Maternity Leave in Law Firms

[Anonymous]

consider yourself lucky, ladies. Fed govt has no paid maternity. Can take up to 9 months unpaid at my agency. We are allowed 6 weeks of our own accrued paid sick leave for vag birth, 8 of our own sick leave for C-section. They will advance sick leave if you don't have this amount but you have to earn it back. Then we can use our own accrued annual leave or take LWOP after the 6/8 weeks.

I did take 4.5 months for firstborn and 5 months for second one (thru combo of sick, annual and a little lwop)....but US maternity benefits suck.

[Anonymous]

Sure business will give most benefits to those who make them the most money. However, let's look at this issue from a social and economic perspective. Not everyting is about who bills the most this month or who is expandable. Someone has to have the babies that will support this country one day and pay for the retirement of those working today. If you make it so difficult for the people to have children and have an appropriate amount of time at home with them, many will choose not to have them. It's happening in Germany, Italy, and actually most of Western Europe. Germany gives EVERYONE about a year off to have the baby and then they subsidize child care after that. I know because a friend of mine just had a baby over there. It's not reserved for those who makes the most or pay the most taxes. It's for everyone. They realized that if thier country does not support German families to procreate they will have to rely on immigration in the future for thier work force. So, yes I'm sure you're proud of yourself for working oh so hard and for going to law school and all of that. But guess what, if the firm didn't really need the paralegals or secretaries they wouldn't hire them to begin with. I guess all of this to day, look beyond your own nose to see the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a benefit.

In every other civilized country it is a right.

That's why we are the most prosperous country. Hard to put in all those 80 hour plus weeks if you get time off. JK.

We are the country that is the most in debt.
How do you measure prosperity? The vaccination rate of children is at third world country levels, education in international pisa tests puts US at the bottom of the pile
Some are wealthy, not all.
Maybe different laws supporting new parents is just what the country needs, instead it is spent on useless things

[Anonymous]

Wow-law firms seem so much more progressive than other industries in the U.S. when it comes to maternity leave. That's freshing. 18 weeks paid leave a great benefit.

For example, active duty members get 6 weeks paid leave for vag. delivery and 8 weeks for c-section-they are not covered under medical family leave act so you can't even take leave of absence without pay. You'd have to resign, lose retirement, etc..

[Anonymous]

At my small firm we get three months off but zero days paid leave. You can't use vacation time either -- because there is no vacation policy, so there isn't any time to cash in. You can use sick leave.

6 months maternity leave sounds obscene to me. How can that possibly be a good business plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow-law firms seem so much more progressive than other industries in the U.S. when it comes to maternity leave. That's freshing. 18 weeks paid leave a great benefit.

For example, active duty members get 6 weeks paid leave for vag. delivery and 8 weeks for c-section-they are not covered under medical family leave act so you can't even take leave of absence without pay. You'd have to resign, lose retirement, etc..

It is interesting that law firms are progressive when it comes to maternity leave but are notorious for having long hours which do not make them family friendly by nature. I'm not knocking lawyers are law firms, and I am not a lawyer, it just seem like in most firms (I know there are exceptions) this is the norm.

I do think the US is so backwards when it comes to work/family issues. This was one of the issues Michelle Obama was going to work on as First Lady - hopefully she does.

[Anonymous]

Have heard that some of the bigger firms and a couple that specialize in employment law are notorious for firing non-lawyer employees who become pregnant.

[Anonymous]

my husband is in IT for a big law firm downtown---and they gave him paid paternity leave. He's not a lawyer and hadn't been a full-time employee that long. Pretty impressive.

[Anonymous]

I have a question for the "no vacation policy" firms... how do you take a vacation??? I am not a lawyer just curious!

[Anonymous]

I work at a 'no vacation policy' firm -- vacations are encouraged (and definitely taken), there just isn't a set amount of time you are given. So you tell the office manager when you plan to be out and mark it on your calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my small firm we get three months off but zero days paid leave. You can't use vacation time either -- because there is no vacation policy, so there isn't any time to cash in. You can use sick leave.

6 months maternity leave sounds obscene to me. How can that possibly be a good business plan?

Depends on the business. If a business needs people for the long term because of specific and rare skill sets, then it makes sense to provide 6 months maternity leave as part of the hiring package. On the other hand, a business that can fill in spots easily doesn't really need to care about attracting specific talent. Also, I believe that there have been some peer-reviewed studies showing that workers who breast-feed their babies are less likely to have to take time off once returning to work because their children are sick less often and for shorter durations. The other factor to consider is that parents who have to leave their babies while they are still young are likely to be more stressed out at work, less dedicated, and less focused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a question for the "no vacation policy" firms... how do you take a vacation??? I am not a lawyer just curious!

