Asking employer for more mat leave than FMLA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did this. My boss was not empathetic/doesn't have kids/nobody else had done it before. I went in and asked for 4 months. They said it would be hard to do, that they needed me, etc and I said I am happy to do what is needed to facilitate the ball not getting dropped while I am away. I came prepared with a plan on how that would be accomplished. I also volunteered to participate in any big, strategic calls (one occured 1 week after birth). I also agreed to transition back on a part time schedule for that final month. This worked perfectly well! I called into a few meetings here and there, and then in the final month I would physically come in for a few big meetings, and was responsive (within a day) to emails at home. It was totally worth it and I suggest you ask for it! Nothing to lose honestly.

That's awesome. Sounds like it worked out perfectly for you. I figured all I can do is discuss what I want and if they say no I have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do.

15:56 pp here and totally agree with this. Go for the 5 months and see what they say. If they say no, maybe you can negotiate a slow return after 4 months. If you're a valued worker, don't worry what people will think - for others the time goes quickly and I don't think most people in my office realized I took more time than some. It just all blurs for other people, people are pretty focused on themselves

Of course I was absolutely diligent in prepping and coming with a good plan, making sure things were covered. I was very grateful for coworkers who did provide coverage. But I also tried not to feel too badly, I tried to think of it the way I heard someone from a scandinavian country describe how they perceive it - when people go on maternity leave it's an opportunity to switch up projects, give new leadership opportunities to others who may not have had them before, or build different skills across the team. It doesn't have to be viewed as such a negative. So if there are projects you think would be growth projects for coworkers (maybe who are newer or who have less experience) you could also pitch this, "I was thinking this could be a really good opportunity for x to build skills in x by providing coverage in x area" etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did this. My boss was not empathetic/doesn't have kids/nobody else had done it before. I went in and asked for 4 months. They said it would be hard to do, that they needed me, etc and I said I am happy to do what is needed to facilitate the ball not getting dropped while I am away. I came prepared with a plan on how that would be accomplished. I also volunteered to participate in any big, strategic calls (one occured 1 week after birth). I also agreed to transition back on a part time schedule for that final month. This worked perfectly well! I called into a few meetings here and there, and then in the final month I would physically come in for a few big meetings, and was responsive (within a day) to emails at home. It was totally worth it and I suggest you ask for it! Nothing to lose honestly.

PP again, I was unpaid for most of my leave, month 4 I did a transition schedule where it was like 10%/20%/50% paid. I also tracked all my time. When I returned i had to lump sum pay my benefit contributions for that unpaid time period, but they did allow me to keep beenfits.

That's interesting. That was another option I was thinking about, maybe doing part time for month 4 to transition back if they are absolutely against a full four months.

I did this for the first month after I came back from leave--half time. I was in from 9 to 1 daily.