Have you had a baby before 12 months into your employment?

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1

...I mean before you qualify for maternity leave -- either you knew at the time of hiring that you were pregnant or you started on the job and learned soon after that you were pregnant?

I'm interested in learning how your employer handled it. I know someone who had to go back to work 2 weeks after she had a baby (because she only had two weeks of vacation) - is that what you had to do and how was it going back to work after 2 weeks?

Or did you have to leave the job once and get re-hired?

Or did you lose your job?

I am interested in hearing about your experience. Thank you!

---addition

Hi, maybe I AM confused. I thought employers weren't obligated to provide maternity leave (or employees don't qualify for FMLA) until the employee had worked for 12 months at the employer. Is it not the case? This is the reason I am asking the question.

Thanks!

2

Maryanne:

The FMLA was drawn up and put into affect so that people’s jobs would NOT be in jeopardy after a life changing event - birth, death, adoption.

In my opinion, your friend CHOSE to go back to work because she didn’t save properly.

So you are about to start or have started your new job - that you heard gossip on and now you’re pregnant and want to know what to expect? Or are you having second thoughts and want to go back to your old job?

Yes. I was pregnant with my son when I started a new job. They were happy for me. Did I lose my job? Nope. Did I leave the job and get re-hired? No. I didn’t leave the job and get re-hired. I left the job to stay home with my son. Could I have been hired back? Yes. they asked me to come back about a year later.

I knew I was pregnant at my interview. They knew as well. You can’t be fired because you are pregnant. If that’s what you are worried about. They can fire you because of lack of attendance and poor work.

there is NO WAY on God’s Green Earth would I go back after two weeks. Your body is still healing. Like I said - your friend went back after two weeks because she didn’t plan properly. Check your benefits package - Long term and short term disability CAN apply to maternity leave.

3

You are confusing two very different issues as being one, they are not. Your friend chose to come back after two weeks. Either she didn’t plan well and save or whatever. Unless there were less than 50 employees she would have been able to take off 12 weeks though 10 would be unpaid.

My first two kids I took three months off, unpaid. My job was held. We just saved money before the kids were born. It is not like paid leave is your only time off so clearly your friend chose to come back.

Even my firm, which has paid leave, most choose to take leave unpaid at some point.

4

I agree with the other comments. She chose to go back to work because she wanted to get paid. I found out I was pregnant when I started and I had to take a day off befoe my 90 days, I just didn’t get paid. I had 2 weeks of 100% pay and then 6 weeks of 50%. I just stayed in and used my money on bills. I wasn’t going out so I didn’t need gas or entertainment money. She should have planned her money better.

5

I got pregnant a few months after starting a new job. I one year anniversary with company was the end of Sept. and I had my son the end of Aug. My company didn’t pay for my maternity leave but I took disability leave thru the state which helped. During this time I was able to keep my benefits and my job was waiting for me when I returned.

I took 8 wks disability leave because I had to have a c-section then I also took an additional 6 wks paid by the family leave act. Not sure if the family leave act is only a California thing but its worth checking into. You can go online under unemployment website for your state and get information on both of these programs.

Good Luck!

6

You are correct. Employers only have to offer FMLA if the employee has been with the company for at least 12 months (and if they have over 50 employees within 75 miles). FMLA provides for 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

Maternity leave is covered by short term disability. Once you qualify for benefits, you qualify for short term disability. I believe this is normally around 6 weeks…the amount you’re paid generally depends on how long you’ve been with the company.

In my case, I got pregnant a month after starting my new job. I got 6 weeks short term disability, and my company let me take an additional 6 weeks off with no pay…even though I didn’t qualify for FMLA due to the less than 12 months thing.

7

Employers do not have to provide maternity leave (mine didn’t when I had my kids). And employees qualify for FMLA only if they’ve worked 1250 hours for the same employer within the last 12 months.