You need to meet your billable hours requirement. For example, many firms require 2,000 billable hours a year, which is 40 billable hours a week for 50 weeks. Arguably, if you meet your 2,000 hours in November, you can take off all of December, but it never seems to work that way. And to bill 8 hours in 8 hours is tough -- you need to be insanely focused in addition to taking no bathroom/lunch/chitchat breaks (so it really takes more like 9 or 10 hours a day to bill 8 hours).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow-law firms seem so much more progressive than other industries in the U.S. when it comes to maternity leave. That's freshing. 18 weeks paid leave a great benefit.

For example, active duty members get 6 weeks paid leave for vag. delivery and 8 weeks for c-section-they are not covered under medical family leave act so you can't even take leave of absence without pay. You'd have to resign, lose retirement, etc..

It is interesting that law firms are progressive when it comes to maternity leave but are notorious for having long hours which do not make them family friendly by nature. I'm not knocking lawyers are law firms, and I am not a lawyer, it just seem like in most firms (I know there are exceptions) this is the norm.

I do think the US is so backwards when it comes to work/family issues. This was one of the issues Michelle Obama was going to work on as First Lady - hopefully she does.

They are progressive because they have to be. Most are large enough to be covered by FMLA, so they have to give the leave. The fact that women get paid is because the firms purchase insurance that pays for the woman's salary while she is out on leave, so the firm's monetary output is less than it would be otherwise. While firms have come to the realization that they have to let woman take leave, they don't do the same for men. Firms have paternity leave, but it is usually unpaid and men simply are not expected to take as much leave that is offered under the policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my small firm we get three months off but zero days paid leave. You can't use vacation time either -- because there is no vacation policy, so there isn't any time to cash in. You can use sick leave.

6 months maternity leave sounds obscene to me. How can that possibly be a good business plan?

Depends on the business. If a business needs people for the long term because of specific and rare skill sets, then it makes sense to provide 6 months maternity leave as part of the hiring package. On the other hand, a business that can fill in spots easily doesn't really need to care about attracting specific talent. Also, I believe that there have been some peer-reviewed studies showing that workers who breast-feed their babies are less likely to have to take time off once returning to work because their children are sick less often and for shorter durations. The other factor to consider is that parents who have to leave their babies while they are still young are likely to be more stressed out at work, less dedicated, and less focused.

There are plenty of people with that "specific and rare skill set" that don't have babies that are your peers and therefore your competition for promotions, raises, etc. I had two kids in two years. So if I was taking 6 months maternity leave each time, I would have worked one year out of two. If I were the boss, isn't there a natural bias to like the employee who actually worked those two years more than me, who only worked a year? I would definitely feel pressure to either not use the full maternity leave or at least space out my kids more.

[Anonymous]

Big firm here, but only 10 weeks paid unless you have a c-section, in which case you get 12 (b/c disability pays for an extra 2 weeks).

Also, I want to pass a note on about law firm economics to the poster who mentioned that her firm made $400,000 in billings after paying her salary. You may be right, as your firm may give you the specific numbers (mine does), but keep in mind that overhead at many large law firms, including a secretary spit 4-5 ways is about $200,000 per year. You're realization rate also might not be 100%, so at the end of the day, billing $400,000 more than you actually are paid, in many cases, may result in only about $50,000 for the firm. Keep that in mind when thinking about taking 18 weeks of leave -- it is a big hit a firm, particularly if there is more than one associate on leave at a time.

I firmly believe that all attorneys should take as much time as they need off. I did, and I wish that I had taken more time off, and if we have another child, I'll take longer next time. Having said that, I know that it is a drain on my firm for me to be getting paid without taking in money. It may not be a big deal when there is one woman on leave, but let's say that you have three or four in a practice group on leave for the same four months -- (happened at my old firm) -- that's a huge hit to the firm's bottom line.

I'm tired, and I'm not sure I have much of a point, other than to say, 12-18 weeks is the norm (I researched this extensively recently), with 10 weeks (my firm) being on the low end.

But take what you need. And if you aren't ready to go back, talk with your practice group leader and your managing partner. If the office is slow, they might be thrilled that you want additional unpaid leave.

And to the poster whose firm provides 6 months for partners, WOW! A few firms I looked into don't provide ANY paid leave for partners, but 18 weeks for associates.