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I've taken maternity leave twice with my company. Both times I had an extended leave. We also have to use all of our vacation and holiday time before taking any unpaid leave, which I was fine with. (We accrue vacation days per paycheck vs getting a lump sum on our anniversary or Jan 1).
However, we have a very generous sick time policy (we can use sick time when we are sick or we're caring for a sick kid) and I we have the flexibility to work from home.
In your case, I'd take a longer leave, be upfront with management about your fear of having to go negative if LO is gets sick before you get more PTO and request to go negative with your PTO balance if it comes down to it.
In my experience, HR hides behind policy, but management tries to work around policy for valuable employees that aren't trying to abuse the system. Since you've been there 17 years, I'd assume you'll be taken care of if you did need to take reasonable sick time.
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I'm taking a long leave and depleting my leave balance. It will be four weeks until I get my next "drop". If I Or the baby get really sick during that time I will have to ask my doctor to put me on a second FMLA and I would have to apply to our sick bank to receive donated hours or I would go leave without pay.
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I would just use all my leave.
We don't get any paid leave (though we can use the 12 unpaid FMLA). Anything we want paid has to be taken from sick/vacation time. I've had two babies now and had to exhaust my leave (and then taken unpaid) each time. Everything was fine after that.
How is your leave earned? Do you earn some every pay period or is it a bank you get at the beginning of the year?
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@ValentineMommy: bank I get on my anniversary which is in august. I'm due Feb... soo I'd be back may/june-ish and then I'd need to go to august with no days until my anniversary.
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Popping back in to say thanks for all the input/commiseration/advice.
I talked briefly with DH about it last night and he told me to take what I want, 11 wks and not to worry about having no days when I return. He fully believes that my bosses won't take any disciplinary actions against me (of course though in his mind my bosses love me and won't do anything like that to me.... I 'm not as sure)
As some suggested I plan to talk to my bosses about it all and to voice my concerns to them before any of it transpires so i'll be able to get a read on how they react/respond. And if I do have to take days that I don't have i'll just deal with it then.
to answer a few ?'s that were brought up:
-I cannot work from home
-we do not have family near enough to step in for an unplanned sick day... planned or expected we could probably get coverage
-I cannot borrow against my future days off
-I do not accrue any days while on maternity leave, I get a bank of days on my work anniversary which is early August.
-I have never run out of days before (17 yrs) so I am hopeful this will help me by showing I'm not just trying to take advantage -
@raspberries: yes, you are 100% correct.. my issue is more with my company policy to have to use all of my banked time for fmla... it seems absurd to me. If I want to take 2 weeks fmla unpaid and save my banked days for when I return I think that "is the best decision" for me.. but I dont' have that choice
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I would take all the time and have your DH plan to have to take off if one of the kids gets sick. I don't think it's all that likely that you'll get sick during those couple months. I'd also talk to your boss and explain that your plan is to have DH cover all sicknesses unless he absolutely can't.
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@Ajsmommy: As other Pps have asked......can you schedule a meeting with your bosses and ask them specifically what they will do if you use the days you are entitled to, but then your baby gets sick?
After that conversation, if they aren't budging, I would at least save 2 days. Will your baby be in daycare? Kiddos tend to get sick when they first start daycare, and if your husband's job also isn't flexible, he might not be able to take consecutive sick days if the baby has a fever lasting more than one day, etc.
Or, do you have a family member that can fly in and help for some of that two months?
Failing all that, can you hire a nanny for just those 2 months, then transfer to daycare? It would be more expensive, but the baby won't be exposed to daycare germs and even if the baby is sick, the nanny can easily administer medicines and stuff.
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This particular FMLA quirk really bugs me too. My employer had this policy until I pointed out that our local law (DC) forbids requiring employees to use their paid leave while on FMLA. I know a lot of people before me got screwed before I made a stink about it.
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@Ajsmommy: What happened with your last Mat leave? Did you have the same time off/how was your return to work?
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@Banana330: with my first I was lucky to have DD right before thanksgiving so I got 5 added days(basically one full week) bc of the holidays (2 for thanksgiving, 2 for Christmas and 1 for new years).. then I did take 3 banked days so that I was out for 11 weeks.
This time is different b/c of the timing, I won't benefit from any holidays
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I came back with no days off AND in the whole for 40hrs. It actually wasn't that bad, and my bosses were flexible if I needed to leave early. I would do that option, and start looking!
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My work is the same way and it is super annoying. Personally, I woudl just take the 11 weeks and deal with issues after, if they come up. However, my management is flexible and I am confident that while they could report me for taking unpaid days off after going back if my child was sick, they wouldn't actually do that. If they did, I'd feel a lot less guilty about leaving their asses in my wake.
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I just want to say I feel your frustration. In the same boat here.
I am due in Dec. I have to take ALL my remaining time off and THEN the FMLA kicks in. I come back in March, that same month my husband deploys, I have no family here, and my vacation does not roll over until August.
Its a terrible procedure.
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