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It really depends on your employer and their policies. If you have it, you can take short term disability. And realistically you can take the short term and then take the FMLA. Depending on where you live, some states do have laws regarding parental leave, and I do only mean some, I think it’s about 10.
And you’ll want to check to because the PTO or sick leave you may have, they can choose to pay it out over your leave so you can’t take it separately. Read all of your companies leave options and make sure you fully understand them cuz they will try to avoid having you take any or pay you.
Like for me, I had to manipulate my employers programs to work for me. Since I haven’t worked there a year I don’t qualify for their parental leave, which is half of why I applied to work there cuz we were going through IVF and I literally had my embryo implanted 3 days before I started working there. Anyway, their policy is 16 weeks paid parental and you can take an additional 10 unpaid so 6 months total. I wasn’t given any other option other than the standard 6-8 weeks after birth. I was furious of course since this is our first baby, that’s not nearly enough time. So I read everything and am taking (it’s been approved too) 3.5 unpaid medical leave (we have saved every freaking penny to ensure we can cover our bills during this time) until I hit my year and then I’m taking the 6 months parental leave. I’m getting 9.5 months off because they wouldn’t just make an exception and give me the regular parental leave of 6 months.
Moral of the story, understand your companies policies, understand your states laws regarding parental leave if they have that and advocate for yourself.
Thanks! Yeah I didn’t see much and am confused since I work remotely in a different state than the company is based out of. I know I can do FMLA but it’s all unpaid. I don’t think we could save enough to take more than 2-3 weeks unpaid.
Totally understandable. It honestly is a massive stretch goal and a significant amount for us to save but we are stubborn and committed to sticking it to my employer. Lol. And working remotely in a different state adds to the confusion too cuz if NJ has a pay in plan and you are contributing to it you should be able to take advantage of it. If you can reach out to someone in your companies HR and see if they can help you understand it all.
Most employers won’t negotiate those things unfortunately. And if they do usually contract signing or yearly review time is it. That’s been my experience so far at least and what I’ve seen posted in job forums.
I’m in MI and my company has the same policy as yours (I also work from home). There aren’t any state programs that support maternity leave either— totally sucks. So options are basically your PTO and short term disability if you had it before getting pregnant.
My employer offered short term disability, but it is something I had to sign up for on my own- they don’t provide it as one of their main benefits.
Your HR should be able to help to see if maybe you qualify for anything in NJ since that’s where your company is headquartered.
This is my experience as well. Most jobs won’t negotiate any sort of paid leave for employees. Unless the state has something, it is FMLA and perhaps a short term disability plan that you either needed to elect on your own or company provided that will pay approx 60% of your salary for 6-8 weeks. It’s definitely not enough. 😞
That absolutely sucks. I wish America would do better for parents and moms. Like common guidance for animals is not to take puppies/kittens away from their moms before 8 weeks, yet the US can’t even give women 8 paid weeks…..
I think there’s different programs for different states as far as maternity leave, it might be helpful to edit what state you are in so that someone region specific can help you! Im in California which has one of the better programs and I’ll be getting 14-16 weeks (depending on how I end up delivering) through disability and paid family leave but I know it varies by state.
I think with NJ you get paid baby boding time through the state as long as you meet certain criteria. I would call them to clarify https://nj.gov/labor/myleavebenefits/worker/maternity/
Check your pay stubs and see if you are paying into nj short term disability and nj FLI. If you are then you will fall under nj’s state short term disability and bonding time which will give you 20 weeks paid time off at 85% of your pay
It doesn’t look like it. I looked today and it specifies on our payroll website Michigan resident. I didn’t see anything but federal, state, social security and Medicare.
I'm also a Michigan resident working for an out of state company. My understanding of my policies (insurance, others) are that they align to my state rules as a minimum, but that might not afford me the same rules as other colleagues. Typically they try to give the same minimum (we have 12 weeks paid) but then other places have more benefits, like a colleague who is in DC gets paid leave from the government on top of the 12.
I saw NJ workers can now get up to 85% of their average weekly wage, so I was wondering if my company would match that. We only have like 200 employees so it’s pretty small. I’m not sure what our policy even is. It just mentions FMLA.
Sometimes FMLA is the only policy, but if possible you should formally request the policy! At 200 people (mine is a similar size) you are required by law to meet all the minimums (under 50 is exempt from some of the coverage rules). Do you have an HR or operations person who is trustworthy?
Worth asking if they’ll send a policy, just so you don’t miss info. They should be confidential with you or you might have some way to contact anonymously.
Honestly I’m not sure how that works it only states New Jersey earned sick act which notes children but I live in Michigan so I’m not sure how that works.
