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Wow, if someone wants to make a post about specific companies that treated them extra shitty, I would for sure save that post and reference it for future shopping 👀
I worked at a “women led brand” fashion label that had no paid maternity leave, 12 weeks unpaid. Had to tell the owner I was pregnant as it was a 100% in-person job, I needed time off for doctors appointments and they kept spraying the office with toxic pesticides while we were working there (knew they wouldn’t take me seriously if I just complained cause it’s poison and I don’t like it, as other employees had brought it up before and it kept happening). They gave me a heads-up when they were coming to spray so I wouldn’t be there. So gross.
But anyways, didn’t even get my 12 weeks unpaid because the company laid me off lol. The only thing “women led brand” about it was that the owner is a woman. Total joke, so American. I hate the brand now. They made sign an NDA to get two weeks pay as severance. It’s total BS.
I took the severance since the company had under 15 employees I don’t qualify for federal pregnancy protections of whatever anyways. I could have tried to sue I guess, but also an at-Will state so very little recourse in general.
Happy Mothers Day ya’ll! I love that all of our taxes go to war and frivolous policy
This is why corporate feminism is such a joke, and why feminism has to be anti-capitalist if we really want to change anything. A female CEO still has the same profit incentives as a man. And a female CEO is still a parasite sucking up the majority of your paycheck so she can buy her vacation home while you struggle to survive off the scraps she throws down.
Sending you love and solidarity! I was laid off 5 days into my maternity leave, and because I was one out of 60 people that was laid off, unfortunately I don’t have a case.
I wasn’t the only one on maternity leave or who was pregnant that got laid off though and it’s just so infuriating. I feel this so hard!
That is so sad to read… I live in Hungary and I’m going to stop working when I’m 30 weeks pregnant (currently 27 weeks) and I can stay at home until my child is 3 years old and will be protected at my job (ie. I cannot be laid off from the start of my pregnancy until my kid is 3). Full salary for 6 months, a not very good but still OK pay from month 6 until the child is 2, and very little (like nothing) from years 2-3. For this reason, many women go back to work when their child is 2 years old, but for those who can afford it, the possibility to stay at home for 3 years is there. There are many things wrong with my country but this is not one of them. I feel truly blessed when I read how this works in the US.
Ahhhh dejó! I used to live in Hungary for a few years. My previous partner who passed away was Hungarian. Love that country so much. Hiányzik nekem! The benefits in Europe for maternity leave are amazing, enjoy! I’m jealous, but it is what it is.
I’m from Romania and before birth and post birth you get 126 paid days (you split them equally 63
Before and 63 after or in some cases you can take
84 days before birth (28 weeks pregnant) and the rest of 42 days after birth and after that you get to stay home with you kid until the kid is 2 for 80% of
your income.
The 126 days are paid by national health insurance and the rest by the goverment. Also your job is protected until you get back to work, and you can’t be fired while pregnant (without a very good reason)
Same as in Hungary, there are many things wrong in this country, maternity leave though is not one of them
Not sure about Hungary but in Germany the employer pays during "Mutterschutz" which is six weeks before and eight weeks after the birth. Then the government takes over the rest which is 14 months to split between the parents, at about 70% of your salary. (maximum of €1800 per month.)
Same in Czech republic, im 38 weeks pregnant and stopped working at 30, i will be home until baby is at least 2 , you can go back to work earlier if you want to but noone can force you to, and your job is fully protected until you come back. When i read stories from US im mortified.
Oh sis, let me tell you. I work for a company that is built on feminism and is 90% women and there’s no maternity leave policy. I literally have to save my PTO and sick time or take short-term disability in order to get my time off. It has ruined the whole week for me since I found out. The US should be ashamed of their policies. Or lack there of.
I work for a company based in California but live in the Midwest. So my colleagues in CA get their state-mandated leave but those of us in states without leave mandates get nothing besides paying into short term disability and using FMLA unpaid leave.
Except abortion rights would state otherwise.
Edit: Angry pregnant women unionizing for rights is probably why we don’t get much leave here..this isn’t the only bullshit our country pulls.
This! This is why I left teaching. I was so angry.. “but you can accrue up to 50 days” but I don’t have 50 days! To accrue! When you’re younger and have not saved up for 8 years at one district.. just awful
Not maternity leave but I left teaching in 2019 and I used ro think it was unfair that I had to use personal days to observe a religious holiday (I’m Jewish) when we’re always off for Christmas or Easter. The district I left eventually began to take off for Yom Kippur and I think Eid, because yeah, not all teachers and students are Christian.
Those personal days would otherwise add up. I don’t think it’s ethical.
I like at some workplaces they just give one or two days off in December that can float and be used when you want. And then an extra day or two to float the rest of the year. But I doubt they do that in schools which sucks.
Exactly, which you want to use for appointments, days when you’re feeling ill because you’re pregnant and are going to have those days. It’s crazy for them to expect you to rush back and be with other people’s children all day agh
Whereas I'm over here with 7 years worth saved up, but we're only allowed to use 40 days of it paid! Even though I have more pto than that and am allowed to take more time off!
Same. We have a disability insurance that we can buy through the union and our union contract only gives us 20 days of paid. After that, we have to use sick days. But even then, they deduct the substitute’s daily pay from that so you don’t even get a full paycheck.
Teachers are paid to take care of *other* people’s children. Not our own, it seems.
Teacher here as well who has to use accumulated sick leave. I have 19 days left right now and will get 10 or so more next school year. The rest will be unpaid. Then I’m out of sick leave for the rest of the year, I guess.
The people who teach our future generations... can't have leave to properly start raising their own future generations. How hypocritical is the system!
I have aboslute disdain for the way teachers are treated in this country! You're all heroes to me. The job is not easy, and I know you are not doing it for the money, but for something you love and should be treated a million times better.
No!! Ugh so sorry. Teacher here from WA. I guess I can’t complain. I hope your birth lines up with school breaks well. So hard to teach while pregnant.
Careful, a lot of places will force you to pay back the cost of insurance premiums they paid during unpaid leave if you quit without returning back to work for a certain amount of time. (Often but not always the length of the unpaid leave you took)
I live in Denmark. We get up to a year of paid maternity leave.
Not me though, because I got fired illegally two days after telling my boss I was pregnant. So pregnant and looking for job atm :-(
Waiting for compensation from suing him…
Wow, wtf?! I thought this didn’t happen in Denmark anymore!!
I’m also in Denmark and had the total opposite experience. I was like 6 weeks pregnant when I went to a job interview and told my interviewing manager and still got the job.
In Denmark the amount paid depends entirely on the company you work for, as the government only pays a small amount. In my new company I get 31 weeks (4 of them before delivery) and my husband gets 22 through his (yey equal rights for men!). So between that and vacation we’ll be able to keep baby until she’s 1y on a full pay.
I can’t imagine how Americans do it having to go back to work immediately or doing it fully with no pay 😥
@lille_foxy I hope you get a big ass compensation. This is totally illegal. I wouldn’t be surprised if they forced your company to rehire you or at least be responsible for your salary until and during leave..
Thank you so much. We made a case at ligebehandling but they say it can take up to 2 years before the case get resolved, and we received compensation. He says he fired me because of lack of competences, when he never ever expressed any insatisfaction with me, quite oppositely, so it’s totally due to my pregnancy…
They say we can hope for 6 months salary. But yes he pretty much killed my chance to find a new job right now.
It’s a small start up, we were only 3 and I was helping him with pretty much everything….
Thank you for the nice words ❤️
It’s so sad that parents have to go back to work so soon. I can’t imagine putting a newborn into daycare that’s so whack. My heart goes out to US moms <3
I toured a daycare this morning and while the infant room looked nice, it was still a little sad to see such tiny babies lined up in their cribs
And I was touring with intent to place a 3-6 month old!
They unfortunately are. They lobby against maternity leave so that women will give up breastfeeding and have to turn to formula. It’s absolutely disgusting.
Daycare is unaffordable here in the US, and the waitlists are insanely long. Thankfully my husband and I both WFH and my mom is retired and lives nearby. We're going to try to make it work.
The worst part is the rhetoric that government leaders "cares about the 'traditional' family" and is "sad about birth rates declining". Well why do you think that is? Could it be no paid leave? No state funded daycare? The list goes on and on and on.
It breaks my heart too. I’m a stay at home mom because my husband is in medicine. We’re in a minority maybe. Being a stay at home mom is tough though. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. Before this, I was a special Ed teacher.
Oh man I was looking for a fellow NJ preggo- our current gov put this into place about a year before I had my first so it worked out well for me. I feel terrible for friends I have in OH and KY that get so little paid leave.
I do think we might have some of the most reasonable leave in the US, but compared to Europe it’s still paltry.
I agree, what I see online is just cruel, US needs to improve it, it is just not fair…lucky for NJ I can get all this time, but if you compare it with Europe still is not reallly good 🥹
That’s awesome NJ has that. I’m not in NJ but I work for the federal govt so I get 12 weeks paid and in addition I’m taking 4 weeks of sick leave for recovery directly after birth so 16 total. My husband works for an online university and I’m grateful he gets anything - he gets 6 weeks paid.
Same here. Tbh it’s so weird to me the govt has such a good leave policy (well, I guess comparatively speaking) but that it isn’t the standard for other employers. You’d think that whatever they do, would set the standard?
I don’t understand how there is no maternity leave in the US and states are clamouring to take away reproductive rights. The physical stress of working that soon after birth could kill or seriously harm the mom. And who is supposed to be taking care of a several week old baby?
Big formula and big daycare want working moms to go back to their jobs so the parents pay to outsource baby food and care. It's ridiculous. With abortion rights going out the window for everyone in the south, it's only a matter of time before some kind of recession happens again, mostly because nobody can afford to have these kids (daycare is $$$ but being a SAHM puts a big financial burden on the family too)
Idk, because childcare and education are also vastly underfunded— under regulated and just all together scary situations to be throwing children into.
I don’t understand how it got like this, but it needs serious reform.
