Anonymous wrote:Yes. Take time.

does anyone ask if they can defer one of these positions a year?

I would raise it once you are at the point of setting a start date. You will know better then what the best course of action will be. If your proposed start date is say 2 months or less before you are due, I would definitely see if you can defer it to after you have the baby.

OP here: This advice is really helpful. As many of you have noted, I have been treating the conditional offer as not really an offer because it is contingent on the background check. For this reason I didn’t yet disclose that I’m pregnant. (I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the interviewers—esp. the women—noticed that I may be pregnant, at least to me, I am visibly pregnant.) But if any of you think it may be a good idea to disclose that am pregnant now please let me know. My instinct is to disclose when setting a start date is at hand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slow roll your background check. Take as long as possible to fill out every step. When they give you a deadline, send the forms in right before.

Careful - push this too far and they may rescind the TJO. This is especially risky now, as there is uncertainty about funding for next year and so hiring is being reduced or frozen altogether at some agencies.

This. If you already have a tentative offer that is conditioned on your background check, it is not going to take all the way through your maternity leave to clear background if you aren’t due until summer. If you are talking about USAO DC they hire in classes generally and the next class would typically be in the spring (there is usually one that starts at the beginning of the year, so you missed that first class). Maybe if they are looking to start you in the spring you can get them to delay you to the fall class. If you’ve never been a prosecutor before it’s probably best for both you and them to not go through training and then take a 3 month break where you will forget everything you were taught.

100%. Have seen this happen multiple times, even when people are prompt. You don’t have the job until you have a start date and really, until you actually start.

If the money isn’t a big deal, I would not just eat that cost and deal with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slow roll your background check. Take as long as possible to fill out every step. When they give you a deadline, send the forms in right before.

Careful - push this too far and they may rescind the TJO. This is especially risky now, as there is uncertainty about funding for next year and so hiring is being reduced or frozen altogether at some agencies.

This. If you already have a tentative offer that is conditioned on your background check, it is not going to take all the way through your maternity leave to clear background if you aren’t due until summer. If you are talking about USAO DC they hire in classes generally and the next class would typically be in the spring (there is usually one that starts at the beginning of the year, so you missed that first class). Maybe if they are looking to start you in the spring you can get them to delay you to the fall class. If you’ve never been a prosecutor before it’s probably best for both you and them to not go through training and then take a 3 month break where you will forget everything you were taught.

Anonymous wrote:1) I would’ve waited until I was on leave at current firm. Or 2) I would’ve request paid leave as part of your acceptance. But since none of that was done, you don’t have a lot of options other than telling them you don’t want to start until X date or requesting whatever they’ll give you. They don’t legally have to give you anything outside of the standard disability, which would suck since lawyers usually get a bajillion weeks of paid leave.

Yeah you don’t know how any of this actually works.

Anonymous wrote:Agree, unfortunately I think you need to be eligible for FMLA in order to take advantage of the new Fed Paid Parental Leave. As a new employee you would not be covered by FMLA, so unless your agency is willing to be loose with the rules, you would not be eligible for paid parental leave. That is not a risk worth taking. Congrats on the offer and the pregnancy!

You're right, that she won't be eligible for it immediately. However, individuals who have had babies in my office within their first year have gotten to take a different type of leave (specific to my agency), and then when they hit their 1 year anniversary qualify for the 12 weeks PPL until their baby turns 1.

1) I would’ve waited until I was on leave at current firm. Or 2) I would’ve request paid leave as part of your acceptance. But since none of that was done, you don’t have a lot of options other than telling them you don’t want to start until X date or requesting whatever they’ll give you. They don’t legally have to give you anything outside of the standard disability, which would suck since lawyers usually get a bajillion weeks of paid leave.

Anonymous wrote:Slow roll your background check. Take as long as possible to fill out every step. When they give you a deadline, send the forms in right before.

Careful - push this too far and they may rescind the TJO. This is especially risky now, as there is uncertainty about funding for next year and so hiring is being reduced or frozen altogether at some agencies.

Agree, unfortunately I think you need to be eligible for FMLA in order to take advantage of the new Fed Paid Parental Leave. As a new employee you would not be covered by FMLA, so unless your agency is willing to be loose with the rules, you would not be eligible for paid parental leave. That is not a risk worth taking. Congrats on the offer and the pregnancy!

Yes. Take time.

Agree with everyone that ideally you can take law firm maternity leave before making the move.

However as a former fed I will add that while you won't be entitled to FMLA or PPLA, they will make it work with unpaid leave and maybe some advance sick leave and vacation/annual leave. Once they've hired you, they do want to make it work. We've had people in my office who had a baby within a few months of joining. Everyone realizes life happens and job timelines don't always align.

Slow roll your background check. Take as long as possible to fill out every step. When they give you a deadline, send the forms in right before. Make it so it makes little sense to start before you can take your firms maternity leave. The goal is to start when that leave is up.

Tell them as it gets closer that you are pregnant and if you start with the govt before you give birth, you’ll have zero paid leave and have to use up whatever little sick time you have before you really start.

You want to take the firm maternity leave and then give them notice a few weeks before it’s over that you aren’t coming back. I know it’s seems unethical, but thems the breaks.

I could’ve written this same post years ago.

Save as much money as you can so you can take unpaid leave without too much of a financial hit. When you get a final offer letter with date, accept it. After you accept it and know the date, you can decide at what point you need to disclose your pregnancy. Sometimes people start working before their background check is done, so you could be there in a month for all you know, and not have to say anything for a while.

But you probably won't be entitled to FMLA protections or to paid leave, and you won't have much leave saved up. Hence my advice to save up your money now and ask for unpaid leave. (Which was standard until just a few years ago.)

I am pregnant and due in the summer. I just accepted a tentative offer to be an AUSA. I understand the background check process takes months. I currently work at a law firm. What should I do (about everything)?