Unpaid leave

[Anonymous]

Looking for advice for anyone who may have faced similar circumstances.

I am currently nearing the end of my six month maternity leave, which I understand is generous for employers in the US. Most of it has been paid by my employer, some by DC, and a lot of accrued leave.

I am not ready to go back to work.

Has anyone asked to take unpaid leave following their parental leave? How did it go? How much longer did you take/request?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

How much longer are we talking?

[Anonymous]

This is so obnoxious. Just quit your job and go back when you’re ready. It sounds like your employer has been generous and you’re exploiting them at that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so obnoxious. Just quit your job and go back when you’re ready. It sounds like your employer has been generous and you’re exploiting them at that point.

Ha. What is wrong with you? That’s what you came here to say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so obnoxious. Just quit your job and go back when you’re ready. It sounds like your employer has been generous and you’re exploiting them at that point.

You realize she is asking for UNpaid leave, yes? How is that obnoxious?

[Anonymous]

I'm in HR and it really depends on the company and your job. My guess is they're not filling your job during your leave and if they need someone to get this work done and don't want to overtax the other employees, they're going to say no. What is your role and who is covering for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so obnoxious. Just quit your job and go back when you’re ready. It sounds like your employer has been generous and you’re exploiting them at that point.

You realize she is asking for UNpaid leave, yes? How is that obnoxious?

Are you 15? Take a business class.

[Anonymous]

It will really depend on the company. Where I currently work, I doubt they would allow this as it isn't the type of work environment where people can pick up the work of the person out. If we need 10 people on, we need 10 people on.

At my old job, they hired temps to fill in for FMLA/maternity leave so an extension, especially one unpaid, would be much more likely.

[Anonymous]

Some of these responses are so defeating and make me realize why paid leave is so terrible in this country. Sad.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I didn’t mention that my options are to ask for a leave of absence or to quit entirely. But sounds like quitting entirely is what the status quo demands unfortunately.

To those who asked, I am pretty senior and my employer has not hired a temp. I have been there for 15+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I didn’t mention that my options are to ask for a leave of absence or to quit entirely. But sounds like quitting entirely is what the status quo demands unfortunately.

To those who asked, I am pretty senior and my employer has not hired a temp. I have been there for 15+ years.

So who is covering for you while you’ve been on leave?

[Anonymous]

My employer is not as generous as yours so I did 4-6 months of unpaid leave both times, but it was planned ahead. My employers were very accommodating (I’d been there for a while and I guess they didn’t want to lose me). Due to the nature of my work there wasn’t someone explicitly hired to cover me but stuff was shifted around so that when I came back I had different (new) projects to work on. The big thing to keep in mind if you use unpaid leave is health insurance — are you/the baby on your partner’s insurance? If you’re using your company’s insurance now, you’ll want to switch once they stop paying you because they’ll probably drop you from the corporate insurance at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so obnoxious. Just quit your job and go back when you’re ready. It sounds like your employer has been generous and you’re exploiting them at that point.

You realize she is asking for UNpaid leave, yes? How is that obnoxious?

Because they’ve been covering for her with the expectation that she’s returning. My guess is that it’s been a burden, but one that her team has been okay with because they knew there was an end date at six months. Now the goal post is moving AND they can’t hire behind. OP is asking them to keep covering, but don’t replace me. She needs to either quit or return.

[Anonymous]

I would not take unpaid leave. Does your spouse have parental leave that he/she can use? That way your baby isn't in daycare yet if you're not ready for that. Can you go part-time temporarily? That is what i would do if I felt like you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not take unpaid leave. Does your spouse have parental leave that he/she can use? That way your baby isn't in daycare yet if you're not ready for that. Can you go part-time temporarily? That is what i would do if I felt like you do.

Thanks - partner already used leave at the beginning and has been back at work full time for months so that is not an option. Respectfully, what does part time get me if I am not ready to leave the baby?