Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else find OP oddly annoying?

Yes, glad I'm not her supervisor.

Hahaha, OP is annoying. I find it extremely hard to believe she can't find acceptable child care. And I would hate to hear the constant excuse on why she was going to be late or not in the office.

Honestly OP - while yes, your agency doesn't have much of a choice (it's either you or no-one) you are also burning bridges when it comes to getting a recommendation. If their choice is you or no one, and you aren't there - why not just no-one? Then you are RIFd and if you have upset them - without a solid recommendation.

While I understand you want the best (and reliable) care for your infant (I have a 12 month old). There are national chains (kindercare, discovery center) that can and will take care of your child. I seriously doubt there is NO care available for your chiled. you can easily find a spot, just keep in mind it can be temporary until the ideal spot becomes open. Additionally, have you thought of hiring an in-home provider that you could test out for a couple of weeks by staying home?

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else find OP oddly annoying?

Yes, glad I'm not her supervisor.

Anonymous wrote:Did you look into the voluntary leave donation program? There are quite a few people at my agency who have gotten leave donated to them for various reasons. Another possible option if FMLA or LWOP doesn't work.

the voluntary leave donation program is for people with serious medical conditions who have exhausted all their leave, not for people, like the OP, who are having trouble finding childcare that meets their standards.

I took LWOP twice. Once for 4 months after I exhausted all leave following the birth of my first child (for a total of 6 months) and once for 3 months (different supervisor) after exhausting my leave following the birth of my second child (for a total of 4 months; after that I quit, which my boss knew was likely and in fact he offered me 12 months LWOP hoping that I would decide to come back instead of quitting. However, I knew I didn't want to go back. I ended up staying home until DC2 was almost 2, then I got another Fed job.).

As others have said, it is entirely up to your supervisor and agency. My supervisors were reasonable, kind people and I was a valued employee. If you have only one or neither of these criteria, you likely won't get much (any) LWOP approved.

Did you look into the voluntary leave donation program? There are quite a few people at my agency who have gotten leave donated to them for various reasons. Another possible option if FMLA or LWOP doesn't work.

Wanted to give some information about LWOP at my agency you can take up to a year, I have seen many do it, but not more than that as long as you have been employed with that agency for 5 years. You have to be a good employee, good evaluations, etc.

Anonymous wrote:
Not OP, but I was not required to invoke FMLA to take maternity leave (a combo of paid and unpaid leave in my case). No one else I know of in my agency did either. Your management has a lot of discretion about what they can approve. FMLA is the just the minimum mandated by law.

Yes -- your agency may have a more flexible/generous LWOP policy than the FLMA requirements. And your supervisor may (for whatever reason) grant you non-FMLA LWOP. But the PPs are right, by law, you don't have a right to take LWOP and have your job when you come back unless you're taking FMLA leave.

I think that you should definitely invoke FMLA and use some of that time to look more intensively for a nanny share or an in-home daycare. I am also a Fed. I never invoked FMLA and my boss let me take as much LWOP as I needed, but I'm pretty sure that was entirely her discretion.

I think I recognize you from another blog (popville) and, if so, you're living around Logan Circle, right? Ideas I have are heading north to around Petworth- there are lots of in-home daycares up here, as well as a few centers that have short waitlists. Bright Start and the one by the metro on Rock Creek Church road come to mind. Commute would suck, but maybe you could find a way? You might also want to try the HUD daycare at L'Enfant Plaza. Their waitlist seems a little shorter than most federal daycares.

One other idea is to have friends in any neighborhood that you would be possibly willing to travel to post on their neighborhood listservs that you are looking for a nanny share to join- that way you'd have a more reliable nanny, I think.

Good luck! It sounds like you've had a tough time.

Op, have you asked your boss directly? I think she has the discretion to grant this, but you don't have the right to demand it. But I could be wrong.

I think you should still be able to take fmla.

In any other western nation they would HAVE to save your job for you for a year. If you worked for the Canadian government, you would get a full year of pay, and so would your spouse if he also worked for the government.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), most Federal employees are entitled to a total of up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for the following purposes:
•the birth of a son or daughter of the employee and the care of such son or daughter;

An employee's entitlement to FMLA leave for birth and bonding expires 12 months after the date of birth. However, birth and bonding leave must be taken as a continuous block of leave unless the employer agrees to allow intermittent leave (e.g., allowing a parent to return to work on a part-time schedule for 10weeks).

Doesn't apply here.

Of course it applies here! OP, you can take FMLA up to a year after the birth of your child. So if you need to take it, take it!

OP, where do you live? I live next to an in-home daycare.

Anonymous wrote:
I've been in two nanny shares where the nannies took the jobs and then did not show up to work, leaving both families in the dark (even after checking in with all of their references).

well then, you're hiring the wrong nannies. of course it can happen, but PLENTY of people do nanny shares successfully.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you didn't take fmla, how did you take maternity leave?

I though fmla just guaranteed your job would be held for 12 weeks, regardless of if you were taking paid or unpaid leave, or on STD. I work in the private sector though. Maybe it's different for the Feds?

Not OP, but I was not required to invoke FMLA to take maternity leave (a combo of paid and unpaid leave in my case). No one else I know of in my agency did either. Your management has a lot of discretion about what they can approve. FMLA is the just the minimum mandated by law.

Thanks for answering. At my trade association job, I took fmla (meaning the job protection aspect), even though I used a combination of std and PTO for the entire 12 weeks. I guess technically if I were to have gotten sick again in that year, I could have been fired, since my job protection was up.

And OP, I only net $1000 after paying for daycare. I think it's a pretty normal situation. I continue to work so that I don't have a resume gap, and so I can fund my retirement (and get the match).