https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 21 Jun 2026 22:10:24 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664729 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 11:50:17 +0000 psw27 2664729@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow super jealous of Amex employees. I hope that someday, all parents get benefits like this. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664721 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 11:40:36 +0000 looch 2664721@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@petitenoisette: I wish we could find a solution, I really do. I like the idea of paying into a fund, at least for part of it. I don't think we'll ever see government funded maternity leave in the US, to be honest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664718 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 11:38:47 +0000 petitenoisette 2664718@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Yes, of course. I'm imagining a system where the gov't is paying the maternity leave from a fund that everyone would pay into (not the full normal wage but a livable one) and the company is just paying the replacement (probably less than they were paying the original employee). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664716 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 11:34:57 +0000 looch 2664716@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@petitenoisette: Right, but they you have to pay an additional person, and that eats into profits. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664710 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 11:23:41 +0000 petitenoisette 2664710@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kitty: Teacher here too, so they must get a replacement. How good that replacement is can vary greatly! </p> <p>The fact that so many companies seem to just spread out the work or put things on hold as best they can seems to be a pretty good argument for a standard yearish-long maternity leave. If a new mom will be out for a year then you would think the company would fill the position, putting less stress on colleagues, and have more flexibility in terms of perhaps hiring someone that they would plan to keep on in a different or complementary fashion once the maternity leave is up. </p> <p>Yet here we are cheering on 20 paid weeks. Sigh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664695 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 10:56:47 +0000 looch 2664695@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kitty: generally, no, they do not. In my experience, it is distributed to others in your group. I do believe though, for it to be sustainable, they do need to hire to cover. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664644 Tue, 13 Dec 2016 09:53:47 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2664644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kitty: my work is fairly specialized. So you have to have a certain level of knowledge or training to take over. A manager can do some but other trained co workers step in to cover beyond that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664498 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 21:01:18 +0000 KT326 2664498@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm in California so I can take 4 weeks pregnancy disability and then 12 weeks paid leave (55% of pay) after baby is born. Both companies I have worked for hire a temp to take over my workload. I work in finance and while a couple of my duties are going to other people, my boss is doing most of it with the help of a temp. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664490 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 20:27:25 +0000 kitty 2664490@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I guess because I'm a teacher and it's not possible to share the workload that might colour my view, but it just seems to me like if a workplace has ten people, then ten people are needed to do the work. I would be concerned about coworkers harbouring resentment towards the person on leave, particularly when it's maternity leave and so many people can be hostile about breeders (!!!) anyway. Doesn't sound like something that will change any time soon though! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664487 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 20:23:33 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2664487@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kitty: I will only speak for my experience, but whenever there has been a short term vacancy on my team everyone else is expected to step in. T Or better yet this is the opportunity for go-getters to volunteer to take on extra work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664485 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 20:18:51 +0000 kitty 2664485@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm in Australia and we have really good maternity leave provisions. When you said the coworker has to do extra work for all that time, does that mean that companies/businesses in the US don't hire someone to cover people on leave? Because that is ridiculous. Imagine the great short term work opportunities for people covering maternity leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664480 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 19:59:19 +0000 autumnleaves 2664480@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That is exciting to see! I get 2 weeks of paid time off plus STD, FMLA and asked the CEOs recently if they have thought to increase that time for employees in general beyond the 2 weeks. They said no - we're too small and have too many young people. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664175 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 12:14:32 +0000 MrsSCB 2664175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My company recently started giving 16 weeks paid leave (I just returned to work last week!) For us, short term disability pays six or eight weeks 70 percent of salary and my company pays the other 30. Then for the remaining time, the company pays full salary. In terms of work load, it was basically spread among five or so people. So no one person had a ton more added to their plate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664165 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 12:01:19 +0000 Mama Bird 2664165@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Nice! I guess it depends on the company, but in my experience coverage can be worked out without temp hires, at least in an office... my department has had staff take extended leave for different reasons (maternity leave, medical emergencies, a couple of people take a month long vacation every year because their family lives very far away). The work would get spread between a few others, and it worked out OK. It did make everyone's life easier if the person that was out was available to answer questions. It wasn't always the same people putting in all the extra time, so it seems like a reasonable system. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664147 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:38:28 +0000 ShootingStar 2664147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just took a 12 week leave. I work in the user experience team of an IT company. When doing planning my manager just fills in people available for the highest priority work. I had a project that I finished just before I left, and one co-worker had to cover a little bit for me. But we use a work planning system called Scrum, and it doesn't really allow for people to take on more than their capacity.</p> <p>I think 20 weeks is awesome and I hope more companies follow suit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664141 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:33:02 +0000 snowjewelz 2664141@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It makes me happy more companies are taking care of their workers, but makes me sad b/c my small workplace will probably never get there (currently I don't have paid leave; just 12 weeks unpaid plus a tiny tiny amount of STD from state). So it makes me very very jealous! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664131 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:24:41 +0000 looch 2664131@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do think that if leave is going to be extended, we do need to have plans in place for coverage that are reasonable and sustainable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664119 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:14:04 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2664119@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: Thats great! </p> <p>We can take up to 6 months but we have to use our PTO if we want to be paid. I get 7 weeks annually so its not terribly hard to build up time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664115 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:07:17 +0000 wheres_c 2664115@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm currently out on an 18 week 100% paid maternity leave.<br /> I'm a project manager for an IT company. Originally my boss was just going to run my meetings while I was gone (and let the team self-manage everything else). The week before I left, he changed his mind and has hired a contractor to fill in while I'm gone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/amex-20-weeks-bonding-time#post-2664106 Mon, 12 Dec 2016 10:50:44 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2664106@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Fantastic :grin: I hope many more companies follow suit. I still would like to know how employers cover the moms &amp; dads on leave. As much as I would jump on this in a heartbeat as a new mom, I would not want to be the coworker that has to do that much more work for 5-7 months.</p> <p><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/12/pf/paid-parental-leave-american-express/index.html" rel="nofollow">http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/12/pf/paid-parental-leave-american-express/index.html</a> </p>