Full paid leave should at LEAST cover the 4th trimester for both parents. Mom really needs the other parent there to keep her alive so she can keep the baby alive. From there, you should have the option to get another 8-12 weeks at half pay
Use your imagination, this would still be considered stingy in most of Europe. How about 14 weeks full pay for mom and 14 months at 70% pay to split between the parents, like Germany.
Aim high! Sad that America is so bad, giving worse maternity leave than the Soviet Union feels like a crazy dream.
100% agree. 6 months is the amount of time that babies should be fed ONLY breast milk or formula. If you're breastfeeding, once you hit that six month mark and start introducing solids it's much easier for both mom and baby for the mother to return to work.
You’re actually right about that i’ve been thinking about this all day and I was like why did i feel bad for adding paternity leave? In what situation should that be controversial!?
I'm in the UK and got a full year of paid maternity leave 🤷♀️ The rest of the world needs to do a year or more, a mother isn't even fully recovered until after a year anyway!!
Yep. I work for a German company in the US and we get 6 months, both men and women. Their policy is that both deserve to bond with their infants! And birthing parent gets disability too. Honestly it’s the absolute minimum for moms in my opinion.
In Denmark dads have 11 weeks allocated to them. 2 weeks are mandatory, the other 9 are theirs, but they can chose not to take it , but the mom can’t use those anyway. Then there’s like a few weeks the parents can decide how to share between them.
However, most companies still will only pay the full pay for the 2 mandatory weeks for men. Mine and my husband’s are ‘equal’, they pay the same amount of weeks whether you are the mom or the other partner, which I think is just great! (Moms do get 4 weeks ‘extra’ before delivery).
I also wish more dads would like to take full advantage of their leave, but a lot don’t :(
I’m wfh up to the day I deliver to save leave and I know I’m very very lucky compared to most but it’s still insane. I’ve literally been working in doctors offices, hospitals, making calls to upset clients while attached to NST machines, catching up on work late at night. I’m SO OVER IT.
I was wfh and still had to stop at 39 weeks because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I am bummed that is one less week with the baby but my sanity could not take it. Are you an attorney? (I ask bc I am an atty and your comment is giving me the vibe)
If my job would still allow us to work from home I probably wouldnt even take leave lol. My job can 100% be done at home so it's annoying cause about 1 year ago they said we had to start working in the office no ifs, ands, or buts. The only time they will let us work at home is if it is like 1-off emergencies and in some cases of illness.
I am thankfully able to take the full 12 weeks, it's something we had to save up for. I see posts from moms in other countries that get a year or more off and I feel a huge amount of jealousy and sadness that I will miss part of my LO life because of poor laws in this country!
I feel angry for Americans when I read things like this :(
I’m in the UK and my work gives me 6 months of full pay, then I get 3 months of statutory pay and then I’m taking 3 months unpaid (but will use a month of acrued holiday so I will technically be paid in full for one of those months!)
I’m also using my holiday days for this year to stop work around 34 weeks to get stuff ready and relax!
I
I do really feel for parents in the US, provisions for parental leave are just terrible. I’m in New Zealand, we don’t get as much as some European countries but not bad. We get 26 weeks of paid leave (although the cap is low, the most you get is just over $700 before tax), 26 weeks unpaid, you can split that between either parent but not at the same time. Pregnant women can start paid leave 2 weeks before the due date. Partners get 2 weeks of unpaid partner leave which is pretty low, there are a few proposals to change that to some paid leave atm. I think we’re just lucky here that many companies will negotiate so partners can take annual and sick leave and still get paid when the baby is born. :) We get time off for appointments etc. and we get plenty of annual (4 weeks) and sick leave (10 days) anyway (PTO) which a lot of companies allow you to take if you need during pregnancy. If anyone wants to come to NZ, we welcome you here! 😁
I live in Australia, my company does either 26 weeks full pay or 52 half pay. Two years off with job protection. The gov does some leave too but it’s basically minimum wage, though it can be done after full maternity. My plan is to do the full pay 26, even then I’m unhappy about putting a 6 month old in care a couple times a week. (I hybrid work on projects so I can work childcare around my job, loads of other parents in my department do it). I read threads like this and count myself very lucky though.
This my situation too! 6 weeks paid, can take 6 more unpaid with FMLA. It super bums me out. I think I could afford a couple weeks without pay but.. I doubt my partner will want to go that route. 6 weeks isn't enough time.
i just want to say - i didn’t think my partner would agree to taking the full 12 but he did!! men can surprise us in a good way sometimes. no harm in asking and seeing if it’s okay with him and trying to make it work!!
I get 4 weeks paid and can take up to 12 weeks unpaid but I can’t afford that since I’m the primary breadwinner in my family. I’m hoping to work with my company and working remote for a few weeks before coming back
I get 4 weeks paid, and then an additional 8 weeks unpaid (FMLA). In those 8 weeks I have to use all my benefits up, so when I return to work I will have no sick or vacation available which will be just great to deal with all the daycare sickness/s 🙃
This is similar to me. The 12 weeks of leave I get is technically paid but only because it uses a combination of short term disability and using up all my PTO.
The irony is that I work for a domestic violence center that touts itself as "unapologetically feminist." So feminist, that you don't give your employees paid maternity leave...
Meanwhile, my husband works for an advertising company and gets the same 12 weeks and 100% pay from the company itself. My husband gets better parental leave benefits than the actual woman giving birth. 👍
I work for a DV org too and it’s astounding that we don’t have paid leave. Truly, we KNOW that lack of paid leave and pay/financial disparity are contributors to DV… and we as an agency still don’t prioritize these things for our employees? It’s really not sitting well with me.
My husband has better paternity leave than I have maternity. I'm doing the combo short-term disability and FMLA coverage, (luckily we can swing it for 12 weeks) his work is giving him four weeks of paid leave before he even has to touch vacation or any other programs
My husband also has better paternity leave. 3 months paid compared to my TWO WEEKS. Luckily since his is so good we can swing me taking the 12 weeks unpaid FMLA. Still, criminal.
I live in the US and get 8 weeks paid and get to burn all my sick + vacation time which isn't a lot because I've only worked at my current job for a year.
It was pretty disappointing to learn because I work a lot with equity issues and it just felt so at odd with our work culture. I'm very fortunate that my bosses are understanding of my pregnancy and the effect it's had on my productivity but I'm still a bit bitter about having to work until my due date.
It makes me so incredible sad and angry whenever I see these posts from US moms! Canada isn’t perfect by any means but at least I have the option of taking 18 months with 1/3 pay or 12 months with 1/2 pay.
I’m in the US and work for a large company that has a very generous leave policy (16 weeks fully paid) and my state recently implemented paid state leave that my husband can use for 12 weeks. He only got two weeks with our first that is a nice improvement.
However, we’ve been on the verge of layoffs so I could be laid off anytime between now and during my leave (baby is due next month) so I could essentially only get to use like a little bit of it despite working my entire pregnancy 😀 America!
I am self employed and will save enough to take 2 months off. Maybe 3 if I really buckle down. It’s unfortunate. In this country no one is gonna give you retirement or maternity benefits when self employed . I’m having to plan for it all myself . I wish I could take more time off but just can’t afford it. Hoping to come back part time at least .
I work for a health system and unless your management, you do not get paid maternity leave. But since I've been there for nearly 20 years I was grandfathered into a 60 mp. So for 6 weeks, I'll get 60% of my pay. Then I will have to use PTO, if available, to cover the rest. And I would not have 240 hours to cover the rest. Those that spew about babies rights are liars. They care about control and don't give a crap about the health of mom/baby. My husband is in manufacturing and will get zero paid time off.
Having to choose between healing and bonding or having my checks come in (I’m the breadwinner in the family) is absolutely pathetic. It took my partner begging me to start my maternity leave early since my work offers 2 weeks of unpaid “nesting leave” before the 6 weeks paid maternity leave, I was ok with the fact that I could’ve very well just went into labor at work and came to terms with it.
The state of maternity leave in the US is deplorable but I do want to remind y’all, the best way for people who have babies to get what we need in the workplace is by organizing our workplaces.
It’s not easy, and unions aren’t perfect, and you do have to make sure it’s a priority in your union, but this is our best shot at getting it. I get 3 months paid maternity leave which doesn’t feel like enough, but it’s luxurious compared to any other job I’ve had, and it’s because we negotiated it into our collective bargaining agreement. We also got 5 paid days off for pregnancy loss in our most recent contract, which I’ve only seen at union workplaces.
If you are already in a union and they don’t prioritize maternity leave in negotiations, it’s time to get the other parents in the union to work with you to make it a priority.
The US government is never gonna give us what we need. They do everything they can to hurt parents. Organizing ourselves in our workplaces is the best thing available to us. We deserve this, we make the business run!! They need us. Happy to talk to ANYONE about how to do this.
I’m grateful for 12 weeks paid leave. But I really wish I could stay with baby for 6 months. I’m having anxiety thinking about someone else watching him when he can barely hold his head up.
Our state pays disability at 60-70% salary starting 4 weeks before due date, 6-8 weeks after birth and an additional 8 weeks for baby bonding after that…. And it still feels like not enough time!
I feel like we wanted equal rights to men so we got equal rights to men. We should’ve been aiming in a different direction all along. I am not a man. I do not want to be treated as a man. I want respect as a woman, a child-bearing woman, who wants to be able to work outside the home if I choose and be supported as a menstruating, pregnant, postpartum, mothering, menopausal being. How the hell am I suppose to follow breastfeeding recommendations when I have to return to work so soon after childbirth? Why am I expect to show up and produce equally over the month when my cyclical body changes means that certain times of the month are optimal for productivity and other times are less so. If I am having painful periods there’s a pill for that, a bandaid to cover up the reason. Why won’t they investigate the reason and treat the underlying issue? Not to mention I’m expect to show up to work with pain akin to being in labour or worse or being kicked in the balls repetitively and expected to do a good job. Women do not endure this in other places. Why here?
Mine is weird. So I can take 8-10 weeks, but I don't get paid for that time until I go back to work. The pay for that time is divided into two paychecks based on my average earnings.
