FMLA and PTO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I do have STD, that covers 5 weeks (week 2 - 6 after birth). Thus I have to use PTO for the first 5 days (or more, depending on the circumstance). After STD, I plan to do some part time work which will deplete any remaining leave.

ALso, I consulted several people, including the Dept of Labor. Apparently companies CAN require you to deplete your PTO while on FMLA. "Even if you don’t want to use your paid leave, your employer can require you to use it during your FMLA leave".
https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/employeeguide.pdf

I believe they can make you use up your existing balance but I was told they can't make you borrow against what you will accrue for the rest of the year. Basically, they can't make you go in the hole to cover your FMLA.

Is your company based in DC? If so, they actually cannot force you to use your PTO concurrently with FML. They have to allow you the choice of using PTO or LWOP during FML.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people handle having little to no time off with young children?

Honestly? We made the choice that my husband wouldn’t take leave and he’d handle sick days. And very, very lucky my mom can take her or we split days with him working in the morning and me grading in after Noon.

Same here, except I'm the one who doesn't take off unless absolutely necessary. I had to go back to work at 6w pp, and in the 20 months since then, I've taken 3 days off due to my own illnesses or appointments. I drag myself in to work no matter how I feel. I'm required by my company to use PTO between Christmas and New Year's, but other than that, I only take time off to cover sick days for our DD.

And this is why all these policies are so dumb. You are coming to work and infecting other people who then take time offer and productivity is affected. It's a really short-sighted system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I was a bit shocked to learn about all of this, since my company claimed to be so family friendly. I would hardly call this a family friendly policy. But I was especially surprised to find out that I couldn't take off LWOP. That costs them almost nothing (I am a contractor to another organization, who is fine with me taking LWOP). I work in the district, but taking off more FMLA time won't solve my problem past year 1.

I can't believe you are shocked! Your employer is providing you with PTO and a disability policy to help cover your wages. They are letting you go negative on leave. They are holding your job open in compliance with FMLA. How many hoops is a "family friendly" employer supposed to jump through? Who is going to do your job while you are gone? They are going to have to pay that person too. Are they paying for your continued benefits like health, dental, etc. during your absence?

I'm a mom and I am on board with paid leave for maternity but we also need to remember that our choices have consequences for other people besides ourselves, like our employers and coworkers. I was grateful to get my short term disability, not complaining about being unable to take a vacation after having a baby. sheesh

Please let's not applaud this. It's their legal obligation.

[Anonymous]

Is your office or department on the smaller side? How is vacation time granted? Is it by seniority? Are there rules about how many people can be out at once?

It could be an issue that while you are out on maternity leave, your colleagues can’t schedule vacations for office coverage reasons. It would be unfair for you to take unpaid FMLA leave, and then come back and use your PTO, because it may mean your colleagues won’t have an opportunity to use their PTO.

And yes, I realize you are just looking to cover illness, but if your time off is PTO instead of vacation/sick, it’s hard to create a policy that says you can’t use it for some circumstances, but can use it for others.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is the norm. I worked so hard to accrue leave - never took sick time, took very limited vacation, and was more than happy to use LWOP to be home with my baby. But I had to use all the time on maternity leave. Made me wish I had used it all up prior to leave because the people who had no time accrued still got the same 12 FMLA weeks and short term disability benefits (maybe with a little more pay but not enough to be worth it in my opinion.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your office or department on the smaller side? How is vacation time granted? Is it by seniority? Are there rules about how many people can be out at once?

It could be an issue that while you are out on maternity leave, your colleagues can’t schedule vacations for office coverage reasons. It would be unfair for you to take unpaid FMLA leave, and then come back and use your PTO, because it may mean your colleagues won’t have an opportunity to use their PTO.

And yes, I realize you are just looking to cover illness, but if your time off is PTO instead of vacation/sick, it’s hard to create a policy that says you can’t use it for some circumstances, but can use it for others.

This is what I ran into and it is SO SO hard. I've missed so many family vacations with my sweet baby because I can't take leave at work because I owe my coworkers. And because I just have too much work because I was out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I was a bit shocked to learn about all of this, since my company claimed to be so family friendly. I would hardly call this a family friendly policy. But I was especially surprised to find out that I couldn't take off LWOP. That costs them almost nothing (I am a contractor to another organization, who is fine with me taking LWOP). I work in the district, but taking off more FMLA time won't solve my problem past year 1.

I can't believe you are shocked! Your employer is providing you with PTO and a disability policy to help cover your wages. They are letting you go negative on leave. They are holding your job open in compliance with FMLA. How many hoops is a "family friendly" employer supposed to jump through? Who is going to do your job while you are gone? They are going to have to pay that person too. Are they paying for your continued benefits like health, dental, etc. during your absence?

