How early to go out on maternity leave?

[beana90]

Here in NJ you are allowed to go out 4 weeks early. I did that with my first and highly enjoyed it. It gave me a chance to relax and get ready for the baby. After the baby came, I got 6 weeks paid then took the 12 weeks FMLA unpaid.

[calicaliente]

I'm also planning on taking a few weeks of before baby #2 comes in April. I'm here in CA too, and they have that new pregnancy disability leave that's available now (unpaid) for up to 16 weeks if you have complications. Then you get the 6-8 weeks STD through the state @ 55% pay & also they have the PFL (Paid Family Leave) that rolled out in 2004 that also pays out for 6 more weeks. I get confused though with what HR tells me I am alloted for my time off and if it runs concurrent with the STD pay....either way I am maxing my time off to bond with the baby.

All I can say is take as much time as you think you will want before your bundle of joy arrives. Get your nails done, your hair done, set up the baby's room & finish nesting. Believe me you will cherish those days when you had some "me" time. Especially if your baby happens to come a little early, which was the case with my son.

[kimberf]

Calicaliente, keep in mind that the 55% disability pay has a cap, so it may not be the full 55% of your pay that you're expecting. That's what I found out when I checked on it. For me, it only pays about 25% of my salary rather than 55%. They have a chart on the California EDD website so that you can look it up, but I can't remember then name of the form number that it's part of.

[calicaliente]

I found it on the EDD website. I totally had to compute out what I think I may be getting while on disability. Thanks for pointing it out!

[kimberf]

^^ Glad it was helpful. It was kind of a shock to me, though it shouldn't have been, that it wasn't going to be anything near what I expected. I was glad to find that out early.

[bhurry]

wow, you guys do have a pretty generous employer. I had to work up until the day I gave birth (was having contraction while at work). And had to go back 6 weeks after I gave birth.

[kimberf]

Originally Posted by bhurry

wow, you guys do have a pretty generous employer. I had to work up until the day I gave birth (was having contraction while at work). And had to go back 6 weeks after I gave birth.

bhurry, it sounds like your employer might have screwed you, to put it bluntly. If you live in the US, work for an employer with over 50 employees, had been there for a year prior, and worked over 1250 hours in that year (a regular 40 hour workweek for a year is 2080 hours), that was illegal of them. You were entitled to federal family leave (FMLA leave) of 12 weeks, unpaid, and probably some sort of state disability leave as well.

In my case, my employer is just giving me the leave that I'm entitled to under federal/state disability and family leave law. They are legally obligated to allow me this time and have to hold my job or an equivalent for me

[kcf68]

I was going to go out two weeks early. So I went and took a personal day and she came two weeks early on my personal day. My husband was off that day too. It depends how comfortable you are and how many children you have. I was bored staying home so I was going to work for another two weeks and well that didn't work out...

[luvsbags&shoes]

Technically I was supposed to leave 3 weeks before having my son (born Nov 4/07 but EDD was to be Nov 20/07) b/c I had to take some Statutory holidays and 2 weeks of vacation b/f my actual maternity leave was to starts. But after 8 days, I ended up having my son and the rest of my 2 weeks vacation is forfeited until I go back at the end of the year. Thank goodness for Canadian maternity leave, at least I can be with my son and my 2 & 4 year old girls for the year.

[bhurry]

Oh and I forgot to add that I'm in the military, so to them 6 weeks is plenty time to take care of your child and get your body back to pre-baby weight. That's why I said you guys are lucky to have such entitlements. I was not allowed to have any time off before the baby was born even though I was having pain. But I guess that's what I signed up for.

Originally Posted by kimberf

bhurry, it sounds like your employer might have screwed you, to put it bluntly. If you live in the US, work for an employer with over 50 employees, had been there for a year prior, and worked over 1250 hours in that year (a regular 40 hour workweek for a year is 2080 hours), that was illegal of them. You were entitled to federal family leave (FMLA leave) of 12 weeks, unpaid, and probably some sort of state disability leave as well. In my case, my employer is just giving me the leave that I'm entitled to under federal/state disability and family leave law. They are legally obligated to allow me this time and have to hold my job or an equivalent for me