U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

"Some VAs have very few women in leadership positions. Men are more easily promoted. "

"Employees were verbally encouraging and accommodating regarding my recent pregnancy and maternity leave, however there are many inconvenient practicalities that my VA location, which is large and well-funded, needs to address. For instance, human resources was unable to provide me with the correct paperwork to request advance paid leave (which consisted of my vacation and sick time for the year) despite multiple calls and assurance that I was "all set." As a result, several weeks into my leave I was surprised to learn that I had technically become "overdrawn" on my sick time, and my boss as well as the entire administration of my department was emailed about it. Highly embarrassing! I had to file a retroactive request for the leave. Also, there is no convenient parking for expectant mothers unless you are able to procure a handicap placard for yourself. The employee parking garage (5 stories) has no elevator. Also, there is no lactation room at my hospital such that my department has to reserve a conference room daily where I can pump."

"Work environment likely to be variable depending on the site you work at and individual supervisors. No maternity leave or short term disability is available - maternity leave is a compilation of your own accrued sick/vacation leave, donated leave from other employees, borrowed leave (that you borrow in advance from yourself and must pay back monetarily if you do not return to work), and FMLA. Women and men appear to be treated equally (there are a majority of women in my field) but there may be variability among sites."