Maternity Leave

I finally got around to contacting my job's human resources department to get the low-down on maternity leave...

Well, I have learned that United States is woefully behind the rest of the industrialized world in this area. We definitely compensate our new mothers and fathers the least and demand the return to work the earliest. US Federal law mandates that employer allow up to 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave. Um...most of the moms that I know can't afford this! WTH!

Here at my job, there is at least some comfort, but not much...like being given a washcloth when you ask for blanket to keep warm. Here, I get paid time off from when my doctor says "no more work for you" until she says "you're okay to get back to work." HR thought that this was on average 2 weeks prior to birth until 6-8weeks afterwards. However, this counts in the 12 weeks of federal unpaid time...so I can take additional time off up to 12 weeks, but it would be unpaid. Plus, our winter holiday time also is included in this 12 week period, and not an addition to (even though everyone is on holiday then and not just me). In the end, it still sounds a little sketchy that the big guys here aren't trying to be too accommodating to the pregnant females or anyone who ask for temporary disability benefits. The big kicker for me was that my work load isn't lighten at all for either the fall or spring semesters. This even pissed off most of my department pretty royally. This means I still have an overload in the fall as well as in the spring semesters. However, I might be able to negotiate it so that I am working less in February and more in April/May.

So, in the end, the little peanut is due at the end of November. I hope to work until I bust and take the time off (6-8 weeks) after the kiddie is born. This puts me at the end of January when I have to be back here. We'll see. This is all barring that there are no complications along the way and that I don't get put on bed rest (God Forbid!).