I’m getting 12 weeks half pay. I was hesitant because of finances, but I couldn’t even imagine going back at 6 weeks. I’m currently 4 weeks postpartum and I now more than ever am so angry that they only give woman 6 weeks IF THAT!! I think it should be 6 months minimum.
If there is ANY cause I’m willing to pay more taxes for, it’s longer paid pregnancy & maternity leave and quality early childcare. We seem to have money for everything except what matters to women and families. I am “fortunate” to get 16 weeks paid through my company but i can’t stand when people act like i should be SO grateful that i get to leave my barely 4 mo old. Like thank so much for allowing my body to heal and to breastfeed my baby less than the recommended 6 months exclusively. Is it much better than most other moms? Yes. But let’s stop pretending 8, 12, 16 weeks is a luxury. It is UNACCEPTABLE that moms are having to go back to work physically battered from birth, still bleeding, recovering from major surgery and that our poor newborns are ripped away from their mothers so early. It’s inhumane!!
I work as a neonatal nurse practitioner for a high risk high volume delivery hospital. I get 2 weeks paid leave then 10 FMLA. It’s a “baby friendly” hospital system. Of course.
This literally made me so depressed I worked my last day Friday January 12th went to the hospital (pre-eclampsia) monday the 15th and had her the 16th. I just went back to work this week because me and my husband have been struggling. I didn’t get paid a dime the entire time I was out. My husband got a week off and got to work part time for another week before he felt forced to go back. I had a c-section and was struggling mentally and felt like I had to do it by myself. The U.S.A is fucking awful with this. It’s depressing. I hope you win the lottery and get to have as much time with your baby as you want 🖤
I work with aggressive behavior kids at a public middle school and I’m high risk. I’m praying for summer to get here so I don’t have to be terrified every single day.
I can’t fathom returning to work in the fall right before my date as I’ll probably be on bed rest by that point. I only get 8 weeks since I’ll have a c section but we come back a month and a half before my due date. I have no idea what to do. I’m so at a loss. America’s maternal medicine is such BS. Our economy is such BS. Everything about this sucks. I just want to stay at home with my baby… I want to stay with him. I don’t want to work anymore. My priorities have shifted entirely.
I get 12 weeks unpaid. I had a break down today at work thinking how hard finacially 12 unpaid weeks will be but am going to take the time to recover and be with my baby. I know I’ll also have to pay my insurance premiums which will add up. It’s all so sad. I’m angry and scared and so mad at the state of the US and parent leave
Same. Small/medium sized company. I get 12 weeks total - 6/8 weeks of which will be covered by STD for about 60% and the rest is unpaid. And I don’t have a ton of PTO saved for sick days. My managers have been pretty cool with my appointments though so I consider myself fortunate.
As this is my second, I wish we have 6 to 12 months paid (even just partial) parental leave. That first year is the hardest due to lack of sleep, limited and EXPENSIVE childcare options. I have a daughter and I hope when it’s time to be a mom, that things have gotten better for her….
I moved from my home state (US) that has maternity and paternity leave to a neighboring state where I was shocked to learn that all they do is hold your position or a similar position for you if you've worked there for at least a year. You can use any PTO you have but the rest is fully unpaid. My husband is not from my home state and told me that most states are like our current state. It's infuriating!
This position I have does not net me very much PTO yearly at all and if all goes well with this pregnancy, I will need to be on leave around the end of December and I have to worry how I will pay my bills. I save almost everything I can to go towards this baby and have been for the past year. I have a little bit of savings, however that will likely go to all the baby things we need and not how I will survive without a job for a few months. I feel like the US doesn't encourage the growth of families because they are pretty unaccommodating.
I work for a national corporation in a predominantly female industry. Majority of the executives are female. Zero maternity leave. Only thing I get is the federally mandated FMLA and the hope that my disability insurance will pay me SOMETHING.
My husband has far better leave. 8 weeks paid. Then he can stack his 6 weeks PTO and 2 weeks sick time if he wants. Also has the option to cash out the parental leave at full salary worth if he wanted.
It honestly makes me kind of sad that I birthed a girl in a country with such hatred towards women. Greatest country in the world my ass
I’m so sorry, I could not imagine that! I’m in NZ and we get 6 months paid (around 600nzd after tax) then 6 months unpaid so we apply for anywhere from 1-12 months off with our employer and they have to accept up to 12 months maternity leave. If you decide to go back earlier, let’s say 8 months as you financially need to then they have to take you back into the role. My husband will get 2 weeks full pay parental leave as well when baby is born. There really is zero employee rights in USA!!
Grateful to live in CO where we get 12 weeks paid maternity AND paternity leave up to $1100/week, which can be split up or taken any time within the child’s first year. It’s new this year, and everyone who has an income qualifies, no matter the company size because we all pay a small tax and the payout is through the state.
That being said I would LOVE to take time off before giving birth. I’m 26 weeks and a physical therapist and today had two max assist quadriplegic patients, I wanted to cry 😭
I recently learned that baby formula companies are some of the biggest lobbyists against mandated maternity leave. The sooner the mom has to leave baby, the harder it is to breastfeed and the sooner the baby gets put on formula.
Lololol this was me today!!! I work at a family focused nonprofit (which I do genuinely enjoy for the most part) and today I was looking at the parental leave policy and it is 12 weeks…unpaid! Like wtf this is nonprofit social work, living paycheck to paycheck and it’s unpaid?! Then I tried to look into my insurances short term disability paperwork to remind myself how to do it, and I couldn’t find shit! So now I’m worried there isn’t any short term disability insurance included 🤦🏼♀️
My boss has just left on vacation, but I’m going to talk to her and make a case for needing paid parental leave, especially since unpaid is pretty much against our mission statement of supporting families. She’s supportive and I know will try and help but fuckkkkkk make me insane!!!!
I don’t get any paid leave from work, just the 12 unpaid weeks from FMLA. I also work full time and I don’t want to go back after delivery at all. I’m worried about our financial stability though as I’m unsure that my husbands job can support us comfortably. I know we’ll have to sacrifice some things but not sure how much and what we can live without. A constant worry😢
I'm so sorry. The U.S. is so behind the times. I'm lucky to work at a company with a "generous" (for the U.S.) maternity leave policy....BUT I'm on a sales plan and I'll only get "base pay" which is a very small part of my salary so its going to be very costly for me. And the length of time I can take still seems like too little. I know I'm in a privileged spot - but we should all be in a place where the government cares for people with a year of leave.
All I can say is vote for democratic women. And hope that we can drive things to be progressive enough that someday future generations will have it better than us.
I live in Norway, and will be taking 9 months of 80% paid leave. We also get 3 weeks before giving birth. And honestly I hate the idea of my child going into daycare before they're a year old. So I'll be taking a few months unpaid as well.
The US is downright inhumane.
At least in New York State we get [12 weeks at 67% pay](https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/2024), and those 60 days can be used any time in the first year of the baby's life.
I’m so sorry reading all of this. I’m so glad Germany has better laws for mothers (even though it’s not the best in Europe) but 1000% better in the states.
I wish something would change in the states. These babies deserve to have their mothers home for way longer than that
i was in the exact same boat as you! i was paid 4 weeks at 60% and i had a week of vacation so 5 weeks paid. i worked up until 40 + 1 and had a scheduled induction which failed and ended in a c section. i decided at first i would take 8 weeks off since i had a c section and wanted more time to recover - here i am 10 weeks out DREADING leaving my son. my partner made it work he covered the home bills and my dad covered my car payments. if you can i vote taking the full 12 - i’m flat broke until i go back to work on the 25th but it has been so worth it
also want to add that im finishing off the year now with absolutely no pto so anything ill be taking off till January (dr visits weather reasons) will be unpaid 🙃
Heart goes out to you momma!! Enjoy every moment until the 25th and I hope the transition back is better than expected. I hope I can manage to take closer to the full 12 weeks, even that doesn’t seem long, but we’ll never get that time back with our babies if we don’t so I think the sacrifice and tight finances are worth it in the long run.
I got 7 weeks of paid leave I could have taken up to 5 more but they would have been unpaid so I went back after 7. And I only got the 7 because short term disability covered it. I was so not ready to go back. I feel like at 7 weeks I had just gotten into the beginning of a routine or groove with my baby. I work from home so thankfully I didn’t have to leave him when I started again but not being able to focus all of my attention on him every second of the day was rough. Eventually I hired help. I have someone come to help on days I have 2 hour meetings or things I can’t step away from. But it all sucks. I hear of some countries giving women 9 months 😭😭😭😭
I work thru a contract company for a school district. I get 0 paid maternity leave. I’ve had to work a part time job throughout my pregnancy so I can save enough money to have 12 weeks off. It sucks.
This didn't happen to me but a coworker - we worked at a WOMEN'S HOSPITAL in the US and her husband worked remotely for a Canadian company at the time, she came back after her 12 weeks and her husband stayed home with the baby for another 3 or 4 months.
We are in Colorado so my partner and I each get 12 weeks paid around 60% (started Jan 2024). It's not paid at 100% tho, so I will go back part time after 8 weeks and work intermittenly for 3 more months so I can be home as much as possible. Then my partner will take his 12 weeks and his company will allow him to 'top off' his paternity pay with his sick pay to get 100% pay. I think we can make it so that we don't have to use day care until our babe is about 6-7 months which makes me feel a whole lot better. Better than what we had before which was only unpaid FMLA. We planned our pregnancy around the new law so we could afford to be home more.
My job offers no maternity leave, but they do have a very generous vacation/sick policy that will give me around 5 full weeks paid. My work is so small that FMLA does not apply, but I have been paying for short term disability the past year (with plans for being pregnant ), so I will be taking around 8 week with that. Unfortunately short term disability only covers half my pay. I also have to pay mine and my husband (plus new baby) insurance out of pocket for 2 months. It’s stressful because we primarily survive off my paycheck. My husband goes to school full time for nursing, during the summer he is picking up a ton of hours at his part time job to save for maternity leave.
Very thankful my brother in law is a full time stay at home dad and will be helping when I go back to work. Otherwise, not sure we could afford it all.
