What's your entitlement to Mat Leave?

My comment in Mari's pumping thread got me thinking about how lucky I am and we are in the UK...

I'll finish up either the 1st or 2nd week of January... I will get 10 weeks full pay from my employer, and then I'll drop down to statutory maternity pay (it's less than half of my monthly salary ), this will be paid for a total of 39 weeks (the 10 wks and then the SMP for 29 wks).

I consider myself extremely lucky, even if it is a drop in pay. I'll be due back at work mid-October, but whilst I'm off, my work holidays still accrue, so I'll have 4 weeks holiday come Mid-Oct. I'm planning taking 3 weeks hols so I'd end up going back start to Mid-November. Financially, I'm unsure how we'll cope... but my time with baby and baby's time with me is more important to us.

What about you girls? What leave do you get?

[lauren in hi]

That is awesome. I can use up whatever sick leave has been accrued but only if it gets signed for by a doctor. I don't have as many days as I'd like because when I was 26, I had to use up everything I had (and luckily some people donated leave to me) when I had my cerebral cyst bleed & then require surgery. Then 5 years after that I had Abby, and I used up a huge chunk (but not everything) then.

What I'm hoping for is that I have enough leave to go out at least from the beginning of March. Then I'll have 2 weeks to myself, and I should have my c-section the following week during spring break. I think my dr. will give me 8 weeks (which is standard here for c-sec) and I can also take 20 family days and 5 personal days. However, the post-break time would only be about 46 days, so I think I'm all good. I plan on going back to work the following school year. Brant said I could stay out longer, but I don't really want to skip the first quarter and come back in 2nd quarter...it would be a lot harder in the long run. There's talk of them changing our school calendar, so at this point I will at least be able to be out till the ending part of July (25th or thereabouts). If they change it, supposedly we'll get 2 extra weeks for summer and then 2 taken away during the year, so I'd be going back maybe August 10th-ish.

[Frozendesire]

Here in Canada we get a full year of maternity leave. You get approximately 55% of your wage during that time. It's done through the government so I guess businesses could pay some as well or whatever.

For me, I'm just a SAHM so no difference there for me haha.

[ShannonMVT]

We get 12 weeks but you have to use your sick and vacation leave for it. (If you don't have any, you have to take unpaid leave.) This is actually the reason I have stayed at my job...I have a lot of sick time saved up so I can use it for maternity leave.

I think for 8 weeks you can use sick time, then the other 4 weeks has to be vacation time. I'll take the full amount since I have my time saved up.

After that I will either go back part time (20 hours), possibly cut back my hours to just one day a week (10 hours) or even quit. It all depends on how our finances play out. I think working one day a week would be great, just enough to get "adult time" but I'd still be with my baby 6 out of 7 days.


As a general rule, maternity leave in the United States is crap.

[lauren in hi]

As a general rule, maternity leave in the United States is crap.[/b]

I couldn't agree more! I think we should be entitled to at least 6 months...or like 4 months paid & 2 months at partial salary.

[Frozendesire]

Fi Fi, how does all your medical care and stuff work there?? Is it Government? Insurance? Or whatever??

[Oriyan]

I get nada.

Here we have the Family and Medical Leave Act which basically:

An “eligible” employee is an employee who has been employed by the employer for a least 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours. The 12 months do not need to be consecutive. You are only an “eligible” employee if your employer employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite. The 12 weeks is unpaid leave.

Lets see.. won't be working there for alteast 12 months and 1250 hours so i'm out there. They do not have to grant me time off, they can technically fire me. I doubt that they will though -- then they know they'll get a nice lawsuit.

I don't see it being an issue. I'm sure my job will hold my position for me, I'll just be really poor. If I dont have a c-section, i plan on going back to work in mid-September (since I'll be giving birth at the end of July)

Yay for the USA.....

DF will be able to take 12 weeks paternity leave from his PhD responsibilities, but i dont think he plans to take more then 3 weeks.

[Mars]

We get 12 weeks leave with full pay and you can add accrued vacation to that if you wish. With my work you can also take no paid leave. I wish we'd get at least 6 months but considering what I've been seeing with the time in the US, I'm still thankful.

