Reply to If you had a baby with no FMLA, what did you do?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Whenever I read stuff like this I am SO SO grateful I had my kids while I was living in the UK. I took 7 months maternity leave followed by my husband taking 2 months paternity leave for #1 and then I took 10 months for #2. I wasn't paid for all of it but my job was guaranteed for a year. There are so many great things about living here in the US but maternity policy is not one of them! Good luck, OP, I hope your bosses are sympathetic. [/quote]

Can you explain what your employer did with your work while you were out? Are UK companies more likely to have staffing models where their employees having breathing room to absorb the additional work versus here we try to pile as much on our employees that we can? Are there more folks willing to work in these jobs temporarily and just keep rotating companies?

I've always been curious as to how this truly works. What I've previously read indicates that companies just hire temps. I'm just trying to wrap my head around the workforce in every other country includes mass amounts of temps.

Maybe the flexibility comes from statutory requirements in many countries regarding work hours and benefits. Our culture really seems to be based on greed. I've worked for multiple companies and have never worked somewhere where every day employees days were filled with work.

TIA![/quote]

PP here. Since all companies have to do this (companies must keep your job open for you for 12 months - there is a statutory minimum maternity pay which lasts for 9 months, but is very low; most companies pay on top of that to some degree) I think they just get on with it, there is no choice. Many companies will hire temps - it's common to see jobs advertised as "maternity cover" - but since it can be for a year, it's not actually that temporary. I think it's almost easier to staff if you know someone will be away for a year, compared with covering their work for just a few weeks. [/quote]

I think what pp is getting at is that there is a trade off for this leave.  I looked at a job in London and was shocked at how the salary was lower than my salary in NY.  Much lower!  I would gladly take the unpaid leave for maternity and keep the higher salary for my entire career.  I do understand how certain jobs can handle the leave.  For example, the government.  However, there have to be some jobs where this leave is a major problem and negatively impacts other workers, salaries etc.   for the record I fully support paid leave but there seem to be a lot of people who truly think this benefit is free or doesn't hurt their career.  [/quote]

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