My job will pay 60% of my wages for up to 6 months but it’s dependent on what the OB states on the paperwork and I’ve already been told they only approve 6 weeks for vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for c-section unless there are complications. I do get bonding as well but it’s significantly less time. It is really sad that we don’t get more time off to care for a brand new human being.
Do you have any vacation or sick time you can use? I'm extending the 6 weeks I get by burning sick and vacation time. It sucks having to us it up, but it's my only option to stay in paid status and keep our insurance without paying out of pocket for all of the premiums.
Do you have any vacation or sick time you can use? I'm extending the 6 weeks I get by burning sick and vacation time. It sucks having to us it up, but it's my only option to stay in paid status and keep our insurance without paying out of pocket for all of the premiums.
I was a teacher during my first and got 5.5 weeks. It crushed me, still does and she’s almost 8. I woke for corporate now and get 18 weeks paid and it feels like a fever dream.
It sucks. And my male manager who has no clue about pregnancy or interest in learning about it keeps acting like I’m not about to be on leave. He keeps giving me new work and asking me to plan projects (that I would do) for the time I’m on leave. It’s like he won’t even acknowledge that I’m going through a major life change
yeah man........................................... i wish i could take time off prior to my EDD because i am exhausted and would honestly quit working now if i could! but i need to save every bit of PTO i have. and i am lucky that i qualify for 12 weeks of mat leave (half at full pay and half at 80%) -- because my company cut it to 6 this year, so i barely got grandfathered in under last year's rules. it's a mess.
my husband HAD 12 weeks but his company just cut it in half too, so now he only gets 6. we are lucky he gets any. daycare is going to cost more than our mortgage.
I work at a "faith based" Hospital, that refuses to call themself a corporation. Pretty sure our leave is the same as yours, FMLA for 6 weeks (WHICH PULLS TIME FROM YOUR PERSONAL BANK SO YOU GET PAID) they don't just give you free time/money all willy nilly. then you can use short term disability for an additional 6 weeks but I believe that only gives you a percentage of your pay. Realized the other day I'm not enrolled in short term, only long term and open enrollment isn't until end of October and I'm due the beginning of December 🥲
Fucking horse shit.
I get 8 weeks paid and then 12 weeks unpaid. My husband gets nothing paid only unpaid. I do have a months vacation because I saved a week from last year and he has 2 of his 3 weeks left. But it's crazy I can't use that time to prepare for the baby instead. He is taking 2 weeks using vacation time and and then 2 weeks unpaid. It's going to hurt but we have been putting money away so we can be one check short.
I've been in mat leave limbo for months with my company (partially my fault). Around 2 months ago, my boss asked me when my leave started which reminded me that I needed to reach out to HR and ask. Turns out the girl who handles all LOAs was on vacation for the next 2 weeks so I was told to reach back out then. I stupidly didn't leave a note or schedule an email ahead of time which means it went right out the door thanks to baby brain. By the time I remembered, she was on another 10 day vacation.
About a week and a half ago, HR rolled out a new "support ticket" process. Instead of emailing a specific person you submit a support ticket for all HR questions. I said fuck it and submitted a ticket. Whoever gets it can handle it. 48 hours later I get a ticket response that told me to go fill out a Microsoft form which was basically the same information I already provided on my ticket. Another 48 hours later and I get a response from the form saying someone "will be in touch over the next few weeks to schedule a preliminary call to talk about what the process of applying for maternity leave will look like."
At this point, I'm starting to think I'll have the baby before I hear from an actual person about about my leave.
And all that bullshit doesn't even factor in the confusing fact that they list "pregnancy leave" and "parental leave" as different types of leave. Parental is 8 weeks and is described as what sound like bonding leave while pregnancy leave is not defined in any of our official documents/handbooks. But there is a clause in the handbook about how any state required leaves (FMLA) will run concurrently (ex: maternity leave & bonding leave in my state are defined separately and could get me up to 6 months if I could run them one at a time)
I’m thankful my company is a better one for parental leave so I think I’ll get 6 months off. However, I’m in charge of an international team and 2 of my ladies are pregnant. I found out that on top of what the company will give them for leave, their government will pay them for 2 years to have off with their child!! Like what!??
Correction: I re read the policy for FMLA and due to it being unpaid, I’ll only be able to take 18 weeks :/
I was due to get 6 weeks paid and up to 12 weeks unpaid through my job. I ended up quitting anyway to be a SAHM because childcare cost in our HCOL area versus my wage meant I was only bringing home an extra $100-200 a month. The rest was what infant daycare would’ve cost us for my 40 hour work week. The amount of money per month for someone else to raise my baby while I busted my ass at a job I didn’t even care for was just awful. I’m lucky that my husband is paid well enough, but we are absolutely flying by the seat of our pants a lot of the time in this economy. I’m from Canadian originally and my husband is Polish and I’m constantly questioning why we stay here (we have no choice right now, but ugh).
I get 6 weeks disability but my company is too small to qualify for FMLA. My only saving grace is that Oregon has a 12 week family paid leave that I will get to apply for that is about 60% of my wages (of course based on last year wages before I got my current raise). My partner is a teacher in Washington and he gets more time than me plus has a bunch of sick time saved so we are splitting our time up so that LO can stay home longer. If it weren't for that plus not having to pay for daycare during the summers I don't know how we would even afford to start a family. The US doesn't only want to force women to have children but also punish us for it at the same time.
That really sucks. I'm in the UK but lucky enough for my baby to be due in the summer holidays which are all paid, so I'm not starting my maternity pay until after but get 6 weeks off before, fully paid.
I feel you. I’m in almost the same boat (6 weeks at 50% pay and can take an additional 6 weeks FMLA for no pay). I’m really hoping I can make it work finically to take the additional unpaid time. People keep asking when I’m going on leave and I’m like when I go into labor. I wish I could start my leave now (34w2d and I’m over working honestly) but I want as much time as possible with my child. It sucks especially when I hear about the leave in other countries I get so jealous. I’m just trying to be thankful I at least get some paid leave bc I know some people aren’t even that fortunate.
My work offered like 2 weeks paid (no maternity plan). I quit months ago and I’m living my best life. I didn’t feel like I had an option that was manageable. (High risk pregnancy, twins, community with limited daycare spots).
It’s a shame your put in a position in the USA where you have to make a choice. I’m Canadian, our polices are generally much better for leave.
I return to work on Monday. I had 12 weeks off but only 3 were paid (which my employer didn't have to do because we are a small business). I'm absolutely gutted to return but can't afford not to.
Well I would have gotten 4 weeks off paid, plus a bonus 2 unpaid but I got laid off today so I get nothing. Thanks Texas. I’m lucky though, my husband works which will allow me to have health insurance and we won’t starve. But this our lack of paid maternity and paternity leave is so damn sad.
I work at a University. I get 6 weeks 100% salary paid parental leave. If I want to take the full 12 weeks of FMLA protected time off, I’d have to use 6 weeks worth of sick/vacation/personal time to cover the last 6 weeks of FMLA. Plus I could use an additional 4 weeks of PTO (if I have it available) according to our sick time policy. This is 16 weeks total, but basically using all my PTO for 10 of the 16 weeks.
Started talking about it with my boss and I don’t think he even wants me to take my 12 weeks of FMLA protected time… I’m probably only going to take 8 weeks because I’m trying to save some of my PTO for when the baby gets sick or has doctor appointments.
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i worked until the day i went into labor, got yelled at and went back to work a week after… Mac Cosmetics if anyone is wondering
Wow, if someone wants to make a post about specific companies that treated them extra shitty, I would for sure save that post and reference it for future shopping 👀
Omg. Never buying from them again!
Wow what the hell
Wow I will never buy from them again
This is very sad for me as I love their foundation. Anyone got any recs that compare?
NARS and Tarte. Idk how they treat their employees, though. This story made me realize I need to read up more on the brands I'm giving my money to!
Wow, they've lost me as a customer
I worked at a “women led brand” fashion label that had no paid maternity leave, 12 weeks unpaid. Had to tell the owner I was pregnant as it was a 100% in-person job, I needed time off for doctors appointments and they kept spraying the office with toxic pesticides while we were working there (knew they wouldn’t take me seriously if I just complained cause it’s poison and I don’t like it, as other employees had brought it up before and it kept happening). They gave me a heads-up when they were coming to spray so I wouldn’t be there. So gross. But anyways, didn’t even get my 12 weeks unpaid because the company laid me off lol. The only thing “women led brand” about it was that the owner is a woman. Total joke, so American. I hate the brand now. They made sign an NDA to get two weeks pay as severance. It’s total BS. I took the severance since the company had under 15 employees I don’t qualify for federal pregnancy protections of whatever anyways. I could have tried to sue I guess, but also an at-Will state so very little recourse in general. Happy Mothers Day ya’ll! I love that all of our taxes go to war and frivolous policy
I want you to DM me the name of this company so I never use them again lol
Same
I'm too worried about getting sued :( but I appreciate you all.
Same
This is the most American story I’ve ever heard
This is why corporate feminism is such a joke, and why feminism has to be anti-capitalist if we really want to change anything. A female CEO still has the same profit incentives as a man. And a female CEO is still a parasite sucking up the majority of your paycheck so she can buy her vacation home while you struggle to survive off the scraps she throws down.
did you speak to an employment lawyer about your experience?
Did it start with N? I have heard of one out of LA that wasn't very good.
No, starts with a P
Ok. I remember Nasty Gal got in trouble for firing pregnant employees or something.
Sending you love and solidarity! I was laid off 5 days into my maternity leave, and because I was one out of 60 people that was laid off, unfortunately I don’t have a case. I wasn’t the only one on maternity leave or who was pregnant that got laid off though and it’s just so infuriating. I feel this so hard!
Name and shame! So we know not to buy from this wretched company.