8

I transferred while I was pregnant. So when I had my DD, I didn’t qualify for maternity leave. THEN I had some complications with my delivery, so I had to stay home for about 6 weeks longer than normal maternity leave would be considered.

My boss (store manager) told me that it was fine, and that he would hold my position.

Corporate wrote me a letter telling me that I could use up to the 4 weeks of (unpaid) sick/personal/vacation time I had accrued, but that was it. When I couldn’t get back to work in time, I was terminated…

So when I was ready to work again, I just put in a new application to the same place, and was hired back right away. :wink:

9

Maternity leave is short term disability. If your benefits are effective, probably so is short term disability.
I was able to take 12 weeks of FMLA, MINUS all available vacation time AND short term disability for a TOTAL of 12 weeks max.

Perhaps your friend was not there long enough to be receiving any other benefits than her 2 weeks paid vacation?

10

I did in my first job. I got preganant almost as soon as I was hired.

I got 8 weeks because I had a c-section, but it was short-term disability because it was such a small company. I had to save 2 weeks of leave to use for the first two weeks, and then the short-term disability kicked in. I also had to go back for two weeks after the 8 so I could get a new job and not have to pay back the short-term disability.

11

When I was active duty military… You worked up until you delivered unless put on bedrest, and had to come back to work as soon as you were medically cleared (usually 3 days), unless you took Leave (most do if they can, not all can. Those who have saved up their leave for a couple years can have ‘standard’ maternity leave. Those who haven’t… You’ve only got what you’ve accrued). Most COs are sane/sensible people and will grant leave post birth. Rules have changed somewhat (allowing an extra 10 days), but it’s still at your COs discretion.

So there’s my ‘baseline’. When all you’ve got is x amount of time and you go to prison if you aren’t there…

In the real world… FMLA guarantees you job, but not that you’ll be paid. 2 different things.

Also a lot of unscrupulous employeers bet on not getting sued by exhausted cash strapped new parents, and win. Just ‘not scheduling’, or scheduling so few hours that it’s not enough to live off of.

People can get jammed up. Not have enough in savings for FMLA & no pay, or jerky employeers breaking the law. It happens. It’s not the norm, but it happens.

Save as much as you can, and hope for the best.

Myself, I was out of the military when I had my son, and had a jerky employer. Lost my job while pregnant. Also my insurance. Husband worked for the union, so should have been okay, but there were internal politics going on that meant we got screwed and couldn’t fight it (fired for leaving work for his sons birth… Union wouldn’t pursue it, because they were in negotiations.

Hard stuff happens. Common, but not normal.

(Upside, my then husband got a job that paid twice what his old one did, and I started school when my son was 2months old. Hard stuff happens, and then you recover from it. Then hard stuff again.)

12

I was at my place of employment 5-6 months in when I became pregnant with my first I was begging morning sickness right around 6-8 weeks I did miss work when I called in sick I felt guilty for doing so.I quit I walked in gathered my things and told my boss I won’t be returning back to work been home since 9 yrs later

13

My employer was under no obligation to provide maternity leave nor did he have to comply with FMLA (under 50 employees). However, I was granted two weeks paid leave plus any vacation accrued and then I was allowed to take off as many weeks as necessary. Prior to the birth I had spoken to my boss about cutting my hours down and working evenings and weekends rather than 8AM-4PM Monday through Friday. He was all for it. But then I worked in a very family oriented business.

14

I was given maternity leave and FLMA and I was only there about 8 months. I interviewed for the job and found out I got the job the day before I found out I was pregnant. When I found out, I contacted the company and told them in case they wanted to hire someone else (not realizing the laws against this). But when it came time for maternity leave I was given FMLA without problem.

15

You are correct. Those who wrote that she chose to go back to work don’t understand FMLA. As you wrote, FMLA is only required for employees who have been on the job for 12 months and have worked 1250 hours during those 12 months, and the company has 50 or more employees. If those three criteria aren’t met, the employer is under no obligation to hold a person’s position open while he or she needs time off to care for a family member, including a newborn. An employee in this position who needs more time off than his or her accrued vacation and sick time could very well lose his or her job, even after having a baby.

