Parental/Mat Leave Question

10 Comments

1. AnonymousSeptember 14,2023 at 4:00PM UTC

   I discovered I was pregnant with my one and only child within a few months of starting a job. So yeah, didn't quality for FMLA; however, my employer at that time did have short term disability that I qualified for after 30 days of employment. So I had that, and used vacation time and then a couple of weeks unpaid to round it out. Ended up staying at that company for 10 years and created the first parental leave policy they had (it has evolved since).

   You'll find out that many employers have short term disability available. And you may also be pleasantly surprised to find that paid parental leave is becoming more and more common in the workplace.

2. AnonymousSeptember 14,2023 at 5:31PM UTC

   Thank you for your reply! To understand correctly, some employers allow you to utilize paid parental leave policy, despite not being eligible for FMLA? :)

3. AnonymousSeptember 14,2023 at 5:59PM UTC

   The one benefit of FMLA is that it provides unpaid leave/job protection for up to 12 weeks. Employers may require to you to use any accrued vacation/PTO/sick time during that period. Some may require you to use STD and FMLA concurrently, etc. Some states (ex. California) have their own paid leave programs in addition to FMLA. Parental leave, maternal leave and paternal leave are company-specific policies. Not all companies have them and they will not all look the same. Some employers may require you to use that at the same time as FMLA. Some may allow it be used before FMLA.

4. AnonymousSeptember 14,2023 at 6:22PM UTC

   Yes, that's been the rule where I've been employed.

5. AnonymousSeptember 14,2023 at 8:18PM UTC

   Your understanding of FMLA is correct. Your state or city may also have short-term disability or paid family leave, which typically has no or short tenure requirements, and provide a percentage of wage replacement. However, many companies also offer parental leave with their own benefits package, with varying duration/tenure requirements. That would be something to ask about during the interview process.

6. AnonymousSeptember 16,2023 at 12:25PM UTC

   You can still look keeping in mind some companies may offer parental leave as a benefit.

7. Sarah BordersSeptember 16,2023 at 1:49PM UTC

   FMLA does take 12 months to kick in, but I would look to company benefits for coverage and job security, personally. As a single, childless person, I look at paid parental leave as a litmus test for company culture when looking for a new role: Do they offer it everyone regardless of birthing situation or gender identity? Do they cover it at 100% of pay? How many months is offered? And so on.

   I can tell you that not every company has the same policy, and many don’t offer it at all, but what’s generally offered is a combination of short-term disability (STD) and paid parental leave. Some even will offer STD + paid parental leave to you with no embargo, but a 12-month wait is not at all uncommon.

   Some will only offer STD. They can offer it right away—sometimes at no cost to you—but some can make you wait before signing up for it, and require a medical exam to get it (and if you’re already pregnant, you won’t be covered).

   In light of that, if it were me, I’d do my best to wait until I could be sure of coverage to start trying (e.g., wait three-four months into a new job if there’s a 12-month embargo), just in case it happens right away.

   IDK if this helps at all, since my “experience” is just hypothetical litmus testing and not from actual, anecdotal experience, where I think you’ve already gotten one really good (first) answer. :-)

8. AnonymousSeptember 16,2023 at 5:10PM UTC

   Find a company that has a reasonable parental leave policy. FMLA is not the only option.

9. maria roseSeptember 16,2023 at 8:57PM UTC

   If you just started at the job and are pregnant or planning on getting pregnant within the first year of work at the job, you should be looking at using first all the PTO time you have accumulated before considering any other extended leave which will probably be in an unpaid leave. What you also should be clarifying is how your present job ( the one you are currently working at and will be taking the time off from) handles leave of absence to clarify your ability to return to work after you take whatever amount of leave time you are wanting to take. Remember that you were hired for a specific job position regardless of what your lifestyle situation is outside of work. Granted you can’t be discriminated for being or getting pregnant but the job position you have also has to have a person doing that job on a regular basis . Some companies can interchange personnel to fill in gaps when there’s an individual out on leave and other companies will leave the position uncovered and evaluate whether they need to keep that position open in that specific location. You may have a job to come back to by the way the law states but it may not be the one you left in any shape or function. Unfortunately, most men don’t have to make this kind of choice or evaluate their actions, because usually they don’t take FLMA leave because they don’t really need to because someone else is doing the brute of childcare responsibilities. If your lifestyle and salary gives you options to pay someone else to do the in-house childcare and home maintenance you only have to consider taking off the minimum amount of time needed to recover from the child birth experience and be back at work with no effect on your position except a normal time off request . Research your options with your current job before you go with the decision to take extended leave to really see how much that effects your future career options.

10. MPSeptember 18,2023 at 1:31PM UTC

    Also depends what state your job is in. Several states now also have Paid parental leave insurance policies that all private employers have to have their employees pay into each paycheck. The amount is often very little but the benefit amounts are increasing to a percentage of the state average weekly wage. Check them out! NY is one such state. Several other blue states as well.