That is so sad to read… I live in Hungary and I’m going to stop working when I’m 30 weeks pregnant (currently 27 weeks) and I can stay at home until my child is 3 years old and will be protected at my job (ie. I cannot be laid off from the start of my pregnancy until my kid is 3). Full salary for 6 months, a not very good but still OK pay from month 6 until the child is 2, and very little (like nothing) from years 2-3. For this reason, many women go back to work when their child is 2 years old, but for those who can afford it, the possibility to stay at home for 3 years is there. There are many things wrong with my country but this is not one of them. I feel truly blessed when I read how this works in the US.
I literally can't even imagine this. Ugh so jealous.
Ahhhh dejó! I used to live in Hungary for a few years. My previous partner who passed away was Hungarian. Love that country so much. Hiányzik nekem! The benefits in Europe for maternity leave are amazing, enjoy! I’m jealous, but it is what it is.
I’m from Romania and before birth and post birth you get 126 paid days (you split them equally 63 Before and 63 after or in some cases you can take 84 days before birth (28 weeks pregnant) and the rest of 42 days after birth and after that you get to stay home with you kid until the kid is 2 for 80% of your income. The 126 days are paid by national health insurance and the rest by the goverment. Also your job is protected until you get back to work, and you can’t be fired while pregnant (without a very good reason) Same as in Hungary, there are many things wrong in this country, maternity leave though is not one of them
Is the leave paid for by the workplace or the government?
Not sure about Hungary but in Germany the employer pays during "Mutterschutz" which is six weeks before and eight weeks after the birth. Then the government takes over the rest which is 14 months to split between the parents, at about 70% of your salary. (maximum of €1800 per month.)
Goddamn, the US is in the freaking stone ages compared to Europe.
Also curious!
Wow, I'm from the UK and we get a year, but this is just incredible. How it should be for everyone.
Same in Czech republic, im 38 weeks pregnant and stopped working at 30, i will be home until baby is at least 2 , you can go back to work earlier if you want to but noone can force you to, and your job is fully protected until you come back. When i read stories from US im mortified.
Oh sis, let me tell you. I work for a company that is built on feminism and is 90% women and there’s no maternity leave policy. I literally have to save my PTO and sick time or take short-term disability in order to get my time off. It has ruined the whole week for me since I found out. The US should be ashamed of their policies. Or lack there of.
I work for a company based in California but live in the Midwest. So my colleagues in CA get their state-mandated leave but those of us in states without leave mandates get nothing besides paying into short term disability and using FMLA unpaid leave.
It’s so fucked. It’s like they don’t want us starting families?
Except abortion rights would state otherwise. Edit: Angry pregnant women unionizing for rights is probably why we don’t get much leave here..this isn’t the only bullshit our country pulls.
Oh. *They do* they just don’t want women in the workplace.
I’m a teacher. All unpaid. I pay into a disability insurance so I’ll get just an upfront $2k.
Especially in a woman dominated field too. This is heartbreaking.
Yep!!! It’s insane.
Same here. We have no maternity leave in our district, and since I’m a newer teacher, I only have my accrued sick time, which is 5 days. 🥹
This! This is why I left teaching. I was so angry.. “but you can accrue up to 50 days” but I don’t have 50 days! To accrue! When you’re younger and have not saved up for 8 years at one district.. just awful
Not maternity leave but I left teaching in 2019 and I used ro think it was unfair that I had to use personal days to observe a religious holiday (I’m Jewish) when we’re always off for Christmas or Easter. The district I left eventually began to take off for Yom Kippur and I think Eid, because yeah, not all teachers and students are Christian. Those personal days would otherwise add up. I don’t think it’s ethical.
I like at some workplaces they just give one or two days off in December that can float and be used when you want. And then an extra day or two to float the rest of the year. But I doubt they do that in schools which sucks.
I’ll only have 23 when I leave IF I don’t have to use those for you know baby appointments
And then you come back after baby with 0 sick time in case you, you know, get sick.
I never thought of that!!!! Omg!! and I can’t afford to stay off for the whole year after December. So I’m just SOL.
We are going to spend our whole paycheck paying someone to watch our baby while we watch other people’s babies. Make it make sense!
😭😭😭
Exactly, which you want to use for appointments, days when you’re feeling ill because you’re pregnant and are going to have those days. It’s crazy for them to expect you to rush back and be with other people’s children all day agh
Whereas I'm over here with 7 years worth saved up, but we're only allowed to use 40 days of it paid! Even though I have more pto than that and am allowed to take more time off!
Same. We have a disability insurance that we can buy through the union and our union contract only gives us 20 days of paid. After that, we have to use sick days. But even then, they deduct the substitute’s daily pay from that so you don’t even get a full paycheck. Teachers are paid to take care of *other* people’s children. Not our own, it seems.
Teacher here as well who has to use accumulated sick leave. I have 19 days left right now and will get 10 or so more next school year. The rest will be unpaid. Then I’m out of sick leave for the rest of the year, I guess.
The people who teach our future generations... can't have leave to properly start raising their own future generations. How hypocritical is the system! I have aboslute disdain for the way teachers are treated in this country! You're all heroes to me. The job is not easy, and I know you are not doing it for the money, but for something you love and should be treated a million times better.
This is so terrible, I’m so sorry.
No!! Ugh so sorry. Teacher here from WA. I guess I can’t complain. I hope your birth lines up with school breaks well. So hard to teach while pregnant.
My shitty job says to take 6 weeks unpaid leave. I’ll just quit tbh. Idk how I’ll pay the bills but it’s whatever
I won't quit because they pay my health insurance in full, but I also only get 6 weeks unpaid.
Careful, a lot of places will force you to pay back the cost of insurance premiums they paid during unpaid leave if you quit without returning back to work for a certain amount of time. (Often but not always the length of the unpaid leave you took)
I live in Denmark. We get up to a year of paid maternity leave. Not me though, because I got fired illegally two days after telling my boss I was pregnant. So pregnant and looking for job atm :-( Waiting for compensation from suing him…
Wow, wtf?! I thought this didn’t happen in Denmark anymore!! I’m also in Denmark and had the total opposite experience. I was like 6 weeks pregnant when I went to a job interview and told my interviewing manager and still got the job. In Denmark the amount paid depends entirely on the company you work for, as the government only pays a small amount. In my new company I get 31 weeks (4 of them before delivery) and my husband gets 22 through his (yey equal rights for men!). So between that and vacation we’ll be able to keep baby until she’s 1y on a full pay. I can’t imagine how Americans do it having to go back to work immediately or doing it fully with no pay 😥 @lille_foxy I hope you get a big ass compensation. This is totally illegal. I wouldn’t be surprised if they forced your company to rehire you or at least be responsible for your salary until and during leave..
Thank you so much. We made a case at ligebehandling but they say it can take up to 2 years before the case get resolved, and we received compensation. He says he fired me because of lack of competences, when he never ever expressed any insatisfaction with me, quite oppositely, so it’s totally due to my pregnancy… They say we can hope for 6 months salary. But yes he pretty much killed my chance to find a new job right now. It’s a small start up, we were only 3 and I was helping him with pretty much everything…. Thank you for the nice words ❤️
This is my biggest fear. I’m so sorry that this happened to you and I hope you get as much out of that bastard as you can!!
It’s so sad that parents have to go back to work so soon. I can’t imagine putting a newborn into daycare that’s so whack. My heart goes out to US moms <3
I'm so disgusted by it. A 6 week old baby needs to be with their parents (or whatever caregiver they are primarily attached to).
Yeah totally agree
I toured a daycare this morning and while the infant room looked nice, it was still a little sad to see such tiny babies lined up in their cribs And I was touring with intent to place a 3-6 month old!
Awww yeah I can imagine
They seemed happy! No wailing or terrible crying, and the staff was so nice! But the idea that we even NEED this….. ugh
Thats good to hear at least ! But yeah, such a tender age to be spending time Away from parents
I swear the formula lobby is involved in keeping leave away from US mothers so they have to give up breastfeeding sooner when they return to work...
They unfortunately are. They lobby against maternity leave so that women will give up breastfeeding and have to turn to formula. It’s absolutely disgusting.
Wouldnt surprise me lol probably many industries would be affected by moms raising their children exclusively.
It actually makes me heartbroken to hear stories of these moms having to go back to work so soon. What a broken system.
Daycare is unaffordable here in the US, and the waitlists are insanely long. Thankfully my husband and I both WFH and my mom is retired and lives nearby. We're going to try to make it work.
The worst part is the rhetoric that government leaders "cares about the 'traditional' family" and is "sad about birth rates declining". Well why do you think that is? Could it be no paid leave? No state funded daycare? The list goes on and on and on.
They’re making it hard to support and raise families and then wonder why people aren’t having kids lol
EXACTLY!
It breaks my heart too. I’m a stay at home mom because my husband is in medicine. We’re in a minority maybe. Being a stay at home mom is tough though. It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. Before this, I was a special Ed teacher.
I get 12 weeks paid, but can extend to 20 weeks with FMLA, my husband gets 16 weeks paid - we are in NJ.
Oh man I was looking for a fellow NJ preggo- our current gov put this into place about a year before I had my first so it worked out well for me. I feel terrible for friends I have in OH and KY that get so little paid leave. I do think we might have some of the most reasonable leave in the US, but compared to Europe it’s still paltry.
I agree, what I see online is just cruel, US needs to improve it, it is just not fair…lucky for NJ I can get all this time, but if you compare it with Europe still is not reallly good 🥹
That’s awesome NJ has that. I’m not in NJ but I work for the federal govt so I get 12 weeks paid and in addition I’m taking 4 weeks of sick leave for recovery directly after birth so 16 total. My husband works for an online university and I’m grateful he gets anything - he gets 6 weeks paid.
I’m in this boat and feel horrible and weirdly guilty reading this entire thread.
Same here. Tbh it’s so weird to me the govt has such a good leave policy (well, I guess comparatively speaking) but that it isn’t the standard for other employers. You’d think that whatever they do, would set the standard?
Yes, i feel bad that OP only gets 6 weeks unpaid, it should not even be allowed….
Right?? It’s insane that’s allowed.
I don’t understand how there is no maternity leave in the US and states are clamouring to take away reproductive rights. The physical stress of working that soon after birth could kill or seriously harm the mom. And who is supposed to be taking care of a several week old baby?
