From: brighid@hern.stonemarche.org
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: SUMMARY: Maternity leave policies
Date: 29 Dec 92 22:15:22 EST
Organization: Hern the Hunter, Stonemarche (NH)

This is also a late summary, though not much to report. A while
ago I asked for information on maternity leaves - time, benefit
continuation, etc. The e-mail responses I received are below.

I did go and remind my manager that I _was_ in fact pregnant and would
be needing a maternity leave. I don't think it had really been on
his list of things to think about. He told me that I could have 3
months or however much time I needed and that they would definitely
hold my job. He also said that he would like to be on the high side of
the benefits equation. So that's good. As long as the company a)
survives and b) can afford to give me some partial salary, life will
be good.

Thanks to everyone who posted to the net. I assume that anyone who was
interested read the posts then.

Brighid				Mom-to-be in May of 93!

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  I work for a BIG organization (State of Wisconsin) and I'll let you
know what they offer so you can use it as an example.  For maternity
leave you can take up to 6 months unpaid leave and your boss can't
say no.  You can take up to 3 years unpaid leave, but your boss has
to agree.  You can take 6 weeks of this time as paid leave using
accumulated sick leave time, and up to 6 more weeks as paid sick
leave if you have a medical problem and your Dr. writes you a note.
You can also take any accumulated vacation that you have coming if
you want.
  For sick leave the State of WI gives full time people 13 days per
year paid.  This can be accumulated virtually forever, so lots of
people have hundreds of days accumulated.  If you work part time the
leave is pro-rated to match the time you work.
  After you return to work, you manage days off for Dr. visits and
sick child care as if you yourself were sick - by taking sick leave
that you have accumulated.  There is no child care support, except
that the State will let you save money in a special account that is
pre-tax dollars in order to pay for child care, so you save the
amount you'ld pay in taxes on that money.
  Hope this info. helps.  By the way, I am due on 5/8/93 and am
terribly excited!  We have 2 children (both were adopted), and my
pregnancy is so unexpected and wonderful!
  I work part time (3 days/week) and this amount suits me well.  YOu
might consider part-time work after the baby is born.
  Good luck to you!  My advice is to lay out what other employers do,
and decide for yourself which plan makes sense and then present that
to your boss with your ideas on which way is best.  Sounds like they
will be receptive to your input.

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I work at a large university/government laboratory.  We are allowed to
take our sick leave and vacation as maternity leave if our supervisor
approves.  The other option is leave-without-pay.  We do get "partial
sick leave" for days when there is a doctor appointment, and it does
not count against our sick leave.

I doubt if your co-workers will be understanding.  Some of mine are and
some aren't.  I make sure everyone knows well ahead-of-time when I will
be absent.  (Except in cases like this week when my sitter's brother
died.)  Actually, I have found that the older men with families and 
even those with stay-at-home wives are somewhat more understanding than
the younger childless men.

You are doing the right thing to establish a policy for your company.
Any policy is better than having no idea what to expect.

------------
My company is 25 people and had no policy either.  They made one
when I got pregnant.  I knew they couldn't afford anything like
these big companies do, so we agreed that I could get extra time
off, but that it would be unpaid.

------------
We can take up to 6 months of leave and still be guaranteed a job when we
return.  It will not necessarily be the same job as when we left.  I can't
afford a leave of absence and don't have much sick leave and vacation time
saved up so I'll be out just 6 weeks.  In order to make sure I'll have the 
same job when I get back, I find someone willing, train him, and have him
take my responsibilities while I'm out.  Last time it was someone whose
research money was running out for one FY, and I returned near the beginning
of the next FY when he had $ again, so he was glad to give me back my job.
This time my job doesn't have many day-to-day responsibilities (Cassini
doesn't launch until 1996 or 7) so we are able to work my schedule around
my expected leave.

I think it is your responsibility to make sure your company will have done
for it what you usually do while you are out.  That may mean hiring a 
contractor to come in for the length of time you will be gone, if what
you do is critical to the day-to-day operation of the company.  Then you
should train the contractor before you leave so that things run smoothly
until you return.  

If the work you do can be put on hold for the length of your leave, make sure
to get it in writing from your boss that you will return to exactly the
same job you left if you return within a specified amount of time.  Then
you won't have any confusion.

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End of Summary