My office allowed me to use my vacation and sick time, and then I used the sick leave fund for about a month. But I don't really consider that to be a paid maternity leave. It kind of bugs me though because they are lobbying for paid leave, which I find a bit hypocritical. But maybe I'm wrong? Would you consider that to be paid leave?
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Nope. The PTO is already a benefit I receive as an employee, but I think maternity leave should not qualify as "paid" if you have to use all your PTO for it. It really makes it hard if you have a baby early in the year and then get sick once you come back.
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No, I don't consider using PTO as paid maternity leave. Paid maternity leave would be a separate benefit all together!
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To me paid maternity leave is maternity leave that is fully paid outside of PTO/sick time/etc.
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@jedeve: Ooh, what is a sick leave fund?
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@mrbee: when an employee hasn't used all their sick leave in a year and is maxed out on how much they can accumulate, they can "donate" the time to the fund. So it ends up being kind of a wash for the organization - the total amount of sick days employees would take is the same.
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@jedeve: So kind of like rollover minutes, but for the whole company? If so, I would consider that as part of a paid leave! But not my own sick leave or vacation leave...
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For what you described (similar to my experience below), yes, I would say it is "paid leave" but no, it is not "paid maternity leave".
Background: I had 6 weeks of STD at 100% of my pay, and then used saved PTO time over the next 7 weeks to give me 4 additional weeks of pay at 100% of my salary, and 3 weeks with 0% pay. My company also paid me for the 1 week STD-waiting period week.
So, if someone asks if my maternity leave was with pay, I would say yes, because it was. But, I don't consider having to use PTO time as having "paid maternity leave" - it was just plain paid leave that I happened to use over my maternity leave period. So, no, I didn't have paid maternity leave.
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To me, paid maternity leave is leave that is completely separate from PTO, wherein you receive compensation during your time off AND you are not deducted PTO days.
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I wouldn't consider sick leave fund or PTO days as a paid leave. Like @lamariniere: said, it would have to be a separate benefit!
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paid maternity leave is "extra" that doesn't come from your sick/pto/vacation bank.
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What @blackbird wrote plus you continue to accrue vacation days.
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Using up my vacation and sick time is definitely not an additional benefit! However, it's all I get too.
My DH gets one month of actual paternity leave without dipping into those things.
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@blackbird: this!
I get my Pto and that's all. So 2 weeks paid and 6 weeks unpaid because I am going back at 8 weeks pp.
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When you dont have to use your own vacation time to be paid for it!
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Definitely not having to use my sick days! Our STD doesn't kick in until 2 weeks after the "incident", so you are required to use whatever sick time you have in the ten work days prior. Our STD is about 75% of your salary for 4 weeks, 6 if you have a C-section.
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I feel like paid maternity leave is separate from vacation or sick days, and not paid for by the employee (so not STD where the employee pays the premiums)--plus, I feel like it really only qualifies as "paid" if it's a decent amount, like 80-100% of your monthly pay.
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@Anagram: Really? By that definition Canada doesn't even have paid maternity leave. It comes out of Employment Insurance which everyone pays into every paycheck. And you get 55% of your original pay (which works out fine for most people, actually).
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If it is an additional benefit on top of sick and vacation time. It would have to be another line item in the company handbook.
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@Grace: I agree, this is how California's maternity leave is organized as well. I consider it real maternity leave, up to 4 weeks prior to due date and 6-8 weeks after delivery as SDI at 55% pay then an additional 6 weeks for staying with baby also at 55%. Employees (and employers) pay into a state SDI fund which is what funds the leave. This seems to be the way most state or federal maternity benefits are - collected and re-distributed from the populous (like US. Social Security).
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I would consider it paid time beyond PTO/Vacation/Sick Days.
My company gives 2 weeks additional time off to all new parents (moms & dads!). Then STD pays 100% for the next 6-8 weeks for moms. After that you can use vacation time to get paid. -
I would consider paid maternity leave to be a period of time away from work where you receive pay only if you have recently given birth. PTO, vacation, etc. would not be considered maternity leave benefits IMO.
@Grace: You get 55% up to a maximum of $514 per week. This means if you make anything more than $48,600 you get much less than 55%.
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No, I wouldn't consider that paid maternity leave.
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@alohaorchid: That's true. Still doable though.
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No. Maternity leave should be called as such and separate from vacation or sick leave.
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PTO/sick time that has been or could be banked for another purpose are not paid maternity leave. DH gets two weeks paid leave for the expansion of a family (birth or adoption). I get no paid leave from my company.
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I agree with @looch and @blackbird. My company does not offer maternity leave, but has a generous PTO policy so I was able to take 4 months off (almost at full salary) between state benefits and PTO. However, my PTO bank is totally exhausted and I won't have the luxury of taking that much paid time off with LO#2, whenever that happens to be.
My DH gets one month of actual paternity leave without dipping into those things.
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26 comments