Maternity leave rules - do I have to return to work?

Question

The company I work for does not offer paid materinty leave. I assume that I will be using vacation time, sick time and personal time to give me some sort of income while Im off work. Does Short term disability come into effect for maternity leave. Do you have to return to work? I've never done this before and Im kind of clueless~

Answer 1

Hi, alot of people are saying you can't use Short Term disability. That is untrue. I gave birth and I was on Short term disability. If it weren't for short term disability , i don't know what I would've done.And I worked for McDonalds at the time , so im sure other companies (depending on your state and number of employees will too)
Pregnancy is covered as a "disability"because you can't perform up to Pre-pregnancy standards because of a medical condition (pregnancy :)
Check out this website, it may help you
www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregnantatwork/449.html
I have the same dilemma, i don't think i have enough time to cover the amount of time i want to take off. So now, all i can do is save save save. I have enough time for only 6 weeks, i want to try to stay out for atleast the full 12. I wish you blessings and i pray we both find the answers we need :)

Answer 2

No you can not go on short term disability, giving birth is not a disability. These are all things you SHOULD have paid attention to or read through and been clear on when you first started with the company you are at. You signed a contract which basically stated that you had read and understood ALL of your companies policies and that you were willing to comply with ALL of your companies policies...now you are looking to "break" that contract by taking short term disability. Yes they can hold your job for three months, however past that point they are not obligated to you at all. If you wanted paid maternity leave you should have gone to a company that offered it. If you do not return to work after your maternity leave you will not be able to collect unemployment benefits either. So I would suggest you return to work as soon as your time is up.

Answer 3

Many companies allow you to use short-term disability for maternity leave. You have to check your company's policy.

Yes, you will use your vacation, sick and personal to cover as much as possible, and the rest will probalby be unpaid-- so start saving your pennies! I'm taking 6 weeks off starting next month and have about 4.5 weeks worth of leave accumulated, so only a small portion will be unpaid.

Yes, if you want your job/income, you have to return to work. If you are able to use short term disability, it will run out after a few months and you will have no income.

Answer 4

Short Tem Disability only kicks in if you get a c section. Otherwise you get the 3 months without pay(unless your employer offers paid maternity leave). You can however tack your vac, sick days and personal time to the 3 month maternity leave and this will be paid

Talk to your boss to see what you can work out. and you do have to go back to work after the 3 months, LOL ,unless you have another source of income

Answer 5

well, up here in canada, you apply for Employment Insurance. You get 15 weeks up to the birth of your baby (this is called maternity leave) and 35 weeks after your baby is born (this is called parental leave). You apply at the EI office (the same office as the disability, social insurance numbers etc) and you get 65% of what you make, this is directly deposited in your bank account, and all you gotta do is tell them when your baby is born, and if you've worked. you get paid directly all the way until your benefits are used up and doesn't have anything to do with the place you work. You don't have to return to the place you worked, but make sure you tell your employer if you will return or not, this way they can save your position and hire a temp worker or just plain replace you. if you live in the states I recommend that you call the disability insurance office and see if they have a website for the state you live in so you can apply for it. Better get on it though, sometimes some women can get into a lot of red tape.

Answer 6

Well my understanding is that if you have a job the state will pay for your maternity leave through state disability. Your work will not pay, but you still can get 60% of your pay from the state for 6 weeks. You also should get Family Care Leave 6 weeks also at 60% of your pay for a total of 12 weeks off work. The first week you are on maternity leave is either unpaid or you have to use your PTO/vacation time. You should talk to your HR department, they should have all of that info for you and you can also get the disability paper work from your doctor's office.

Answer 7

Your company should have what is known as FMLA. Family Medical Leave Act. It protects you job for up to 12 weeks under state and federal laws while you are out on leave. If you take over 12 weeks you will lose medical and dental but may qualify for COBRA. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO USE VACATION AND SICK TIME during this period. You do not accrue any sick or vacation time during this period

Also there is a item called PFL. Paid Family Leave. They can be taken at the same time. PDL is obtained for EDD. You can go to EDD or so it through you work. There is a 7 day unpaid waiting period before benefits begin. Then again I do not know what your place offers. No company to my knowledge will pay you out 100%. I believe it is about 55-60% of your check. It is funded by employee payroll deductions

Another is PDL (Pregnancy Disability Leave) which is up to 4 months of unpaid leave. It can run with FMLA but not PFL. So if you use 12 weeks of FMLA and 4 months of PDL you can get up to 7 months of disability

Answer 8

I tried to use short term disability when I went on maternity leave but it turns out that maternity leave doenst apply to the whole "disability" situation. You can take off as much time as you need though, legally they cant make you return to work for the first year. You would just have to take an extended leave of absense. Unforfotunantely unless you have that much paid time saved up theres not much you can do financially.

Answer 9

First - Double check the laws in your state. In California - Pregnancy is considered under the state disability program. You get paid a % of your income for up to 6 weeks prior to birth and 6 weeks after birth. If you have a c-section you get 8 weeks after.
Again, this is a State offered deal. By law during this time off your employer must hold your job for you. Even if your employer does not offer maternaty leave.

Answer 10

Check with human resources about the family/medical leave act.

When you have a baby, it guarantees that you will have off 6 weeks unpaid.

However, you must use sick time, personal time and vacation time first. You'll get completely paid for the time you have saved up.

But, if that time off doesn't cover you for the 6 week period, you can use short term disability (% would rely on how long you have been working there) for the remainder.