FMLA question - Taking mat leave early

[Anonymous]

20:29 again. Also, the 16 weeks of family leave can start after your short-term disability ends (usually 6-8 weeks after delivery) so you can start counting the 16 weeks once you are no longer medically disabled. It's actually quite generous (even though it's not paid)!

[Anonymous]

I seriously feel that stress (at the job front) caused PIH for me and thus my baby was born early. (she is 2 yrs old rigt now) Can you talk to your OB and let him know how stressful your job is and that you need to have your feet up to avoid pregnancy complications?

I'm currently on bed rest (27 weeks pregnant with twins) up until I give birth. This is my OB's #1 protocol with twin pregnancies, she says this is the best way to keep the babies in longer. I am on disability leave (80% of my base pay) right now. I seriously think this will help me from avoiding the same complication as I did with my first. Better safe than sorry....

[Anonymous]

Careful about taking two separate DCFMLA leaves!! I believe that under the statute, you can only take DCFMLA for 16 weeks once every two years, so if you take it for four weeks for your own health situation prior to the baby's birth, you are probably NOT going to be eligible to immediately take it again once the baby comes. (Of course, you could probably still get some post-partum leave for your own health situation (recovering from childbirth) but perhaps not the full 12 post-partum weeks you're looking for.) Some employers define the 2-year period in a way that may or may not make this feasible for you, depending on when you're due: ex. they may key it to the calendar year, your hire-anniversary, their fiscal year, or whatever. But you should be VERY CAREFUL about trying this and consult an attorney before doing so. You don't want to try to be strategic and then strategize yourself right out of your maternity leave!

[Anonymous]

When you request the time off, do you have to specifically reference the DCFMLA? I did not, but had an agreement with my employer that I would come back 12 weeks after my baby was born. They then asked me to take an additional 12 weeks off, which I reluctantly agreed to. Now my employer says I can come back, but at a fraction of my salary. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it worth fighting? I don't even know where to begin...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Careful about taking two separate DCFMLA leaves!! I believe that under the statute, you can only take DCFMLA for 16 weeks once every two years, so if you take it for four weeks for your own health situation prior to the baby's birth, you are probably NOT going to be eligible to immediately take it again once the baby comes. (Of course, you could probably still get some post-partum leave for your own health situation (recovering from childbirth) but perhaps not the full 12 post-partum weeks you're looking for.) Some employers define the 2-year period in a way that may or may not make this feasible for you, depending on when you're due: ex. they may key it to the calendar year, your hire-anniversary, their fiscal year, or whatever. But you should be VERY CAREFUL about trying this and consult an attorney before doing so. You don't want to try to be strategic and then strategize yourself right out of your maternity leave!

You are so right. The sole purpose of FMLA is to protect your job. After the 16, (and it's not in addition to the 12 Fed), if you don't return to work, you could be replaced. However, some employers are ok with taking off more weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:29 again. Also, the 16 weeks of family leave can start after your short-term disability ends (usually 6-8 weeks after delivery) so you can start counting the 16 weeks once you are no longer medically disabled. It's actually quite generous (even though it's not paid)!

I don't think this is correct. When I was on leave, I took 13 weeks (VA), some paid by STD (8 weeks) and the rest of time was unpaid. FMLA is not in addition to your maternity leave, FLMA is only the amount of weeks of job protection. FMLA time off starts when you've become disabled, i.e., birth of a baby, and since I live in VA, I had 8 weeks paid (STD), 5 weeks upaid, totalling 13 (VA). You don't ADD to the 12 FLMA to what your company's maternity leave, those 8 weeks were considered both STD and FLMA. Another fun fact is that how much FMLA you're entitled to is determined by where you live. My home office in NJ, where the FMLA is 24 weeks, but I live in VA, and they allow 13. My boss let me take vacation too so I could drag out my maternity leave.

I initially thought FLMA was in addition to the weeks paid by STD, and was so disappointed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this is correct. When I was on leave, I took 13 weeks (VA), some paid by STD (8 weeks) and the rest of time was unpaid. FMLA is not in addition to your maternity leave, FLMA is only the amount of weeks of job protection. FMLA time off starts when you've become disabled, i.e., birth of a baby, and since I live in VA, I had 8 weeks paid (STD), 5 weeks upaid, totalling 13 (VA). You don't ADD to the 12 FLMA to what your company's maternity leave, those 8 weeks were considered both STD and FLMA. Another fun fact is that how much FMLA you're entitled to is determined by where you live. My home office in NJ, where the FMLA is 24 weeks, but I live in VA, and they allow 13. My boss let me take vacation too so I could drag out my maternity leave.

I initially thought FLMA was in addition to the weeks paid by STD, and was so disappointed.

Thank you for posting this. At least in Virginia, FMLA does run concurrent to other leave (STD, vacation, unpaid leave, etc.).

[Anonymous]

I'm the poster who is 27 weeks pregnant with twins and currently on bed rest. I will probably be out of work for 4 months. My FMLA starts ASAP, while out on disability. After 12 weeks, I'm not protected, regardless if I am on maternity leave. Also, I can only use my PTO within the 12 weeks of FMLA, meaning instead of getting 80% of my base pay I can supplement my PTO and get paid 100%. I opted to save my PTO for later in the year when I need it, because I just know I will have to miss work due to one of my kids being sick.

[Anonymous]

20:29 again. DC law is different. You get up to 16 weeks of each. This is from the D.C. Personnel Office, which follows D.C. law:

"The D.C. FMLA entitles eligible employees to 16 weeks of unpaid family leave over a 24-month
period for the birth of a child or for the placement of a child in the employee's care, or to care for a
family member with a serious health condition; and up to 16 weeks of unpaid medical leave over
a 24-month period when the employee is unable to perform his or her job because of a serious
health condition."

http://dchr.dc.gov/dcop/frames.asp?doc=/dcop/lib/dcop/information/publications/dpm/Chapter_12/I-12-016.pdf

The DC FMLA provides a qualified employee with 16 workweeks of leave during any 24-month period when the employee becomes unable to perform the functions of the employee's position because of a serious health condition. D.C. Code Ann. §32-503. In addition, an employee may also request FMLA leave for one of the following:

the birth of a child of the employee,
the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care,
the placement of a child with the employee for whom the employee permanently assumes and discharges parental responsibility,
the care of a family member of the employee who has a serious health condition. D.C. Code Ann. §32-502(a)(1)-(4).

http://www.dcemploymentlawyer.com/Articles1.shtml

Know your rights and make sure your employer is complying with DCFMLA!!

http://www.hr.howard.edu/Documents/DC%20FMLA%20poster.pdf

This was actually discussed on DCUM a while back:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/20899.page#133851

I'm an attorney so I know it's confusing and many D.C.-based employers don't even get it or choose not to publicize, but that is the law. Up to 32 weeks total, 16 for the medical condition and 16 for the family leave after birth. I personally am planning to use as much time off as possible!