Ditto to Sam. The Family Leave & Medical Act doesn't apply to me as my company does not have 50 employees within a 75 mile radius. I'm 98% sure that my job will still be there for me upon my return, but by law, it doesn't have to be. I am also not entitled to any maternity leave pay, but I'm lucky enough to get 6 weeks of state disability, which will be about 80-85% of my current income. I seriously lucked out there. They go off of your highest earning quarter in the last year, counting back from a set month. I work commission, and my highest earning quarter happens to fall within that time frame. If they calculated based on what I am making now, I would only be taking home 55-60% of my current salary as I make less now than I did last summer.

So, I'm only taking 6 weeks off- 1, because we can't afford for me to not work, and 2, because I'm fairly certain that my employer would fire me if I tried to take any more time than that. Oh! However, I do get 8 weeks if I end up with a c-section, per state disability.

[~Caroline~]

I am not pregnant yet, but when I do go on maternity leave I'll be able to leave for a year, at 55 % of my salary. I could also chose a shorter mat. leave at 75 % of my salary, but I'm pretty sure I'll choose the first option. I think 17 of those weeks are maternal leave and then I have 32 weeks of parental leave that Chris and I could share but I'll take all of it myself. I'm lucky because in Quebec, dads also get 5 weeks of paternity leave at 75 % of the salary. I realize that I'm very very lucky.

[Frozendesire]

Caroline! That's cool! So DH can take 5 weeks off as well??

Ya I think it's 32 weeks parental which hubby can take or I can, or shared or whatever!

[lauren in hi]

I am not pregnant yet, but when I do go on maternity leave I'll be able to leave for a year, at 55 % of my salary. I could also chose a shorter mat. leave at 75 % of my salary, but I'm pretty sure I'll choose the first option. I think 17 of those weeks are maternal leave and then I have 32 weeks of parental leave that Chris and I could share but I'll take all of it myself. I'm lucky because in Quebec, dads also get 5 weeks of paternity leave at 75 % of the salary. I realize that I'm very very lucky.[/b]

That is awesome! Brant can take 20 days of family leave, and I'm pretty sure he's going to do it. He did it last time, too. It'll be a big help because Abby only goes to preschool 3x a week and if my mom's not there on Tuesday or Thursday at least I'll have some help for a little while.

[Kristen_at_the_lake]

I don't qualify because I'm not considered classified staff. I'm part-time longer than 5 months.

However, this pregnancy worked out just about perfect for timing. My normal lay-off time from work is October through the week after Christmas. So I will have 3 months at home and then go back to work just like I did last year.

[Frozendesire]

Wow Kristen! That's great timing! hehe.

[soImarriedAnerd]

Oh I hate the USA maternity leave laws (or lack there of!). I had about the best you can get in the states when i worked in the hospital----10 weeks for vaginal/12 weeks for c/s births--full paid time off plus you could use any vacation/sick days you had saved up. I rarely ever hear better then that in the states. Dh is looking into it now---we know he gets weeks off with full pay and he has the option for using his "banked" days...he is looking at taking about a month off with full pay next year.

Fi Fi, how does all your medical care and stuff work there?? Is it Government? Insurance? Or whatever??[/b]

We don't have to pay for any medical care. The only thing we do pay for is prescriptions... but they are free from the time you find out you are preggo until baby's 1st birthday.

We pay for dental care, but again it's free from +HPT to baby's 1st birthday.

We're extremely lucky here... indeed! I honestly don't know how you girls afford to pay for medical stuff. It's horrendous!

[soImarriedAnerd]

It so depends on where you are also. I went to the hospital yesterday and got 3 take home meds, 2 meds while there, an U/S a doctor visit with an examine and my totally came to $125 (this is BEFORE insurance also). That what it cost here!!!! in the states that would have easily been a couple hundred dollars. We are so backwards in the states when it comes to health care, i can't wait till we socialize it! (well I hope we do at least!)

[lauren in hi]

It so depends on where you are also. I went to the hospital yesterday and got 3 take home meds, 2 meds while there, an U/S a doctor visit with an examine and my totally came to $125 (this is BEFORE insurance also). That what it cost here!!!! in the states that would have easily been a couple hundred dollars. We are so backwards in the states when it comes to health care, i can't wait till we socialize it! (well I hope we do at least!)[/b]

I couldn't agree. The U.S. healthcare system sucks!

[Frozendesire]

Fi, that's how we are with the medical stuff to. Except the free until 1st birthday. Dental isn't free but usually you get something pretty good, as well as eye care, with work!

[Mars]

Our healthcare here is free but the public system pretty much sucks. So most persons who have medical insurance or those who can afford it will seek private healthcare.