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FMLA eligible, Californian. I took 21 weeks.

2 weeks disability pay before EDD - state benefit, (4 weeks allowed)
1 week LO was late.
6 weeks Pregnancy Disability Leave - state benefit
12 weeks bonding time job protection - state benefit, unpaid

My company apparently offers 5 hours of maternity leave for every year you work. I'm not psychic though so I didn't know about policies that aren't in the manual and HR didn't tell me about in my leave meeting. I'll be using that pay for this pregnancy.

I work for a non-profit that is not eligible for FMLA. Our handbook states that you can take 8 weeks of family leave and an additional four at the discretion of the director. I took the full 12 weeks. That time was partially paid through my vacation time, remaining sick time, and remaining comp time that I saved up throughout the year.

I was extremely lucky (by American standards) to have 12 weeks paid maternity leave. Next time, I would consider taking the 12 weeks paid and then taking an additional month unpaid.

12 weeks FMLA, unpaid, although 1 week of that was spent in the hospital being induced due to pre-e. So 11 weeks with baby. It was just about the right amount of time, but it was difficult leaving her at daycare when she was so tiny and I sure would have loved more time with her!

First time I took 12 weeks. I was FMLA eligible. My employer provided 2 weeks paid, I got 4 weeks STD after that at 80%, took 4 weeks vacation/sick time and then 2 unpaid weeks.

This time I will take 8 weeks. Not FMLA eligible and I have a smaller pool of co-workers, plus the timing is a bit trickier (state budget time). I'm getting 3 weeks off paid leave, and will use as much of my vacation/sick time to round out the next 5 weeks, will take unpaid leave to cover the rest.

With DS I had 12 weeks of FMLA, I used up all my vacation/sick time which would have paid for about 6-8 weeks of my leave. I wasn't supposed to be paid for the rest but kept getting checks, when I talked to our fiscal person about it they said it was right and not to worry about it, wink wink. (Not company policy to pay us during maternity leave)
I came back part time.

With DD, I took 8 weeks (was working PT during pregnancy) I went back 1 day a week at 8 weeks and resumed my normal schedule at 10 weeks. All unpaid since I had no PTO benefits from working PT.

I took 16 weeks. Employer told me I could take as long as I wanted (unpaid of course.). First 12 weeks were fmla. 6 of those were paid (at 60%) through STD. Around 10 weeks I worked from home part time on one project (I'm in consulting) and got paid hourly. My boss paid all my benefits while I was gone though.

12 weeks unpaid FMLA. However, I took almost no sick days through my six years with the company (thank you, great telecommuting network) and I had so much sick leave it got me through almost two months of the FMLA. And then I worked from home some, but it was a really insane arrangement... though it still beat putting B in day care at three months.

With my first, I took about 12 weeks (might have been a little less) and I qualified for FMLA. I was paid for 6 weeks of it, and 6 weeks I wasn't paid.
With my second, it was a different job and I didn't qualify for FMLA. I had only been working there 8 months and I would have only been given 8 weeks due a C-section. I decided to quit, for other reasons as well, and haven't been back to work full time since.

@MrsBananaGrabber: Just TTC now but I chose "11 or 12 weeks" in your poll because our law firm gives us 12 weeks. And 2 weeks for the "secondary" parent.

My company offers 12 weeks paid maternity leave which is separate and apart from FMLA and disability, although they all roll together.

So I got 3 weeks disability prior to giving birth because my doctor cleared me. I qualify for 26 weeks of paid disability, so once my maternity leave kicked, disability continued to pay like $200 some odd dollars and my company paid the rest of my salary. FMLA also kicked in the minute I took disability to protect my job. So I have 6 months job protection. So total time I took off was 3 weeks disability, 12 weeks paid maternity and then a week off vacation for a total of 16 weeks.

With Liam, I took 10 weeks of official leave, came back to work for one half day at the end of the year, then it was summer break. So I actually got 4.5 months off. This time, I will take 14 weeks of official leave, come back for one half day, then have summer break and I'll end up with 6 months total off.

I took 8 weeks, which was all of my stockpiled vacation and sick time. I was FMLA eligible, but was required to use any accrued pto during my leave. I was not eligible for std because of a pre-existing condition, though it was offered through my employer.

I took 8 weeks since i had a c section. My leave was not paid so we used all my vacation and sick time. I was lucky DH has paternity so DD was able to be cared for by us for almost 6 months before she had to go to a sitter.

FMLA eligible.

LO1:
11 weeks - all sick/vacation leave that I had accrued. I couldn't benefit from STD, as my company's policy is that you must exhaust your accrued time.

LO2:
8 weeks - 6 weeks of accrued sick/vacation. Remaining 2 weeks STD (at <60% of pay). My STD policy is available through my employer, but fully paid by me (no employer contribution).

20 Weeks - Californian here.

12 weeks of it was paid at 55% by disability/FMLA
4 weeks vacation/sick time at 100%

Rest unpaid.

Still wasn't long enough! I would have gladly taken longer off unpaid but my company has a max of 16 weeks maternity (Can then apply vacation).

@SFMummy: how did you get 12 weeks of paid disability by the state?? Please share! For some reason I thought it was only 6 weeks.

Baby #1
FMLA eligible. I took a total of 17 weeks. I was paid for 6 (but I had to use sick time). The rest of the time was unpaid, plus I had to pay COBRA for the last month.

Baby #2
Because I'm on a medical leave from work (modified bedrest), I will use up FMLA for the calendar year. Since I'm also using all of my sick time to have a fully paid medical leave, I'll have to take an unpaid maternity leave. Oh, and I'll have to pay COBRA each month. I'm either planning a 3 or 4 month leave.

Isn't America grand? Supposedly Governer Cuomo is proposing a paid maternity leave bill that will be voted on in May, but even if it passes, I doubt it will be in effect in time for my baby's arrival in June.

@agold

I can't remember the exact terms, but you get 6 weeks for disability, or 8 if you have a c-section. Then you get another 6 weeks of PFL leave (paid family leave).

It was pretty easy, once the first 6 weeks was over I got a message in my online account saying I needed to fill out the new form. Went to the same card, etc.

Better outline - http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/California_Maternity_Leave

Also just a note - it took FOREVER to get any of my benefits. I didn't get anything until 8 weeks out, then the entire 6 weeks of disability was dropped in. Luckily it wasn't a huge deal for us financially, but I couldn't believe it took that long and wondered how people got by if they hadn't planned for that.

I took 12 weeks after the birth of my twins, but I was also on hospital bed rest for 6 weeks prior to them being delivered.

So not that I wanted to go back to work after 12 weeks, I did kinda feel like it was time to go to work and have a schedule. My DH is a SAHD.

My STD medical leave before they were born and the 8 weeks (c-section) after they were born was all paid. I took 4 weeks of unpaid leave under the unpaid bonding leave my job offers. My company offers upto 12 weeks of unpaid bonding leave.

I live in WA but my company is based out of CA.

Oh, I was FMLA eligible.