Just wrote our org’s paid leave policy

[Anonymous]

What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newborns are hard and I am 1000% supportive of inclusive policies.
But does anyone else kind of worry that by making everything equal, that we ignore the realities of childbirth on a mother? I don’t know what the solution is— I certainly want adoptive parents, partners, etc to have time off, but I also feel like as a society we already gloss over the challenges of childbirth (it’s natural! It’s wonderful!) and don’t provide physical or mental supports to birth moms- many of whom are recovering from surgery, potentially life-threatening complications, or long term issues requiring PT. I guess what I’m saying is that fair is not always equal.

I don’t mean to hijack your thread, OP, and congrats on writing a thoughtful policy.

The physical part is covered by disability leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

Nothing. Your work will have less work to do replacing employees who leave because of no maternity leave. But at least your children will get maternity/paternity leave. Not everything in life is fair.

[Anonymous]

OP, that sounds great! I'm trying to write ours, and I wasn't brave enough to ask that much (thanks, US conditioning :-///). I'm just hoping for at least 4 months, pay optional...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

Nothing. Your work will have less work to do replacing employees who leave because of no maternity leave. But at least your children will get maternity/paternity leave. Not everything in life is fair.

No. The other employees will have to cover for you while on leave and then cover when you come back and take your pumping breaks. Believe me, this kind of special treatment creates resentment by other employees. All an employer has to do is keep a job open for you but it doesn't have to be the same job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should you get full-time pay for working part-time after you’ve already gotten 3 months off paid? No need to be greedy. Goodness.

You're an idiot. Move on.

And you’re clearly a freeloader.

Ok, you can deliberately seek out companies that offer no paid leave. Meanwhile, all the excellent 20-30 something women will seek out OP's company and have a long tenure there.

[Anonymous]

I think the other really important thing is to structure your roles and teams so that workloads can be balanced when one person is on extended leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

Nothing. Your work will have less work to do replacing employees who leave because of no maternity leave. But at least your children will get maternity/paternity leave. Not everything in life is fair.

No. The other employees will have to cover for you while on leave and then cover when you come back and take your pumping breaks. Believe me, this kind of special treatment creates resentment by other employees. All an employer has to do is keep a job open for you but it doesn't have to be the same job.

Feel free to quit

I worked at a small, almost all-female company where it seemed like there were 2-3 maternity leaves or pregnancies in the office the whole time I was there (including mine!) I found covering for other women on maternity leave to be really helpful - I got to learn more about their portfolios and see how different teams worked. It really gave me a LOT of insight into my own work.

The only thing I would add to OP's plan is that there should be no waiting period to access the leave. I was hired while I was pregnant, and I could not access the paid leave, because it had a 1-year vesting period. Although they were generous in every other way they could be, this really sucked and was a bit demoralizing. And it's not clear what function the vesting period serves, other than to discourage pregnant women from changing jobs. But given that I disclosed my pregnancy prior to being hired (and even tried to decline the job but got talked back into it by the CEO!) it was clear that the org. didn't have issues hiring pregnant women. So not being able to access the leave didn't really make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

I despair for America. This, right here, is atrocious. Just really, really bad and so dark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

Nothing. Your work will have less work to do replacing employees who leave because of no maternity leave. But at least your children will get maternity/paternity leave. Not everything in life is fair.

No. The other employees will have to cover for you while on leave and then cover when you come back and take your pumping breaks. Believe me, this kind of special treatment creates resentment by other employees. All an employer has to do is keep a job open for you but it doesn't have to be the same job.

What's your point? I work for a company with mostly 50+ employees. I've covered for bunion surgeries, ACL tears, heart attacks, breast implants, you name it. Maternity leave is no different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

Nothing. Your work will have less work to do replacing employees who leave because of no maternity leave. But at least your children will get maternity/paternity leave. Not everything in life is fair.

No. The other employees will have to cover for you while on leave and then cover when you come back and take your pumping breaks. Believe me, this kind of special treatment creates resentment by other employees. All an employer has to do is keep a job open for you but it doesn't have to be the same job.

What's your point? I work for a company with mostly 50+ employees. I've covered for bunion surgeries, ACL tears, heart attacks, breast implants, you name it. Maternity leave is no different.

But it is different solely because of the length.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

I despair for America. This, right here, is atrocious. Just really, really bad and so dark.

Yes, I despair as well because this generation is so incredibly self-absorbed that they can’t see how their lifestyle choices should not be everyone else’s burden to bear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

Nothing. Your work will have less work to do replacing employees who leave because of no maternity leave. But at least your children will get maternity/paternity leave. Not everything in life is fair.

No. The other employees will have to cover for you while on leave and then cover when you come back and take your pumping breaks. Believe me, this kind of special treatment creates resentment by other employees. All an employer has to do is keep a job open for you but it doesn't have to be the same job.

Only short-sighted, entitled, selfish as**oles will be resentful. Decent people (especially women) will be very glad this is happening. Do you also resent people who get sick? People who have to care for a dying family member?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

OP wrote the policy. She hasn’t said whether the employer agreed to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of special leave for those who don't have children get? My children are grown and I want the same privileges you get just for having a baby. You have created a monster and resentment from other employees.

I despair for America. This, right here, is atrocious. Just really, really bad and so dark.

I despair too. Women like this must have gotten really bitter and angry over the years after staying in bad marriages because they made a choice to stay at home and have a husband support them. Now they are stuck and bashing women who want to use their brain in the workforce.

(OK, yes, this was an asshole thing to say, but I'm illustrating a point here).