In some states, there are more generous rules that take precedence over FMLA and many employers offer short-term disability to cover extended periods of health-related absence (like recovering from child birth) but it’s up to the employer to decide how long the waiting period is for new employees to be eligible for those benefits.

When I had my first son, I was technically not eligible for FMLA as I had only been with my company as an employee for 8 months. However, I worked for a university contractor and had worked in the same place for 4 years as a student, so I had a strong relationship with my managers and peers and they were kind enough to give me 12 weeks of unpaid leave with my benefits continued during that time (I had to pay my insurance premiums so they just double-deducted me for 12 weeks leading up to my leave). When I came back, it was to a new position where I could work four 10-hour week days instead of the longer days with nights and weekends that I did prior to that. I was a single mom and very lucky that they took care of me.

16

My first son was born 1 month early, so I wasn’t at my job for 12 mos. I had to buy my own COBRA insurance because I did not qualify for FMLA. I took 6 unpaid weeks off and they held my job and position, as it was very training intensive and I was a quick learner. I stayed at that job (my first FT job out of college) for 4 yrs.

17

I was told by my boss that she would sign off on extra “personal leave” times aside from the 6 weeks medical “non job protected” leave I would get. She held my job because she didn’t want to lose me. I worked there 10 months before I had my son and HR told me it would be 6 weeks leave and they couldn’t hold my job and personal leave was only granted it dire circumstances and was between my boss and HR. A very conniving worker threatened to quit if he didn’t get FMLA 12 weeks plus 4 weeks personal eave, but since he didn’t have PTO to cover 16 whole weeks the personal was denied and he quit. So because of him not getting his personal leave granted, here I was, already put for 4 weeks planning on taking 2 full months with only 4 weeks worth of PTO, and she calls me saying she’s so sorry but because of him not getting personal leave to go to another country for surgery she couldnt give it to me either because HR told her no. I was so upset, but she said after the 12 month mark we could do some “bonding time” the beginning of next year when my son is a few months old.

It’s sucks but I was not financially strapped I would’ve taken 6 months unpaid if I could but also didn’t want to quit my job completely. They are doing fine there not understaffed but HR decided to be a stick in the mud just because I didn’t have time off to cover it and I was shy just 2 months of service. I emailed them saying I thought it was ridiculous that they are giving fmla but because Im short 2 months service they won’t even let me have 8 weeks! I have an hour commute and was trying to prolonge going back as long as possible. But normally in these situations if your boss is on your side it will make all the difference in the world. Physically I was ready at 2-3 weeks to go back to my job that is very demanding. I had a vaginal birth that was pretty quick, and some minor tearing. But emotionally I’m just upset that I was told i could get personal leave then told no at the last minute.

I know I probably couldve gotten hired back later had I left but I didn’t want to lose my AM shift which I was fortunate to secure when I applied. In a 24/7 staffed profession, weekday mornings are a sought after shift. Mostly our policies govern why I couldn’t take leave without paid time to cover it. Most don’t take more because they can’t afford it, that didn’t matter but I still wasn’t allowed.

I know lots of times, other hospitals I’ve worked for who terminate people for not coming back after FMLA or taking over the leave they’re allowed are terminated as “rehirable”. They take time then come and reapply and since they left on good terms are rehired. My best advice is to make yourself someone that a boss would rather not replace. Good luck!!!

18

Thank you for your responses! I am just changing jobs but I had a scare - I thought I may be pregnant but it turned out I was not… It seems like if you need maternity leave before 1 year, based on the rule you’re not entitled to FMLA, but it depends on the employer what you get. It is better to be careful and wait until it will be a year since start of the employment - but because of my age it is hard to wait… It was nice to hear everybody’s experiences. Thank you so much!