Pregnancy & Parenting

So I am not pregnant yet but I am curious about this one. I am a teacher with school from the 1st of August through the end of May. I am trying to plan that best time to try to conceive (I know good luck with that one but it doesn't hurt to start with a plan just in case it all works out). I am stuck on how long to take my maternity leave.

Can I use my sick leave then start maternity leave? I am rather clueless on the issue. If you could let me know what worked for you I might gain a little insight. Thanks!

Does your employer have a policy on maternity leave?  I'd start by asking someone in the district that handles these things, or another teacher that's taken maternity leave.  The company I worked for allowed for 6 weeks of paid maternity leave.  Our employer told us that we could take longer than 6 weeks, but only 6 weeks would be paid.  By law, you are entitled to maternity leave, but your employer does not have to pay you.  How long you take may depend on any one of these factors.  I'd think that if you have sick time built up, you should be allowed to use it however you want, but I could be mistaken. 

I'm not sure what state you live in-  but my company in NY gives you the option to take 12 weeks.  For 6 weeks I will be on FMLA for a natural birth, 8 weeks for a c-section.  But by NYS law; I have the right to take a full 12-  but I won't get paid.  FMLA is like short term disability-  so I'd be on that for 6 weeks.  Out of the goodness of my company's heart (yes-  sarcastically) they give you one weeks's full pay; plus a week's pay for every year you are with the company; so that leaves me with 3 weeks pay and 6 weeks FMLA pay (which is like a whopping $117 bucks a month)  After those 6/8 weeks; I don't get paid anything; but they company has to hold my job-  or a job at equal pay for 12 weeks.  I have some sick time; but it's "frowned on" to take your sick time combined with your maternity leave......ahhh...office politics.  And I'm in HR!

My sister is a teacher.  She was due in August; She had the whole summer to be pregnant and then took the three months.  However-  in those three months; she got pregnant again!!  So she never ended up going back. 

Maybe shoot for getting pregnant to have an April baby so you have April, May and June-  then the whole summer?  Then you wouldn't have to go back until September.  I know it's hard to plan though!!  Good Luck!

They don't have to pay you, but I believe it's 12 weeks under FMLA.  I took 16 after my son, plus I had been on bedrest.  He was 6 weeks premature.  I did alot from home, though, that I didn't get paid for.  After my daughter, the same company terminated my position.  It worked out fine.  With the cost of daycare, it wasn't really worth going back anyway and they could not have been more accomodating.  I have very difficult pregnancies.  I took a full 18 months off and now work part time as a sanity saver.

We complain a lot in the Uk but Maternity leave here is between 9 and 12 months, even the fathers get 2 weeks now.

Keep in mind that FMLA only covers you if your company has more than 50 employees working within a 75 mile radius of each other.  I work in a remote office and am not covered at all.  I am currently 17 weeks and have heard nothing about whether I will get any time for maternity or what will happen when I have the baby.

With my first child, I took 8 weeks off (unpaid) under FMLA. My employer at the time was very rigid and not understanding at all. I have since changed companies and will get 6 weeks off with 60% of my pay, health insurance coverage and a guaranteed position with the company upon my return. My current company may even allow me to work from home after the initial 6 weeks.

Thanks for your input. I was thinking March or April would be best but that would depend on how long I took off. I will have to ask some teacher at my school what seems to work best but I don't want everyone to know I'm thinking babies because it may be another year before we start trying if we are trying for March and April. I would really hate to wait that long.

Every district will be different, but maternity leave isn't offered with most schools. I teach and just used up all my sick days, which was only 27 (that included my personal days). yes, not even 6 school weeks! :(  So I had a LOT of money lost (175/day to be exact).  IF you have Aflac or something similar they will pay you 60% of your income, BUT there are guidelines about how soon you can have a baby.  I signed up in Aug of 2005 and couldn't have the baby till after Aug 1 2006 (She was born on Aug 14).

 

Also, ask around as to what you will need to do. I had to write a letter to the school board formally requesting my sick days cover being out for maternity reasons. It was just a formality, but needed done.

On a different note, if at all possible, avoid being out at the beginning. We also Start Aug 1 (year round) and I had only been with kids about a week before I was out.  They were horrendous when I came back. Now they were horrendous in first grade too, so I know it wasn't just me, but it was very hard at the beginning of the year!  But I too was impatient, and that year passed, and I wouldn't trade even a few months for my beautiful baby (even on days she gives me 2 year old attitude!)

A friend of mine (who is a teacher) timed her last pregnancy to get the most out of the school year. She concieved in Oct-Nov so she could work the rest of the year, have the baby in the summer and  return to work when she wanted to. Here in Canada we're lucky because we have the 1year Maternity leave program with the government but it sounds better than it is... the mat leave pay is better than nothing but almost impossible to live off of. I'll be going back to work in September after having my daughter in February... I'd love to take the whole year to be with her but I've got to pay the bills! My fiance is wonderful but money got a whole lot tighter after I stopped working and we had to start feeding clothing diapering etc someone else.

Good luck, hope it all works out for you!