Telling My Agency I Wont Be Coming Back After Baby

I agree with the other posters don't say anything until its almost time for you to come back from maternity leave. Even then I would suggest talking to them to see if its something you could do from home and if thats not an option then offer to come in part-time until the other person is trained. They may not want to fool with it if there is already someone else there to train already rather than paying another salary just to train someone else.

I believe you are required to return to work for at least 30 days after your maternity leave (max. leave 12 weeks) or they can claim you never intended to return and pull your insurance coverage effective from the START of your leave. That means all expenses incurred during delivery, even if initially paid, will be charged to you directly and billed without insurance. You could be looking at $15K+ of medical expenses if you don't return to your job for a short while after your leave. This is regardless of whether you get paid or unpaid maternity leave. I would check with your state labor board, read the fine print on your insurance under maternity coverage, call your insurance company and tell them you're friend just made the decision to not return after leave and she's now getting billed for medical costs and you wanted to know what the rules are. Make sure you do all your research thoroughly before you say anything to your director, so you don't end up loosing your insurance when you need it the most. Either way, you will not be able to keep your insurance after you quit, so I'd start looking for individual insurance ASAP. Good luck with your upcoming arrival!

If you only have four more weeks (or less) to go and they haven't brought someone in for you to train while you would have been on maternity leave I wouldn't be too concerned.

You are entitled to paid maternity leave either through your company or disability (as least this is the case in California). There is no reason to make waves now and possibly losing your insurance. Many women who intend to return to work after giving birth change their minds and opt to become a stay at home mom.

I would suggest a couple of weeks prior to your scheduled return, have a meeting with your Director and let him know that you want to stay home, but will come in on a part time basis to train someone. You might want to consider the possibility of asking to work from home, either part time or full time...this could be a win win situation so think it through...you have nothing to feel guilty about.

Enjoy your new baby.

Blessings.....

I made a similar decision while pregnant with my son. My choice was a little different, since I was a teacher and I knew a sub was already lined up for my maternity leave. I decided to wait until after his birth to let the administration know I did not wish to return, because I was concerned about my insurance. After my son was five weeks old I informed the administration of my choice. I am glad I did it this way. My employers were very understanding and very supportive. I found out that something in my contract stated that I had to return to work after giving birth or I could be sued for medical expenses for the birth. So I started helping training my replacement via email. I also had to come back for one full day to prove that I did return to work. I guess I skirted around the intent of that clause,but it was the best choice for my family. Congrats on the new addition and good luck..

Have you ever discussed how long you plan to take unpaid maternity leave? It sounds like your employer is already expecting you to not to come back based on the fact he has started preparing another employee. This is tricky because you are trying to keep your health coverage active while you are essentially quiting your job, which sort of puts you in a vulnerable position. You should wait to tell your boss you aren't coming back until your agreed upon leave is almost done, and here is why. If you notify them you arent coming back, you are essentially quiting and they can terminate you at any point forward and then you are no longer elligible for your company's health benefit. Plus, since you chose to quit, you may not qualify for COBRA (? I don't know, heck on this) since you weren't fired. So now you are right before your delivey and you need insurance, but most insurance companies wont begin new coverage until post delivery with you as late in the pregnancy as you are, so I would try to not lose your company's health coverage by basically quitting in advance of your maternity leave. It sounds like you need to start researching a new health coverage plan regardless and it would be smart to have something in the works incase your boss terminates you before you anticipate. Also, check into your state's laws about maternity leave, many states don't protect your right to your job after 12 weeks, even if your employer agrees to a longer time frame (so get whatever maternity leave you agree on in writing- it is the only way to protect yourself and prove the agreement!). If you have a mediaclly complicated (and expensive) delivery and your baby ends up in the NICU, your employer may try to retroactively date your end of employment date to before the delivery since you stated you werent coming back and your claims would be denied coverage by their insurance carrier as you were not techinically part of the company during the time those medical services were rendered.

You can NOT tell anyone in your office you won't be coming back OR you're even thinking of such. I hope you are using a bogus name on this posting so as to not clue them in. The day you say you won't be coming back and you leave on maternity leave will be construed as your last day of employment and your last day of insurance benefits too. You need to act like you are no doubt coming back after whatever time you plan on being off AND then you must return for at least one day to show in good-faith that you DID return for employment. You can then make your mind up about voluntarily quitting and at that time it would be appropriate to turn in your notice for the appropriate time (2 weeks notice or longer that's up to you) but you do have to return and work your job for at least a day to be considered in continuous employment and eligible for benefits. Otherwise, last day of work before having your baby - no insurance for you or baby after that day for your delivery and hospital stay.