 weeks. I would not have been able to work at home with him. If he could smell me he wanted to eat.

I would ask to sit down with HR and talk through options.


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01-18-2013 at 4:54 PM
kgs0505
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This really shouldn't be a question if your HR group was up on policy.  Maternity leave is a misnomer in the US.  Since your company employees more than 50 people, you are eligible for FMLA.  If you pay into your state disability program, you will qualify for disability payments (about 1/2 your pay typically).  A typical "maternity leave" is 6 weeks disability after the baby is born vaginally or 8 weeks if born by c-section.  If you are out prior to delivery, that can qualify as disability due to pregnancy and counts towards your full 12 weeks.  You will have to check, because I believe this is where states vary, but you should have an option of taking up to an additional 6 weeks off work unpaid after your disability term runs out.  But I think job protection ends with 12 full weeks of leave? 

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01-18-2013 at 10:06 PM
lalvillar0...
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lalvillar06 is not online. Last active: 05-21-2013, 11:08 PMBronze
nowuseeme4407:

lalvillar06:
What about FMLA? Shouldn't you qualify for 12 weeks leave with job protection if you work for a company with over 50 employees?

Dont you have to be at the Job for 12 month or have worked the equivalent amount of hours? I thought that is what I read about FMLA. Anyways I have not worked there long enough if that is a condition. This position is rather new being that I have not lived in this area for long. 

I am going to be putting LO into care when he/she is old enough 8wks or so, but I am glad I have the option to bring him/her to the office. I am just going to have days where I really have to focus on work. I could probably ask for 12wks and they would give it to me without a problem. I plan on going into the office a couple times a week just to make sure there is no crisis to be fixed and I dont get buried too bad. 

My company is wonderful about giving me what I need and they are very interested in my pregnancy as they are truly family oriented. I just dont know if leave and Bfding accommodations should be the only things to get on paper...or if there is more that goes along with it.



Yes, you are correct, it is a rolling 12 month period, so by the time you give birth you would have had to work there for 12 months.
 
01-19-2013 at 10:17 AM
gtognietti
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To qualify for FMLA you have to have been employed for at least 12 months with your employer and you have to have worked 1250 hours within one year of the date you start your leave. If you qualify for that, you receive 12 weeks off. If you receive state disability you can have a total of 16 weeks off just under the FLMA. Then there is the PDA (Pregnancy Disability Act) that will give you six - eight weeks off depending on birth. Depending on what state you live in, you can have up to 16-18 months off of work with full job protection. And they don't have to be used concurrently.

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01-19-2013 at 10:36 AM
KdgTeacher
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KdgTeacher is not online. Last active: 05-23-2013, 1:13 PMPlatinum

kgs0505:
This really shouldn't be a question if your HR group was up on policy.  Maternity leave is a misnomer in the US.  Since your company employees more than 50 people, you are eligible for FMLA.  If you pay into your state disability program, you will qualify for disability payments (about 1/2 your pay typically).  A typical "maternity leave" is 6 weeks disability after the baby is born vaginally or 8 weeks if born by c-section.  If you are out prior to delivery, that can qualify as disability due to pregnancy and counts towards your full 12 weeks.  You will have to check, because I believe this is where states vary, but you should have an option of taking up to an additional 6 weeks off work unpaid after your disability term runs out.  But I think job protection ends with 12 full weeks of leave? 

She already said she does not qualify.


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01-19-2013 at 3:17 PM
kcox123
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kcox123 is not online. Last active: 05-23-2013, 9:05 AMBronze

I took 12 weeks off with my first cause I had that much personal/vacation time anyway so why not. It was great and as a first-time mom I was glad to have it. With my others I've taken off 8 weeks each and that was with an employer similarly telling me that I could take whatever I needed at full pay. I took 8 weeks but after about 2 weeks I was checking emails and responding if possible about once a day. I obviously could have taken longer but I didn't want to be seen as taking advantage since they were giving me full pay. I would maybe ask for 8 weeks at home full pay. Then if you think the taking baby to work sounds of interest - maybe the option of bringing baby with for 2-4 weeks beyond that? Or part-time hours for the 3rd month (you could either bring baby with or if money is not a huge issue - you could start taking baby to daycare for partial days..might be a helpful transition).

Pay, duration, bringing baby to work, pumping time... I would think that would be pretty good. Maybe work in some provisions that give you a little extra time if you end up having a more complicated delivery?


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01-19-2013 at 6:28 PM
BeckyTheEn...
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Personally, I would never want to take my baby to work with me. I would be ridiculously unproductive, and I can't see how I would get much done. Of course I don't know the specifics of your job, but for me I need to move around the building, talk to different people, have both hands free to type reports, ect. Some babies are great sleepers and maybe you could stick yours in the corner of your office and work like normal, but I would not count on that. I might ask to be able to bring the child during emergencies only.
 
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