Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine made me do it and I'm a fed (although I've heard other agencies don't require this?!). It sucks. It means you are stuck working Christmas Eve and never can take a vacation because you're down to zero annual leave when you return from mat leave.

Dh is currently burnt out and begging for a vacation as he has 400 some hours of annual leave, but I have none. I asked to take LWOP for vacation time, but was denied. I'm burnt out too.

Why didn’t your husband take leave to stay home with baby and let you return to work sooner? That’s what we did.

PP here. My DH did take 6 weeks and then 4 weeks after I returned to work. I still would have had to use LWOP though and not have any annual leave to return to work.

I'm not complaining about using LWOP. I don't mine not getting paid for my maternity leave. What I mind is the inability to take a few days off around holidays, weddings or other family things. I came back to work in the middle of November and couldn't take off around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So wait, you used all your leave as well as the full 12 weeks of FMLA? Why didn't you stay home for 8 weeks, then your husband stays home for 8 weeks, and then you would have 4 weeks in reserved FMLA (you have 1 year to use it) for other events like holidays, daycare closures? When there is such disparity in leave, I'm not sure why you didn't shift more of the burden on DH. Even just working half days (because I know pumping and such can be a pain), could have really extended your available time off for "life"

I don’t think you can use FMLA because you want the day after Thanksgiving off.

Or if you wanted to use FMLA around Christmas time. My boss would have laughed at me and told me I was either AWOL or working. No options since I had no leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine made me do it and I'm a fed (although I've heard other agencies don't require this?!). It sucks. It means you are stuck working Christmas Eve and never can take a vacation because you're down to zero annual leave when you return from mat leave.

Dh is currently burnt out and begging for a vacation as he has 400 some hours of annual leave, but I have none. I asked to take LWOP for vacation time, but was denied. I'm burnt out too.

Why didn’t your husband take leave to stay home with baby and let you return to work sooner? That’s what we did.

PP here. My DH did take 6 weeks and then 4 weeks after I returned to work. I still would have had to use LWOP though and not have any annual leave to return to work.

I'm not complaining about using LWOP. I don't mine not getting paid for my maternity leave. What I mind is the inability to take a few days off around holidays, weddings or other family things. I came back to work in the middle of November and couldn't take off around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So wait, you used all your leave as well as the full 12 weeks of FMLA? Why didn't you stay home for 8 weeks, then your husband stays home for 8 weeks, and then you would have 4 weeks in reserved FMLA (you have 1 year to use it) for other events like holidays, daycare closures? When there is such disparity in leave, I'm not sure why you didn't shift more of the burden on DH. Even just working half days (because I know pumping and such can be a pain), could have really extended your available time off for "life"

I don’t think you can use FMLA because you want the day after Thanksgiving off.

o wait, you used all your leave as well as the full 12 weeks of FMLA? Why didn't you stay home for 8 weeks, then your husband stays home for 8 weeks, and then you would have 4 weeks in reserved FMLA (you have 1 year to use it) for other events like holidays, daycare closures? When there is such disparity in leave, I'm not sure why you didn't shift more of the burden on DH. Even just working half days (because I know pumping and such can be a pain), could have really extended your available time off for "life"

FMLA does not apply after your child turns 1 (unless there is a separate illness, and let's hope that doesn't happen to anyone!). So OK. You take off some FMLA time, and then still can't accrue enough time for regular life (such as the day care closures, illnesses, religious holidays, etc that pp noted). And employers are not required to allow intermittent leave for care of a newborn. https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/fmla-faqs.htm#8. And maybe DH doesn't have FMLA (many many jobs don't!). And some people don't have a partner in the picture. And for some people 'all your leave' may just be 5 days or so after disability waiting periods, prenatal doctor appointments, and you know, life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine made me do it and I'm a fed (although I've heard other agencies don't require this?!). It sucks. It means you are stuck working Christmas Eve and never can take a vacation because you're down to zero annual leave when you return from mat leave.

Dh is currently burnt out and begging for a vacation as he has 400 some hours of annual leave, but I have none. I asked to take LWOP for vacation time, but was denied. I'm burnt out too.

Why didn’t your husband take leave to stay home with baby and let you return to work sooner? That’s what we did.

