Maternity Leave

Just a question for you ladies.  After reading a lot of your posts i notice a lot of people saying that they had to go back to work after 10 weeks or 3 months or 6 months or something.
Is it not standard everywhere that you get a 1 year maternity leave with your baby?  I know certain conditions have to be met first like having a job for at least 1 year but it seems like there are a lot of you that don't have that option?
I'm in Canada.....maybe it's different here?

[jazzyri]

Wow -- a whole year. That would be awesome, the standard in the US is generally 12 weeks/give or take depending on the individual situation.  I was only able to take 8 wks with my first, but I took the whole 12 weeks with my second child.  It was much needed as they were only 18 months apart.

[peekawho]

The US is backwards in this area.  

[psyched2BaMom]

Oh so you only actually get 12 weeks??  That is insane.....i couldn't imagine!  I just assumed that everywhere was the same.
Here in Canada you get 1 year and you get paid unemployment wages. Obviously for most women who make a decent wage you're suffering with the pay cheque but you still get something and you get to spend that year with your child.
So are all states like that?  Do you get paid for those 12 weeks that you're off?

[shaytay]

I only get 6 weeks off and it is unpaid.  But I haven't been at my job for a year.

[cantwait4baby]

Lucky you - I hear Canada along with other countries have a year paid leave.  I have been at the same job for 14 years and I took off 14 weeks but with NO PAY!

[psyched2BaMom]

Wow, i guess i should be very happy with my 1 year off then.  I get paid 60% of my wage for that year.
Why is it like that?  Does the US not feel it's important for a baby to be with it's mother for the first year?  What do you do if you're breast feeding?  I guess you can't do it for longer then you're able to stay off work?

[cantwait4baby]

nursing is hard when you go back to work - I was not able to nurse but there are women here who did and you pretty much have to beg for the use of someone's office to do it.  Our bathrooms are not private either.

yes, be very happy with your one year - that is when they do all their firsts and I have to work so my mom will be witness to them :(  

[peekawho]

Its similar to the US philosophy of letting people without health insurance just get sicker and die.  

Politics.  They talk a nice line, but in actual practice you don't see any action.  

[AnnieBrooke]

At my sister's office, they have a conference room, and it is booked constantly by women needing to use it to pump breast milk.  Not only do we NOT get one year on unemployment wages, some companies are too small or have other reasons and don't even give 12 weeks whether it is with or without pay.  I used to work for a company with only 4 employees.  It was not subject to the rule that someone got 12 weeks off if they had a baby, because it was too small.  When an employee got pregnant, she had to be replaced once she left to have her baby because that was 25% of the work force and the company needed that work done and couldn't find temps to do it for three months.  I don't remember if the replacement then left and she came back, but I don't think so.  

[cantwait4baby]

FMLA - you are only covered if there are 50+ employees - US does stink when it comes to this and like Peek said - healthcare - not to start a debate but my hospital that I delivered my daughter in had to close it's maternity ward.  They do not make money they loose money so smaller hospitals cant keep them open.  The reason why they loose money - came right from my beloved ob doctor himself.  THEY MUST deliver babies whos mom's come into the ER without a drop of insurance and no previous pre-natal care.  Most are immigrants - then they leave and are never seen again.\

Crazy huh?  Oh well, guess it will never get any better.

[kris123]

We got 5 here and my boss said 4 weeks  i said no way i got 7 and baby comes in two days a week

[cutiemama]

Canada is amazing in this respect. Not only do we get 1 year mat leave, a lot of large corporations top our salaries up to 90% of our earnings. The amazing part of having 1 year off is that we can actually nurse our babies for the year which is what is recommended by the WHO and AAP.

[Jay_Leron]

a whole year!! damnnn opps sorry am just like wow! am moving to Canada!!! lol here in the cayman islands, probation is usually like 6 months so after that if u become preggo u get 3 months. i know in the UK its like 6 months or so. but a year, man i would be getting pregnant every year lol ( do they pay u in full?)

[psyched2BaMom]

I am starting to see how lucky we really are here in Canada.  As long as you worked 1 full year prior you get unemployment benefits and the maximum they pay is 60% of your wage but there is a limit, the most you can get is somewhere around $750.00 every 2 weeks.  But as a previous poster said some large corporations will "top you up" and pay up you up to 90% of your salary.

So am i reading this right that many ladies take their children to work with them?  Is that pretty much standard or does it depend on where you work?

[cantwait4baby]

Depends on where you work, I can't take mine with me I would get nothing done

[ImmortalOne]

I wish it was standard, I'd be in heaven.  I need to live in Canada.

[Me2mommy2b]

I love the way peek puts the whole thing in words :)))  You made me laugh but in truth, the whole situation makes you want to cry.  I was born in Europe and my mom had 2 years PAID maternity leave.  Now, they extended it to 3 years!!!  PAID!!!   Apparently, busting your @ss and paying taxes does not mean that you can sit with your child at home for more than 12 weeks.  I stayed home for 16 weeks and got NOTHING!   Yeah, we seriously need to push for a better maternity leave law.  Who's with me?

[psyched2BaMom]

I was gonna say there is no way i could bring a baby to work with me as i wouldn't get anything done but it is nice that some people are offered that option, at least it saves you some money on childcare.

[kris123]

i am lucky

[plankers2]

:o
I am in the UK I am 35 weeks pregnant and I finished work last week andI don't go back until June! I can have a year off if I want to but I don't think I could afford to be off a whole year but it is interesting to see how different countires do things!