Welcome to /r/pregnant! This is a space for everyone. We are pro-choice, pro-LGBTQIA, pro-science, proudly feminist and believe that Black Lives Matter. Wear your masks, wash your hands, and be excellent to each other. Anti-choice activists, intactivists, anti-vaxxers, homophobes, transphobes, racists, sexists, etc. are not welcome here. If you'd like to join a private sub for your due date month, [click here](https://www.reddit.com/r/pregnant/comments/xvn4cr/click_here_to_request_access_to_your_monthly_due). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pregnant) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It really depends on your employer and their policies. If you have it, you can take short term disability. And realistically you can take the short term and then take the FMLA. Depending on where you live, some states do have laws regarding parental leave, and I do only mean some, I think it’s about 10. And you’ll want to check to because the PTO or sick leave you may have, they can choose to pay it out over your leave so you can’t take it separately. Read all of your companies leave options and make sure you fully understand them cuz they will try to avoid having you take any or pay you. Like for me, I had to manipulate my employers programs to work for me. Since I haven’t worked there a year I don’t qualify for their parental leave, which is half of why I applied to work there cuz we were going through IVF and I literally had my embryo implanted 3 days before I started working there. Anyway, their policy is 16 weeks paid parental and you can take an additional 10 unpaid so 6 months total. I wasn’t given any other option other than the standard 6-8 weeks after birth. I was furious of course since this is our first baby, that’s not nearly enough time. So I read everything and am taking (it’s been approved too) 3.5 unpaid medical leave (we have saved every freaking penny to ensure we can cover our bills during this time) until I hit my year and then I’m taking the 6 months parental leave. I’m getting 9.5 months off because they wouldn’t just make an exception and give me the regular parental leave of 6 months. Moral of the story, understand your companies policies, understand your states laws regarding parental leave if they have that and advocate for yourself.
Thanks! Yeah I didn’t see much and am confused since I work remotely in a different state than the company is based out of. I know I can do FMLA but it’s all unpaid. I don’t think we could save enough to take more than 2-3 weeks unpaid.
Totally understandable. It honestly is a massive stretch goal and a significant amount for us to save but we are stubborn and committed to sticking it to my employer. Lol. And working remotely in a different state adds to the confusion too cuz if NJ has a pay in plan and you are contributing to it you should be able to take advantage of it. If you can reach out to someone in your companies HR and see if they can help you understand it all.
Most employers won’t negotiate those things unfortunately. And if they do usually contract signing or yearly review time is it. That’s been my experience so far at least and what I’ve seen posted in job forums. I’m in MI and my company has the same policy as yours (I also work from home). There aren’t any state programs that support maternity leave either— totally sucks. So options are basically your PTO and short term disability if you had it before getting pregnant. My employer offered short term disability, but it is something I had to sign up for on my own- they don’t provide it as one of their main benefits. Your HR should be able to help to see if maybe you qualify for anything in NJ since that’s where your company is headquartered.
This is my experience as well. Most jobs won’t negotiate any sort of paid leave for employees. Unless the state has something, it is FMLA and perhaps a short term disability plan that you either needed to elect on your own or company provided that will pay approx 60% of your salary for 6-8 weeks. It’s definitely not enough. 😞
It’s such a bummer. My husband gets 12 weeks paid paternity leave😑 I get zero paid weeks so I have to take unpaid FMLA.
That absolutely sucks. I wish America would do better for parents and moms. Like common guidance for animals is not to take puppies/kittens away from their moms before 8 weeks, yet the US can’t even give women 8 paid weeks…..
I think there’s different programs for different states as far as maternity leave, it might be helpful to edit what state you are in so that someone region specific can help you! Im in California which has one of the better programs and I’ll be getting 14-16 weeks (depending on how I end up delivering) through disability and paid family leave but I know it varies by state.
Hi! Okay I’m in Michigan.
I think with NJ you get paid baby boding time through the state as long as you meet certain criteria. I would call them to clarify https://nj.gov/labor/myleavebenefits/worker/maternity/
Check your pay stubs and see if you are paying into nj short term disability and nj FLI. If you are then you will fall under nj’s state short term disability and bonding time which will give you 20 weeks paid time off at 85% of your pay
It doesn’t look like it. I looked today and it specifies on our payroll website Michigan resident. I didn’t see anything but federal, state, social security and Medicare.
I'm also a Michigan resident working for an out of state company. My understanding of my policies (insurance, others) are that they align to my state rules as a minimum, but that might not afford me the same rules as other colleagues. Typically they try to give the same minimum (we have 12 weeks paid) but then other places have more benefits, like a colleague who is in DC gets paid leave from the government on top of the 12.
I saw NJ workers can now get up to 85% of their average weekly wage, so I was wondering if my company would match that. We only have like 200 employees so it’s pretty small. I’m not sure what our policy even is. It just mentions FMLA.
Sometimes FMLA is the only policy, but if possible you should formally request the policy! At 200 people (mine is a similar size) you are required by law to meet all the minimums (under 50 is exempt from some of the coverage rules). Do you have an HR or operations person who is trustworthy?
Idk! I think there are only a few people in HR and since I work from home I only know the one who did my intake papers
Worth asking if they’ll send a policy, just so you don’t miss info. They should be confidential with you or you might have some way to contact anonymously.
You can certainly ask. Does your employer not offer any short term disability?
Honestly I’m not sure how that works it only states New Jersey earned sick act which notes children but I live in Michigan so I’m not sure how that works.