PP here. My DH did take 6 weeks and then 4 weeks after I returned to work. I still would have had to use LWOP though and not have any annual leave to return to work.

I'm not complaining about using LWOP. I don't mine not getting paid for my maternity leave. What I mind is the inability to take a few days off around holidays, weddings or other family things. I came back to work in the middle of November and couldn't take off around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So wait, you used all your leave as well as the full 12 weeks of FMLA? Why didn't you stay home for 8 weeks, then your husband stays home for 8 weeks, and then you would have 4 weeks in reserved FMLA (you have 1 year to use it) for other events like holidays, daycare closures? When there is such disparity in leave, I'm not sure why you didn't shift more of the burden on DH. Even just working half days (because I know pumping and such can be a pain), could have really extended your available time off for "life"

I don't have the option of splitting FMLA. I used 12 weeks straight (about 3/4 was unpaid, the rest was my annual and sick leave). I don't have the option to work half days. What I want was to not use my annual leave during maternity leave and just take maternity leave unpaid.

This is why many women return after 6 or 8 weeks, so that they still have some extra FMLA if they need it to care for the child (or themselves if they have any complications or issues).

As other PPs have noted, companies don't want you taking 12 weeks off and then another 4 weeks of PTO. They need you actually at work more often than not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine made me do it and I'm a fed (although I've heard other agencies don't require this?!). It sucks. It means you are stuck working Christmas Eve and never can take a vacation because you're down to zero annual leave when you return from mat leave.

Dh is currently burnt out and begging for a vacation as he has 400 some hours of annual leave, but I have none. I asked to take LWOP for vacation time, but was denied. I'm burnt out too.

Why didn’t your husband take leave to stay home with baby and let you return to work sooner? That’s what we did.

PP here. My DH did take 6 weeks and then 4 weeks after I returned to work. I still would have had to use LWOP though and not have any annual leave to return to work.

I'm not complaining about using LWOP. I don't mine not getting paid for my maternity leave. What I mind is the inability to take a few days off around holidays, weddings or other family things. I came back to work in the middle of November and couldn't take off around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

So wait, you used all your leave as well as the full 12 weeks of FMLA? Why didn't you stay home for 8 weeks, then your husband stays home for 8 weeks, and then you would have 4 weeks in reserved FMLA (you have 1 year to use it) for other events like holidays, daycare closures? When there is such disparity in leave, I'm not sure why you didn't shift more of the burden on DH. Even just working half days (because I know pumping and such can be a pain), could have really extended your available time off for "life"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine made me do it and I'm a fed (although I've heard other agencies don't require this?!). It sucks. It means you are stuck working Christmas Eve and never can take a vacation because you're down to zero annual leave when you return from mat leave.

Dh is currently burnt out and begging for a vacation as he has 400 some hours of annual leave, but I have none. I asked to take LWOP for vacation time, but was denied. I'm burnt out too.

Why didn’t your husband take leave to stay home with baby and let you return to work sooner? That’s what we did.

PP here. My DH did take 6 weeks and then 4 weeks after I returned to work. I still would have had to use LWOP though and not have any annual leave to return to work.

I'm not complaining about using LWOP. I don't mine not getting paid for my maternity leave. What I mind is the inability to take a few days off around holidays, weddings or other family things. I came back to work in the middle of November and couldn't take off around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

o, the op has it correct. Companies don't want you to take 12 weeks unpaid and then still have 2 weeks vacation you can take a few months later when you come back. Major burn out when you return to work and then can't take a vacation for an entire year. Going back to work after maternity leave is very difficult. I got bronchitis a few months after returning and because I had no sick leave I just kept coming to work. It was hard, but I had no alternative. I wish I had the ability to take lwop.

THIS. and if it is PTO it has to be used for sick AND vacation. Which means no leave for a sick OP. And a parnter can't handle every childcare illness, daycare closure, etc (and, what if partner is sick or an hourly job). Plus, forget about an actual vacation. What about a death or illness in the family? That's PTO. Religious observance if you are not Christian? That's PTO. Brother gets married on a Friday evening? That's PTO. It's why PTO sucks once you get sick or have kids. It's great if you have no kids and never get sick/injured. And then once you do, you realize that your life become a rotating mess of work, family care, illness, and doctor visits.