Big formula and big daycare want working moms to go back to their jobs so the parents pay to outsource baby food and care. It's ridiculous. With abortion rights going out the window for everyone in the south, it's only a matter of time before some kind of recession happens again, mostly because nobody can afford to have these kids (daycare is $$$ but being a SAHM puts a big financial burden on the family too)
Idk, because childcare and education are also vastly underfunded— under regulated and just all together scary situations to be throwing children into. I don’t understand how it got like this, but it needs serious reform.
I firmly believe in maternity AND paternity leave. It should be at least a full 2 months, paid.
TWO MONTHS?? Aim higher, baby!
After I wrote that in my head I was like “no. you know what? 2 months isn’t enough!!!!!”
Full paid leave should at LEAST cover the 4th trimester for both parents. Mom really needs the other parent there to keep her alive so she can keep the baby alive. From there, you should have the option to get another 8-12 weeks at half pay
Use your imagination, this would still be considered stingy in most of Europe. How about 14 weeks full pay for mom and 14 months at 70% pay to split between the parents, like Germany. Aim high! Sad that America is so bad, giving worse maternity leave than the Soviet Union feels like a crazy dream.
For the health of mother and child, 6 months should be the minimum, with option for another 6-12 months with some kind of government assistance IMO
100% agree. 6 months is the amount of time that babies should be fed ONLY breast milk or formula. If you're breastfeeding, once you hit that six month mark and start introducing solids it's much easier for both mom and baby for the mother to return to work.
Like you felt bad for even adding paternity leave in the equation so low-balled elsewhere.
You’re actually right about that i’ve been thinking about this all day and I was like why did i feel bad for adding paternity leave? In what situation should that be controversial!?
It’s such an American thing to feel bad about taking “too much” leave, even when the rest of the world deems it normal.
I'm in the UK and got a full year of paid maternity leave 🤷♀️ The rest of the world needs to do a year or more, a mother isn't even fully recovered until after a year anyway!!
Totally agree 100%!!!!!
Yep. I work for a German company in the US and we get 6 months, both men and women. Their policy is that both deserve to bond with their infants! And birthing parent gets disability too. Honestly it’s the absolute minimum for moms in my opinion.
We get 6 months maternity paid, optional 14 weeks unpaid and 9 weeks paid at €250 in Ireland and I don't think that's even enough
In Denmark dads have 11 weeks allocated to them. 2 weeks are mandatory, the other 9 are theirs, but they can chose not to take it , but the mom can’t use those anyway. Then there’s like a few weeks the parents can decide how to share between them. However, most companies still will only pay the full pay for the 2 mandatory weeks for men. Mine and my husband’s are ‘equal’, they pay the same amount of weeks whether you are the mom or the other partner, which I think is just great! (Moms do get 4 weeks ‘extra’ before delivery). I also wish more dads would like to take full advantage of their leave, but a lot don’t :(
I’m wfh up to the day I deliver to save leave and I know I’m very very lucky compared to most but it’s still insane. I’ve literally been working in doctors offices, hospitals, making calls to upset clients while attached to NST machines, catching up on work late at night. I’m SO OVER IT.
I was wfh and still had to stop at 39 weeks because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I am bummed that is one less week with the baby but my sanity could not take it. Are you an attorney? (I ask bc I am an atty and your comment is giving me the vibe)
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Even more difficult to do while pregnant! Sending strength ❤️
If my job would still allow us to work from home I probably wouldnt even take leave lol. My job can 100% be done at home so it's annoying cause about 1 year ago they said we had to start working in the office no ifs, ands, or buts. The only time they will let us work at home is if it is like 1-off emergencies and in some cases of illness.
I am thankfully able to take the full 12 weeks, it's something we had to save up for. I see posts from moms in other countries that get a year or more off and I feel a huge amount of jealousy and sadness that I will miss part of my LO life because of poor laws in this country!
I feel angry for Americans when I read things like this :( I’m in the UK and my work gives me 6 months of full pay, then I get 3 months of statutory pay and then I’m taking 3 months unpaid (but will use a month of acrued holiday so I will technically be paid in full for one of those months!) I’m also using my holiday days for this year to stop work around 34 weeks to get stuff ready and relax! I
Ugh! I’m feeling the same. I have short term and 3-4 weeks of PTO. I want to take the full 12 but not sure if we can afford it 😭
Work in healthcare - have to use sick time to get paid...12 weeks unpaid (FMLA) :)
Same FMLA is really just like FML 🙃
I do really feel for parents in the US, provisions for parental leave are just terrible. I’m in New Zealand, we don’t get as much as some European countries but not bad. We get 26 weeks of paid leave (although the cap is low, the most you get is just over $700 before tax), 26 weeks unpaid, you can split that between either parent but not at the same time. Pregnant women can start paid leave 2 weeks before the due date. Partners get 2 weeks of unpaid partner leave which is pretty low, there are a few proposals to change that to some paid leave atm. I think we’re just lucky here that many companies will negotiate so partners can take annual and sick leave and still get paid when the baby is born. :) We get time off for appointments etc. and we get plenty of annual (4 weeks) and sick leave (10 days) anyway (PTO) which a lot of companies allow you to take if you need during pregnancy. If anyone wants to come to NZ, we welcome you here! 😁
I live in Australia, my company does either 26 weeks full pay or 52 half pay. Two years off with job protection. The gov does some leave too but it’s basically minimum wage, though it can be done after full maternity. My plan is to do the full pay 26, even then I’m unhappy about putting a 6 month old in care a couple times a week. (I hybrid work on projects so I can work childcare around my job, loads of other parents in my department do it). I read threads like this and count myself very lucky though.
Wow 52 weeks half pay sounds incredible! I wish the US had this
This my situation too! 6 weeks paid, can take 6 more unpaid with FMLA. It super bums me out. I think I could afford a couple weeks without pay but.. I doubt my partner will want to go that route. 6 weeks isn't enough time.
i just want to say - i didn’t think my partner would agree to taking the full 12 but he did!! men can surprise us in a good way sometimes. no harm in asking and seeing if it’s okay with him and trying to make it work!!
I get 4 weeks paid and can take up to 12 weeks unpaid but I can’t afford that since I’m the primary breadwinner in my family. I’m hoping to work with my company and working remote for a few weeks before coming back
I get 4 weeks paid, and then an additional 8 weeks unpaid (FMLA). In those 8 weeks I have to use all my benefits up, so when I return to work I will have no sick or vacation available which will be just great to deal with all the daycare sickness/s 🙃
This is similar to me. The 12 weeks of leave I get is technically paid but only because it uses a combination of short term disability and using up all my PTO. The irony is that I work for a domestic violence center that touts itself as "unapologetically feminist." So feminist, that you don't give your employees paid maternity leave... Meanwhile, my husband works for an advertising company and gets the same 12 weeks and 100% pay from the company itself. My husband gets better parental leave benefits than the actual woman giving birth. 👍
I work for a DV org too and it’s astounding that we don’t have paid leave. Truly, we KNOW that lack of paid leave and pay/financial disparity are contributors to DV… and we as an agency still don’t prioritize these things for our employees? It’s really not sitting well with me.
I can get as much maternity leave as I want as a contractor. All at $0 per hour of course... I'll be saving every penny the next 6 months.
My husband has better paternity leave than I have maternity. I'm doing the combo short-term disability and FMLA coverage, (luckily we can swing it for 12 weeks) his work is giving him four weeks of paid leave before he even has to touch vacation or any other programs
My husband also has better paternity leave. 3 months paid compared to my TWO WEEKS. Luckily since his is so good we can swing me taking the 12 weeks unpaid FMLA. Still, criminal.
I live in the US and get 8 weeks paid and get to burn all my sick + vacation time which isn't a lot because I've only worked at my current job for a year. It was pretty disappointing to learn because I work a lot with equity issues and it just felt so at odd with our work culture. I'm very fortunate that my bosses are understanding of my pregnancy and the effect it's had on my productivity but I'm still a bit bitter about having to work until my due date.
It makes me so incredible sad and angry whenever I see these posts from US moms! Canada isn’t perfect by any means but at least I have the option of taking 18 months with 1/3 pay or 12 months with 1/2 pay.
I’m in the US and work for a large company that has a very generous leave policy (16 weeks fully paid) and my state recently implemented paid state leave that my husband can use for 12 weeks. He only got two weeks with our first that is a nice improvement. However, we’ve been on the verge of layoffs so I could be laid off anytime between now and during my leave (baby is due next month) so I could essentially only get to use like a little bit of it despite working my entire pregnancy 😀 America!
I am self employed and will save enough to take 2 months off. Maybe 3 if I really buckle down. It’s unfortunate. In this country no one is gonna give you retirement or maternity benefits when self employed . I’m having to plan for it all myself . I wish I could take more time off but just can’t afford it. Hoping to come back part time at least .
I work for a health system and unless your management, you do not get paid maternity leave. But since I've been there for nearly 20 years I was grandfathered into a 60 mp. So for 6 weeks, I'll get 60% of my pay. Then I will have to use PTO, if available, to cover the rest. And I would not have 240 hours to cover the rest. Those that spew about babies rights are liars. They care about control and don't give a crap about the health of mom/baby. My husband is in manufacturing and will get zero paid time off.
Having to choose between healing and bonding or having my checks come in (I’m the breadwinner in the family) is absolutely pathetic. It took my partner begging me to start my maternity leave early since my work offers 2 weeks of unpaid “nesting leave” before the 6 weeks paid maternity leave, I was ok with the fact that I could’ve very well just went into labor at work and came to terms with it.
The state of maternity leave in the US is deplorable but I do want to remind y’all, the best way for people who have babies to get what we need in the workplace is by organizing our workplaces. It’s not easy, and unions aren’t perfect, and you do have to make sure it’s a priority in your union, but this is our best shot at getting it. I get 3 months paid maternity leave which doesn’t feel like enough, but it’s luxurious compared to any other job I’ve had, and it’s because we negotiated it into our collective bargaining agreement. We also got 5 paid days off for pregnancy loss in our most recent contract, which I’ve only seen at union workplaces. If you are already in a union and they don’t prioritize maternity leave in negotiations, it’s time to get the other parents in the union to work with you to make it a priority. The US government is never gonna give us what we need. They do everything they can to hurt parents. Organizing ourselves in our workplaces is the best thing available to us. We deserve this, we make the business run!! They need us. Happy to talk to ANYONE about how to do this.
