Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

i work for a very small company and FMLA is not offered at my job.. Im starting to freak out that I will not be getting paid while being out.. is there anything that can be done? what is everyone else doing? Im starting to stress.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I was out for 12 weeks and did not get paid...I work for family and its always been if you don't work u don't get paid...I just put money away the whole time I was pregnant and my dh picked up some extra overtime...it wasn't easy but we made it work

Message edited 3/12/2013 1:29:50 PM.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I had 8 weeks disability which was $177/week. It was through my insurance. My job didnt pay me anything. I could have taken FMLA but that would be unpaid. I ended up banking 2 weeks vaca then taking a week unpaid. I went back at 11 weeks. It suucked!

Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

Does your employer offer Short Term Disability? That is how most people are paid while they are out on maternity leave... If you have an HR Dept or an Office Manager I would ask them about Short Term Disability or NYS Disability. NYS Disability is next to nothing but it would be better than nothing!!

FMLA actually just guarantees they will hold your job for you while you are out, the law doesn't say anything about pay.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

Me!

If I don't work, I don't get paid. I'm trying to save extra money now to offset my future lack of funds

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

The only $ I received while I was on maternity leave with my 1st was NYS disability, which was a pitiful amount. I learned my lesson and after that I signed up for STD through my work and thank god took home 50% for 6 weeks.

Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I'm starting to worry about my unpaid maternity. I'm socking money away each week, but I still wonder if it will be enough. I would like to have enough in savings to cover my weekly pay but even if I get 2/3 near there we can cut back and DH can work OT.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

My company does not pay for maternity leave. I can use my vacation days to get paid, and I can collect disability. Otherwise, it's 6 weeks unpaid.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I get 6 weeks of short term disablilty at 60% salary then the rest of the maternity leave I'm using my vacation that I have been banking so close to 6 weeks of that!!!

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I can't believe how terrible maternity leave is here. I really can't. It's shameful.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

SAVE SAVE SAVEEEEEE

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I'm on maternity leave now. To get paid I'm using all my vacation, personal, and sick time. When that's all used up I will be without an income. This country is ridiculous when it comes to maternity leave.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

If your company offers short term dis., can you still apply for NYS dis?

Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

Thankfully I just signed up for the Short-Term DI through work in Dec, otherwise I would not be getting anything! The policy I have pays 2/3 of your salary for 6 wks vaginal birth or 8 wks for c-section. It's not much, but it's something. I plan on taking 12 wks so I'm just socking away any extra money now to cover the other 6 wks. It absolutely sux!

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I'm not going to be paid. So focused on saving!

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I get nothing except NYS STD. I will be saving all of my vacation & personal time which should be close to 4 weeks though I don't know that it will be full b/c my personal is accumulated while working. Not sure if he'll chinz out on it like last time where I lost a couple days b/c I was off for maternity.
I'll probably take the full 12 weeks so it'll be 6 or 8 weeks STD and close to 4 paid.

Question for those who said they signed up for STD through thier employer - this would be like a benefit your employer would have offer, right? I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't have been an option for me, but just curious.

Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

In response to questions about the STDI, at my job it was offered through our payroll company. For us we would get a notice every September to let us know that it was open enrollment and if we wanted to elect benefits we had to do so w/in a certain timeframe. I lucked out because they switched insurance companies in Dec and I was able to get in during a new enrollment period.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

With my previous job, I had to use my vacation and sick time. I also received NYS disability for 5 weeks - I was "disabled" for 6 weeks but there is a one week waiting period where no benefits are paid. That last part just doesn't make sense to me but it is what it is. So I didn't get paid at all from like week 6 -12.

Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

I get 8 weeks paid and then I am taking 4 weeks unpaid. It sucks but what can ya do?

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

If I want to get paid, I have to use my accrued sick or annual leave.... I don't have that much time in my leave banks & don't really want to blow it all because I know once the baby is born I will want to take days off & I won't want to start from scratch in saving my time again.... so I think I'll just go unpaid the entire time... it sucks & will be strange to have no income but hopefully we'll be able to manage.

Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

before i had dd,DH and i saved like crazy and i also worked my ass off and didn't use any vaca or sick my whole pregnancy. FMLA covered my job for 12 weeks but the company i work for did not offer any paid leave. so when i had DD i exhausted all of my sick and vacation time. i got nys disability which was in one whole check for almost 900 bucks and i got it AFTER i went back to work- so don't count on getting it weekly because its not that reliable.

Re: Is anyone not getting paid at all for maternity leave?

No paid maternity leave here either. Short term disability through my employer for either 6 or 8 weeks depending on vsginal birth or c-section, which kcks in after 5 business days. Whatever remaining time I want to take, will be either my own sick and annual leave or kesveithout pay. I have a decent amount of hours and will be using all my sick leave and some of my annual leave. I don't want to use all my annual leave but have some hours banked for when I need them for baby, time off, etc.