[mami1323]

Wow $750, that's not a cap.  That's generous.  Here we get 12 weeks, 6 weeks STD which is covered at 50% - 66% of salary at a cap of $170 per week.  Scary, who the heck can live off of that. Of course this is state disability and I live in NY so every state is different.  We get another 6 weeks FMLA but it works in conjunction with STD and is only given if we have 50 plus employees.  My company has 8.  They have been very nice and decided to give me an extra 2 weeks full pay and asked me how much time I needed.  I told them 3 months, even though I'm not going to get paid.  I want the time with my son.  USA is terrible when it comes to disability for new mothers.  My old company actually paid 100% of salary for 6 weeks as long as you were there a full year.  It's just awful how we are treated here.

[tiredbuthappy]

i live in NJ where maternity is covered by disability- you get paid 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after at about 60% of your pay. BUT i happen to work for a public school district, and it turns out that while most of the state is required to pay into disability, public schools do not. what bs! so despite the fact that for 10 years i paid into disability at all of my other jobs, i did not qualify since my current job does not. i'm taking 4 months unpaid, except for the 2 weeks of sick days i had accumulated.

[AnnieBrooke]

This is what happens when men make the laws.  Ladies, vote for women candidates, especially if they talk about universal health care!  Annie

[Renogirl]

Unfortunately, in the US we have politicians from both parties who never have to deal with real life issues.  They draw a pension for the rest of their lives, they have drivers who take them everywhere, and I'm sure that as a congressperson or senator, you have the option to have your child at work with you either in your office with a caregiver or in the same building for child care - that way you can work the phones calling constituents with one hand and breastfeed with the other.  If politicians had to live the way the voters lived, things would be so very different.  That boys and girls is my sermon for today.  Tune in next week when we talk about immorality - a subject much more fun to talk about but still involving politicians - lol

[ImmortalOne]

All my time off (after 6 months of service with my company) was covered under STD (60% of my pay).  If I had a vaginal birth I would've gotten 6 weeks of STD, and with my c-section I got 8 weeks.  I then took additional vacation time to be with the baby.  Needless to say this makes me feel that my company is generous, which sucks after all the problems we had.  

[Pearl99]

I work at a large state university in US and we get ZERO days paid maternity leave. No other university have I heard of offers anything at all.    Nothing, zippo. If you are "sick" before delivery you can take off your sick days paid and up to six weeks after delivery you can get sick leave if you happen to deliver with six weeks left in semester (note: total is 6 wks only with 'sick' note from MD).

  If you can't work (teach) because you're due in say late Sept (they won't give you a teaching job if you're about to deliver/leave), you have to take it all without pay. You can only take up to 12 weeks without pay under FMLA during which time they can't fire you (FMLA is NOT maternity leave, please, it doesn't pay a penny!)  Since a semester is 14 weeks long and FMLA runs concurrent with sick time you can't even cover a whole semester. The union here can extend the unpaid leave thru the end of the semester.  They fully expect you to put your baby in FT daycare by 6 weeks. I think this country is obscenely irresponsible with the children!!  I am taking one semester without pay and teaching online to get through to next summer but most women I know go back within a month.  My baby could barely nurse within a month, weighed maybe 9 or 10 lbs and needed her mommy. I can't imagine the longterm consequences of no one being able to stay with their babies in this country. And most americans don't know we are uncommon and that women in other countries have it much better. Spread the word, we need to demand better treatment!

[Crritter]

I am sooo jealous now!  I took 10 weeks, and did get paid, but after 6 weeks only got 1/2 pay.  Even if you only got paid 75% for a year, you still would get that time, and you wouldn't have to worry about paying daycare.  I would take as much time as you can get- it goes so fast.  I worked up till the end and didn't waster any sick days, even though I was puking several times a day at work for months, didn't want to waste any of that time before having my baby.  Enjoy the leave and take all you can!

[Jules_za]

In South Africa we are entitled to 4 month leave, but zero pay.  It is the individual companies which decide whether you get paid or not, or how much. You are entitled to claim unemployment but they only pay ±38% of what you earn

[peekawho]

Men rule this country, so what they perceive as "women's needs" will never get priority.  Even if Hilary is president...it is debatable if she is actually a woman, so things may never change.

[Crritter]

Peek, that's so funny!  My Dh has a friend at work who just had a baby with his girlfriend.  To prove a point he took the 6 weeks paternity leave.  She's his sugar mama though, and even though he does quite well at work, he wouldn't have to work with her income.  We'll see how long it lasts.  If guys had any idea of how much work it is and how important that time at home is, they would change things...but sadly, many of them are ignorant or have wives who want to do it all (like me).

[mami1323]

I wish my fiance did make enough for me not to work.  But that is another problem in this country.  The cost of living is ridiculous.  Unless your hubby is bringing home $100,000 a year, it's impossible for there to be only one bread winner.  With rent or mortgage payments, electric bills, cable (if you even want or can afford it), phone bills (even cell phones now a days are insane), cost of food at the supermarket every other week, Car note, insurance, transportation costs if you live in a metro area, gas, and I sure can go on and on.  There is no way that I can stay at home for too long without bringing home money as well.  It's really unfair, especially because we miss out on our babies growing.  I would love to be there when he takes his first step or says his first word, but I guarantee you his babysitter will be the first.  It's really sad.

[dove1980]

Here in the UK u get 26 weeks paid and 26 weeks unpaid leave...so that's a total of 52 weeks(1 yr)....now ur work might pay u for some more weeks....like i'm going on my leave on 12th Nov....I'm getting 39 weeks paid maternity leave and remaining 13 weeks unpaid leave....i thinks that's kinda nice tho the pay very less....but i guess something is better than nuthing!

[dove1980]

and also in the UK no matter how long u have been with the company u willl get atleast some benefits and that 52 weeks off....if u r emplyed at that same company for 26 weeks or more then for the first 6 weeks u get pais at 90% of ur earnings and remaining 33 weeks at a flat rate.