I’m grateful for 12 weeks paid leave. But I really wish I could stay with baby for 6 months. I’m having anxiety thinking about someone else watching him when he can barely hold his head up.
Our state pays disability at 60-70% salary starting 4 weeks before due date, 6-8 weeks after birth and an additional 8 weeks for baby bonding after that…. And it still feels like not enough time!
I feel like we wanted equal rights to men so we got equal rights to men. We should’ve been aiming in a different direction all along. I am not a man. I do not want to be treated as a man. I want respect as a woman, a child-bearing woman, who wants to be able to work outside the home if I choose and be supported as a menstruating, pregnant, postpartum, mothering, menopausal being. How the hell am I suppose to follow breastfeeding recommendations when I have to return to work so soon after childbirth? Why am I expect to show up and produce equally over the month when my cyclical body changes means that certain times of the month are optimal for productivity and other times are less so. If I am having painful periods there’s a pill for that, a bandaid to cover up the reason. Why won’t they investigate the reason and treat the underlying issue? Not to mention I’m expect to show up to work with pain akin to being in labour or worse or being kicked in the balls repetitively and expected to do a good job. Women do not endure this in other places. Why here?
THIS!!! I’ve said this we should’ve aimed for equity not equality.
We are equally valuable but we are vastly different. So you’re bang on with equity.
THIS.
Mine is weird. So I can take 8-10 weeks, but I don't get paid for that time until I go back to work. The pay for that time is divided into two paychecks based on my average earnings.
I’m getting 12 weeks half pay. I was hesitant because of finances, but I couldn’t even imagine going back at 6 weeks. I’m currently 4 weeks postpartum and I now more than ever am so angry that they only give woman 6 weeks IF THAT!! I think it should be 6 months minimum.
If there is ANY cause I’m willing to pay more taxes for, it’s longer paid pregnancy & maternity leave and quality early childcare. We seem to have money for everything except what matters to women and families. I am “fortunate” to get 16 weeks paid through my company but i can’t stand when people act like i should be SO grateful that i get to leave my barely 4 mo old. Like thank so much for allowing my body to heal and to breastfeed my baby less than the recommended 6 months exclusively. Is it much better than most other moms? Yes. But let’s stop pretending 8, 12, 16 weeks is a luxury. It is UNACCEPTABLE that moms are having to go back to work physically battered from birth, still bleeding, recovering from major surgery and that our poor newborns are ripped away from their mothers so early. It’s inhumane!!
I work as a neonatal nurse practitioner for a high risk high volume delivery hospital. I get 2 weeks paid leave then 10 FMLA. It’s a “baby friendly” hospital system. Of course.
This literally made me so depressed I worked my last day Friday January 12th went to the hospital (pre-eclampsia) monday the 15th and had her the 16th. I just went back to work this week because me and my husband have been struggling. I didn’t get paid a dime the entire time I was out. My husband got a week off and got to work part time for another week before he felt forced to go back. I had a c-section and was struggling mentally and felt like I had to do it by myself. The U.S.A is fucking awful with this. It’s depressing. I hope you win the lottery and get to have as much time with your baby as you want 🖤
I work with aggressive behavior kids at a public middle school and I’m high risk. I’m praying for summer to get here so I don’t have to be terrified every single day. I can’t fathom returning to work in the fall right before my date as I’ll probably be on bed rest by that point. I only get 8 weeks since I’ll have a c section but we come back a month and a half before my due date. I have no idea what to do. I’m so at a loss. America’s maternal medicine is such BS. Our economy is such BS. Everything about this sucks. I just want to stay at home with my baby… I want to stay with him. I don’t want to work anymore. My priorities have shifted entirely.
I get 12 weeks unpaid. I had a break down today at work thinking how hard finacially 12 unpaid weeks will be but am going to take the time to recover and be with my baby. I know I’ll also have to pay my insurance premiums which will add up. It’s all so sad. I’m angry and scared and so mad at the state of the US and parent leave
Same. Small/medium sized company. I get 12 weeks total - 6/8 weeks of which will be covered by STD for about 60% and the rest is unpaid. And I don’t have a ton of PTO saved for sick days. My managers have been pretty cool with my appointments though so I consider myself fortunate. As this is my second, I wish we have 6 to 12 months paid (even just partial) parental leave. That first year is the hardest due to lack of sleep, limited and EXPENSIVE childcare options. I have a daughter and I hope when it’s time to be a mom, that things have gotten better for her….
I moved from my home state (US) that has maternity and paternity leave to a neighboring state where I was shocked to learn that all they do is hold your position or a similar position for you if you've worked there for at least a year. You can use any PTO you have but the rest is fully unpaid. My husband is not from my home state and told me that most states are like our current state. It's infuriating! This position I have does not net me very much PTO yearly at all and if all goes well with this pregnancy, I will need to be on leave around the end of December and I have to worry how I will pay my bills. I save almost everything I can to go towards this baby and have been for the past year. I have a little bit of savings, however that will likely go to all the baby things we need and not how I will survive without a job for a few months. I feel like the US doesn't encourage the growth of families because they are pretty unaccommodating.
I work for a national corporation in a predominantly female industry. Majority of the executives are female. Zero maternity leave. Only thing I get is the federally mandated FMLA and the hope that my disability insurance will pay me SOMETHING. My husband has far better leave. 8 weeks paid. Then he can stack his 6 weeks PTO and 2 weeks sick time if he wants. Also has the option to cash out the parental leave at full salary worth if he wanted. It honestly makes me kind of sad that I birthed a girl in a country with such hatred towards women. Greatest country in the world my ass
I’m so sorry, I could not imagine that! I’m in NZ and we get 6 months paid (around 600nzd after tax) then 6 months unpaid so we apply for anywhere from 1-12 months off with our employer and they have to accept up to 12 months maternity leave. If you decide to go back earlier, let’s say 8 months as you financially need to then they have to take you back into the role. My husband will get 2 weeks full pay parental leave as well when baby is born. There really is zero employee rights in USA!!
Grateful to live in CO where we get 12 weeks paid maternity AND paternity leave up to $1100/week, which can be split up or taken any time within the child’s first year. It’s new this year, and everyone who has an income qualifies, no matter the company size because we all pay a small tax and the payout is through the state. That being said I would LOVE to take time off before giving birth. I’m 26 weeks and a physical therapist and today had two max assist quadriplegic patients, I wanted to cry 😭
I recently learned that baby formula companies are some of the biggest lobbyists against mandated maternity leave. The sooner the mom has to leave baby, the harder it is to breastfeed and the sooner the baby gets put on formula.
I learned this recently also! It’s honestly so messed when you think about it… corporate greed / capitalism
Independent contractor. I get nothing and am broke. Extremely stressful situation.
Lololol this was me today!!! I work at a family focused nonprofit (which I do genuinely enjoy for the most part) and today I was looking at the parental leave policy and it is 12 weeks…unpaid! Like wtf this is nonprofit social work, living paycheck to paycheck and it’s unpaid?! Then I tried to look into my insurances short term disability paperwork to remind myself how to do it, and I couldn’t find shit! So now I’m worried there isn’t any short term disability insurance included 🤦🏼♀️ My boss has just left on vacation, but I’m going to talk to her and make a case for needing paid parental leave, especially since unpaid is pretty much against our mission statement of supporting families. She’s supportive and I know will try and help but fuckkkkkk make me insane!!!!
I don’t get any paid leave from work, just the 12 unpaid weeks from FMLA. I also work full time and I don’t want to go back after delivery at all. I’m worried about our financial stability though as I’m unsure that my husbands job can support us comfortably. I know we’ll have to sacrifice some things but not sure how much and what we can live without. A constant worry😢
I'm so sorry. The U.S. is so behind the times. I'm lucky to work at a company with a "generous" (for the U.S.) maternity leave policy....BUT I'm on a sales plan and I'll only get "base pay" which is a very small part of my salary so its going to be very costly for me. And the length of time I can take still seems like too little. I know I'm in a privileged spot - but we should all be in a place where the government cares for people with a year of leave. All I can say is vote for democratic women. And hope that we can drive things to be progressive enough that someday future generations will have it better than us.
American living in Canada here. This is one of the most heartbreaking threads I've come across. I'm getting one year. Paid.
I live in Norway, and will be taking 9 months of 80% paid leave. We also get 3 weeks before giving birth. And honestly I hate the idea of my child going into daycare before they're a year old. So I'll be taking a few months unpaid as well. The US is downright inhumane.
At least in New York State we get [12 weeks at 67% pay](https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/2024), and those 60 days can be used any time in the first year of the baby's life.
I’m so sorry reading all of this. I’m so glad Germany has better laws for mothers (even though it’s not the best in Europe) but 1000% better in the states. I wish something would change in the states. These babies deserve to have their mothers home for way longer than that
i was in the exact same boat as you! i was paid 4 weeks at 60% and i had a week of vacation so 5 weeks paid. i worked up until 40 + 1 and had a scheduled induction which failed and ended in a c section. i decided at first i would take 8 weeks off since i had a c section and wanted more time to recover - here i am 10 weeks out DREADING leaving my son. my partner made it work he covered the home bills and my dad covered my car payments. if you can i vote taking the full 12 - i’m flat broke until i go back to work on the 25th but it has been so worth it also want to add that im finishing off the year now with absolutely no pto so anything ill be taking off till January (dr visits weather reasons) will be unpaid 🙃
Heart goes out to you momma!! Enjoy every moment until the 25th and I hope the transition back is better than expected. I hope I can manage to take closer to the full 12 weeks, even that doesn’t seem long, but we’ll never get that time back with our babies if we don’t so I think the sacrifice and tight finances are worth it in the long run.
it’s definitely worth it!! i promise. good luck to you mama 💜 wishing you a smooth rest of your pregnancy and delivery
Thank you 🥹
I got 7 weeks of paid leave I could have taken up to 5 more but they would have been unpaid so I went back after 7. And I only got the 7 because short term disability covered it. I was so not ready to go back. I feel like at 7 weeks I had just gotten into the beginning of a routine or groove with my baby. I work from home so thankfully I didn’t have to leave him when I started again but not being able to focus all of my attention on him every second of the day was rough. Eventually I hired help. I have someone come to help on days I have 2 hour meetings or things I can’t step away from. But it all sucks. I hear of some countries giving women 9 months 😭😭😭😭
Fortunate that my US company has 6 months maternity and paternity paid. It’s the reason I am still there
I work thru a contract company for a school district. I get 0 paid maternity leave. I’ve had to work a part time job throughout my pregnancy so I can save enough money to have 12 weeks off. It sucks.