I'm a mom and I am on board with paid leave for maternity but we also need to remember that our choices have consequences for other people besides ourselves, like our employers and coworkers. I was grateful to get my short term disability, not complaining about being unable to take a vacation after having a baby. sheesh

Please let's not applaud this. It's their legal obligation.

Yes, and it's burdensome. How many more burdens do we put on our employers? You realize that there is no magic, bottomless pot of money at your office, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people handle having little to no time off with young children?

We come to work sick, we put off going to the doctor, we scramble to find last minute (expensive) babysitters who will watch kids when they are sick, etc. This country is terrible for family leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your office or department on the smaller side? How is vacation time granted? Is it by seniority? Are there rules about how many people can be out at once?

It could be an issue that while you are out on maternity leave, your colleagues can’t schedule vacations for office coverage reasons. It would be unfair for you to take unpaid FMLA leave, and then come back and use your PTO, because it may mean your colleagues won’t have an opportunity to use their PTO.

And yes, I realize you are just looking to cover illness, but if your time off is PTO instead of vacation/sick, it’s hard to create a policy that says you can’t use it for some circumstances, but can use it for others.

This is what I ran into and it is SO SO hard. I've missed so many family vacations with my sweet baby because I can't take leave at work because I owe my coworkers. And because I just have too much work because I was out.

Oh god. Do you realize how whiny you sound? You weren't able to take all the vacations? How did you ever survive??

[Anonymous]

"Yes, and it's burdensome. How many more burdens do we put on our employers? You realize that there is no magic, bottomless pot of money at your office, right? "

What about all the times that people (regardless of whether/not they have children) work extra hours and go above and beyond to help our employer accomplish goals and help our co-workers who are out of the office (taking a rightfully earned vacation, going to a doctor, helping a friend, volunteering, or taking care of a child or relative)? This happens A LOT but there is no compensation. Should we all start asking for every minute of overtime? Just say "no" to extra responsibility? That sounds like a great society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Yes, and it's burdensome. How many more burdens do we put on our employers? You realize that there is no magic, bottomless pot of money at your office, right? "

What about all the times that people (regardless of whether/not they have children) work extra hours and go above and beyond to help our employer accomplish goals and help our co-workers who are out of the office (taking a rightfully earned vacation, going to a doctor, helping a friend, volunteering, or taking care of a child or relative)? This happens A LOT but there is no compensation. Should we all start asking for every minute of overtime? Just say "no" to extra responsibility? That sounds like a great society.

This!! All the unpaid overtime I put in, but the second I need anything, work only gives me the minimum required by law: 12 unpaid weeks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your office or department on the smaller side? How is vacation time granted? Is it by seniority? Are there rules about how many people can be out at once?

It could be an issue that while you are out on maternity leave, your colleagues can’t schedule vacations for office coverage reasons. It would be unfair for you to take unpaid FMLA leave, and then come back and use your PTO, because it may mean your colleagues won’t have an opportunity to use their PTO.

And yes, I realize you are just looking to cover illness, but if your time off is PTO instead of vacation/sick, it’s hard to create a policy that says you can’t use it for some circumstances, but can use it for others.

This is what I ran into and it is SO SO hard. I've missed so many family vacations with my sweet baby because I can't take leave at work because I owe my coworkers. And because I just have too much work because I was out.

Oh god. Do you realize how whiny you sound? You weren't able to take all the vacations? How did you ever survive??

Zoloft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people handle having little to no time off with young children?

We come to work sick, we put off going to the doctor, we scramble to find last minute (expensive) babysitters who will watch kids when they are sick, etc. This country is terrible for family leave.

Very true. I found after year 2 it was exponentially better. I had leave accrued, and both me and the baby got sick less. But for the fist year, I was using time as soon as I accrued it. We didn't take any vacations for 2 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people handle having little to no time off with young children?

We come to work sick, we put off going to the doctor, we scramble to find last minute (expensive) babysitters who will watch kids when they are sick, etc. This country is terrible for family leave.

Very true. I found after year 2 it was exponentially better. I had leave accrued, and both me and the baby got sick less. But for the fist year, I was using time as soon as I accrued it. We didn't take any vacations for 2 years.

And then most people have baby #2 2-3 years after the first and it starts all over again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people handle having little to no time off with young children?

We come to work sick, we put off going to the doctor, we scramble to find last minute (expensive) babysitters who will watch kids when they are sick, etc. This country is terrible for family leave.

Very true. I found after year 2 it was exponentially better. I had leave accrued, and both me and the baby got sick less. But for the fist year, I was using time as soon as I accrued it. We didn't take any vacations for 2 years.

And then most people have baby #2 2-3 years after the first and it starts all over again.

Being a parent is a choice. Its all part of the choices you make.