anybody else completely pissed about maternity leave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The other countries also have a smaller population, pay much higher taxes, and it isn't all peaches and cream with their system. I have relatives who have fought and died for their country and that has absolutely nothing to do with maternity leave because they were fighting to keep our country free NOT for maternity leave for any generation.

but many countries do have a better system. Many countries have a better educational system, better maternity leave, a more democratic society, less prison population, smaller crime statistics, more job security, better health care, longer life expectancy etc etc

[Anonymous]

The US is so behind in this area. That said, I don't think what you get is all that atypical. At my company, we have a disability policy but can't use it for maternity leave, as pregnancy and birth of a child are explicity excluded as "disabilities" unless there is an associated disabling medical complication (i.e. need bedrest or whatever). We do get 6 weeks of paid leave, and 6 weeks of unpaid leave, and can use any accrued vacation time (we get up to 22 days per year ) from our employer, which is a small private company of 12. This enabled me to take 3 months + 2 weeks off w/ my first, 9 weeks of which was paid and 6 weeks of which was unpaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The US is so behind in this area. That said, I don't think what you get is all that atypical. At my company, we have a disability policy but can't use it for maternity leave, as pregnancy and birth of a child are explicity excluded as "disabilities" unless there is an associated disabling medical complication (i.e. need bedrest or whatever). We do get 6 weeks of paid leave, and 6 weeks of unpaid leave, and can use any accrued vacation time (we get up to 22 days per year ) from our employer, which is a small private company of 12. This enabled me to take 3 months + 2 weeks off w/ my first, 9 weeks of which was paid and 6 weeks of which was unpaid.

This sounds excellent to me, you got 9 weeks paid and 6 unpaid, so this should be pretty close to giving you close to 80% of your salary. What is your problem?

[Anonymous]

As a nanny, I got fired when I got pregnant. So be grateful to be in a field that gives you any paid time off. Unfortunately, I chose my profession based on my passion and have had to sacrifice a lot of benefits to use my degree in a way that gave me personal satisfaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a nanny, I got fired when I got pregnant. So be grateful to be in a field that gives you any paid time off. Unfortunately, I chose my profession based on my passion and have had to sacrifice a lot of benefits to use my degree in a way that gave me personal satisfaction.

You should have told your story to Oprah, or written a blog, naming people who fired their nanny because she was pregnant. Not a nanny but is there an underground nanny network naming the most horrible MBs? If not, you should start one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other countries also have a smaller population, pay much higher taxes, and it isn't all peaches and cream with their system. I have relatives who have fought and died for their country and that has absolutely nothing to do with maternity leave because they were fighting to keep our country free NOT for maternity leave for any generation.

Unfortunately you did not understand anything from that previous post.
Here we go with the higher taxes AGAIN! We understand it's not all peaches and cream. That is the point! The other point is that you CAN love your country and yet also contemplate and talk about what's not so great. ...and you think that ANYONE would suggest the military should be fighting for maternity leave?!? OMG.



and i think that's one of the points of freedom of speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The US is so behind in this area. That said, I don't think what you get is all that atypical. At my company, we have a disability policy but can't use it for maternity leave, as pregnancy and birth of a child are explicity excluded as "disabilities" unless there is an associated disabling medical complication (i.e. need bedrest or whatever). We do get 6 weeks of paid leave, and 6 weeks of unpaid leave, and can use any accrued vacation time (we get up to 22 days per year ) from our employer, which is a small private company of 12. This enabled me to take 3 months + 2 weeks off w/ my first, 9 weeks of which was paid and 6 weeks of which was unpaid.

This sounds excellent to me, you got 9 weeks paid and 6 unpaid, so this should be pretty close to giving you close to 80% of your salary. What is your problem?

I don't have a problem, I was just explaining what our company's policy is. I'm an owner of my company, and think our policy is quite good for a small business, partic. compared to what most US companies give, hence the "this enabled me to take 3 months + 2 weeks off...." (I was not an owner when I took my first leave). What is your problem?

[Anonymous]

I'm a Fed and get none. I've been saving leave for YEARS to take off 3 months with #1 and then 4 months with #2. It was a combination of Sick leave, accrued annual leave, and advanced leave which I'm now paying back. It sucks because when one child is sick, I can't take the time off! My husband does it or a relative.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I work for the same employer. We must share the 12 works allotted through fmla. These are unpaid unless you use accrued sick days.