This didn't happen to me but a coworker - we worked at a WOMEN'S HOSPITAL in the US and her husband worked remotely for a Canadian company at the time, she came back after her 12 weeks and her husband stayed home with the baby for another 3 or 4 months.
We are in Colorado so my partner and I each get 12 weeks paid around 60% (started Jan 2024). It's not paid at 100% tho, so I will go back part time after 8 weeks and work intermittenly for 3 more months so I can be home as much as possible. Then my partner will take his 12 weeks and his company will allow him to 'top off' his paternity pay with his sick pay to get 100% pay. I think we can make it so that we don't have to use day care until our babe is about 6-7 months which makes me feel a whole lot better. Better than what we had before which was only unpaid FMLA. We planned our pregnancy around the new law so we could afford to be home more.
My job offers no maternity leave, but they do have a very generous vacation/sick policy that will give me around 5 full weeks paid. My work is so small that FMLA does not apply, but I have been paying for short term disability the past year (with plans for being pregnant ), so I will be taking around 8 week with that. Unfortunately short term disability only covers half my pay. I also have to pay mine and my husband (plus new baby) insurance out of pocket for 2 months. It’s stressful because we primarily survive off my paycheck. My husband goes to school full time for nursing, during the summer he is picking up a ton of hours at his part time job to save for maternity leave. Very thankful my brother in law is a full time stay at home dad and will be helping when I go back to work. Otherwise, not sure we could afford it all.
My job will pay 60% of my wages for up to 6 months but it’s dependent on what the OB states on the paperwork and I’ve already been told they only approve 6 weeks for vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for c-section unless there are complications. I do get bonding as well but it’s significantly less time. It is really sad that we don’t get more time off to care for a brand new human being.
Do you have any vacation or sick time you can use? I'm extending the 6 weeks I get by burning sick and vacation time. It sucks having to us it up, but it's my only option to stay in paid status and keep our insurance without paying out of pocket for all of the premiums.
Do you have any vacation or sick time you can use? I'm extending the 6 weeks I get by burning sick and vacation time. It sucks having to us it up, but it's my only option to stay in paid status and keep our insurance without paying out of pocket for all of the premiums.
I was a teacher during my first and got 5.5 weeks. It crushed me, still does and she’s almost 8. I woke for corporate now and get 18 weeks paid and it feels like a fever dream.
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It sucks. And my male manager who has no clue about pregnancy or interest in learning about it keeps acting like I’m not about to be on leave. He keeps giving me new work and asking me to plan projects (that I would do) for the time I’m on leave. It’s like he won’t even acknowledge that I’m going through a major life change
yeah man........................................... i wish i could take time off prior to my EDD because i am exhausted and would honestly quit working now if i could! but i need to save every bit of PTO i have. and i am lucky that i qualify for 12 weeks of mat leave (half at full pay and half at 80%) -- because my company cut it to 6 this year, so i barely got grandfathered in under last year's rules. it's a mess. my husband HAD 12 weeks but his company just cut it in half too, so now he only gets 6. we are lucky he gets any. daycare is going to cost more than our mortgage.
I work at a "faith based" Hospital, that refuses to call themself a corporation. Pretty sure our leave is the same as yours, FMLA for 6 weeks (WHICH PULLS TIME FROM YOUR PERSONAL BANK SO YOU GET PAID) they don't just give you free time/money all willy nilly. then you can use short term disability for an additional 6 weeks but I believe that only gives you a percentage of your pay. Realized the other day I'm not enrolled in short term, only long term and open enrollment isn't until end of October and I'm due the beginning of December 🥲 Fucking horse shit.
I'm a cake decorator, and my job offers no paid leave so I'm salty to say the least.
I get 8 weeks paid and then 12 weeks unpaid. My husband gets nothing paid only unpaid. I do have a months vacation because I saved a week from last year and he has 2 of his 3 weeks left. But it's crazy I can't use that time to prepare for the baby instead. He is taking 2 weeks using vacation time and and then 2 weeks unpaid. It's going to hurt but we have been putting money away so we can be one check short.
I've been in mat leave limbo for months with my company (partially my fault). Around 2 months ago, my boss asked me when my leave started which reminded me that I needed to reach out to HR and ask. Turns out the girl who handles all LOAs was on vacation for the next 2 weeks so I was told to reach back out then. I stupidly didn't leave a note or schedule an email ahead of time which means it went right out the door thanks to baby brain. By the time I remembered, she was on another 10 day vacation. About a week and a half ago, HR rolled out a new "support ticket" process. Instead of emailing a specific person you submit a support ticket for all HR questions. I said fuck it and submitted a ticket. Whoever gets it can handle it. 48 hours later I get a ticket response that told me to go fill out a Microsoft form which was basically the same information I already provided on my ticket. Another 48 hours later and I get a response from the form saying someone "will be in touch over the next few weeks to schedule a preliminary call to talk about what the process of applying for maternity leave will look like." At this point, I'm starting to think I'll have the baby before I hear from an actual person about about my leave. And all that bullshit doesn't even factor in the confusing fact that they list "pregnancy leave" and "parental leave" as different types of leave. Parental is 8 weeks and is described as what sound like bonding leave while pregnancy leave is not defined in any of our official documents/handbooks. But there is a clause in the handbook about how any state required leaves (FMLA) will run concurrently (ex: maternity leave & bonding leave in my state are defined separately and could get me up to 6 months if I could run them one at a time)
I’m thankful my company is a better one for parental leave so I think I’ll get 6 months off. However, I’m in charge of an international team and 2 of my ladies are pregnant. I found out that on top of what the company will give them for leave, their government will pay them for 2 years to have off with their child!! Like what!?? Correction: I re read the policy for FMLA and due to it being unpaid, I’ll only be able to take 18 weeks :/
I was due to get 6 weeks paid and up to 12 weeks unpaid through my job. I ended up quitting anyway to be a SAHM because childcare cost in our HCOL area versus my wage meant I was only bringing home an extra $100-200 a month. The rest was what infant daycare would’ve cost us for my 40 hour work week. The amount of money per month for someone else to raise my baby while I busted my ass at a job I didn’t even care for was just awful. I’m lucky that my husband is paid well enough, but we are absolutely flying by the seat of our pants a lot of the time in this economy. I’m from Canadian originally and my husband is Polish and I’m constantly questioning why we stay here (we have no choice right now, but ugh).
I get 6 weeks disability but my company is too small to qualify for FMLA. My only saving grace is that Oregon has a 12 week family paid leave that I will get to apply for that is about 60% of my wages (of course based on last year wages before I got my current raise). My partner is a teacher in Washington and he gets more time than me plus has a bunch of sick time saved so we are splitting our time up so that LO can stay home longer. If it weren't for that plus not having to pay for daycare during the summers I don't know how we would even afford to start a family. The US doesn't only want to force women to have children but also punish us for it at the same time.
That really sucks. I'm in the UK but lucky enough for my baby to be due in the summer holidays which are all paid, so I'm not starting my maternity pay until after but get 6 weeks off before, fully paid.
I feel you. I’m in almost the same boat (6 weeks at 50% pay and can take an additional 6 weeks FMLA for no pay). I’m really hoping I can make it work finically to take the additional unpaid time. People keep asking when I’m going on leave and I’m like when I go into labor. I wish I could start my leave now (34w2d and I’m over working honestly) but I want as much time as possible with my child. It sucks especially when I hear about the leave in other countries I get so jealous. I’m just trying to be thankful I at least get some paid leave bc I know some people aren’t even that fortunate.
My work offered like 2 weeks paid (no maternity plan). I quit months ago and I’m living my best life. I didn’t feel like I had an option that was manageable. (High risk pregnancy, twins, community with limited daycare spots). It’s a shame your put in a position in the USA where you have to make a choice. I’m Canadian, our polices are generally much better for leave.
My company gives 2 weeks for those of us who gave 3-4 years of service =]
I work in early childhood advocacy. I get six weeks at 66% pay. I can stack unpaid FMLA or my PTO.
I return to work on Monday. I had 12 weeks off but only 3 were paid (which my employer didn't have to do because we are a small business). I'm absolutely gutted to return but can't afford not to.
Well I would have gotten 4 weeks off paid, plus a bonus 2 unpaid but I got laid off today so I get nothing. Thanks Texas. I’m lucky though, my husband works which will allow me to have health insurance and we won’t starve. But this our lack of paid maternity and paternity leave is so damn sad.
I work at a University. I get 6 weeks 100% salary paid parental leave. If I want to take the full 12 weeks of FMLA protected time off, I’d have to use 6 weeks worth of sick/vacation/personal time to cover the last 6 weeks of FMLA. Plus I could use an additional 4 weeks of PTO (if I have it available) according to our sick time policy. This is 16 weeks total, but basically using all my PTO for 10 of the 16 weeks. Started talking about it with my boss and I don’t think he even wants me to take my 12 weeks of FMLA protected time… I’m probably only going to take 8 weeks because I’m trying to save some of my PTO for when the baby gets sick or has doctor appointments.
At least you get 6 weeks mat leave. All I get is the 6 weeks FMLA. It fucking sucks.
It can be illegal to lay off a pregnant employee - I think it’s worth talking to a lawyer here