maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

so in march i started working for a startup company. when i say startup i mean LITERALLY startup. i was the second hire of the whole company. by the time i have i will have been with the company for 16 months.

anyway we have absolutely no maternity policy. the CEO/COO know im pregnant, i told early since i took time off for IVF. its also a physical job and i wanted them to know why i was being slow and cautious. anyway i spoke to HR (we have an outside HR firm), and they said we currently have no policy. i also dont qualify for FMLA because the company employs less than 50 employees.

that being said, both bosses are family men. they are both around 35 and have very young kids themselves. they also have the goal of building a big brand and big company. im basically the test subject of what their first real HR policy will be. im so nervous. i need to have the maternity leave conversation soon just to ease my stress level since its really stressing me out - although they know im pregnant neither party has mentioned anything about maternity leave yet. its one of those companies where everyone works really hard and no one has taken a real vacation yet. we all work long hours.

so im really nervous that they are going to look down on me or want to fire me for needing significant amounts of time off. on the other hand DH keeps telling me thats irrational. when im being rational i think if they really want to build a big company they will make the right decisions now. i just hate being the guinea pig for this. they did pick an awesome health plan and they pay for it 100%, i pay NOTHING for mine and DHs insurance. so in that sense i have faith that they will understand. but im still so nervous.

what do you ladies think? anyone else in a similar situation where maternity leave/policy is in limbo? if you work for a company that has under 50 employees and you dont qualify for FMLA, whats your leave policy like? if you read this far thanks!!

ETA- unless i actually get fired theres almost no chance i get to be a SAHM even though i would LOVE to. i make more $ than DH (not a huge amount more, but still) and our lifestyle, especially with a will def require 2 incomes unless we win the lottery or something!!

Message edited 12/15/2010 9:26:03 PM.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

i can sort of relate. my company is not a start up but it is small. we do have a maternity "disability" policy according to our employee manual. I was shocked to read that it is 8 weeks, at only 60% pay. other companies i worked at that were competitors of my current co. provided 3 months fully paid. So I was like w.t.f. is this about?? shocked to see not only would I get 8 weeks, but not full pay.

we have about 60 employees so i would qualify for FMLA, but I would also be setting a precedent in that there has been no one pregnant before me in at least 20 years. since then there is a new boss, who like yours, is a family man and has 3 kids and oddly enough, has encouraged me to have kids since i got married. so in my head, I think he might be understanding and maybe I can negotiate a better deal. BUT since we actually have something in writing, i'm worried that won't happen.

I actually think you may be at an advantage. they haven't brought it up because most likely they don't know what to do, they don't know what the standard is, and they are waiting to see what you put on the table. I think you are in a good position to negotiate, say you have every intention of coming back and you know there is not a formal policy in place yet due to the company's start up status, and suggest that industry norm is 3 months paid (i'm making that up, but I would see if you could do some research). I plan on taking a poll of some of my competitors and clients to see what their policies are bc I think ours succks, but again I'm not sure I'm in a position to negotiate like you may be. Your company is a startup and they are just waiting for someone to set the precedent.

sorry so long, but this is something i've been thinking about a long time. I'm terrified to have this convo with my boss even though he was so encouraging; I plan on putting off telling them i'm pregnant for as long as possible. good luck.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

thanks so much for replying. i never really thought about it as leverage. im just so nervous cause theres literally not a single other person in the company who has the time or background knowledge to do my job. so if they have to hire someone else while im gone, im so nervous that there wont be a place for me when i get back.

since i started at the very beginning i have amazing stock options and the job itself is a real chance to make a lot of money in a few years if it goes public. i just have to still be there to do that.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

bump for the morning girls.. anyone else have experiences like this?? TIA

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

I don't have personal experience but I am sure they will let you have time off and not fire you. If you get paid or not during your leave is another thing altogether.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

my company is very small and we went under new ownership in 2000. being mostly male, i'm the first preggo here. my boss is understanding as well. he had his first last year so he understands. we've agreed to 8 weeks leave at full pay. i'll have to take it from there after that. my job changes day to day being in entertinment and i'm not sure how much longer i can be off....i was hoping for a day a week at home, but i doubt he'll approve that.

it's a very scary situation. we can't afford for me not to work. i too wish i could. i feel better knowing we have come to an agreement and i wont loose any salary.

good luck!

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

I work for a small company (7 employees) and we have no maternity leave policy - or a policy for anything else for that matter

Anyway when i told my boss i was preggo the first thing he wanted to know was how long id be out - so it seems like he is leaving that up to me. At the very least i will take the NYS diasability leave for 6 weeks and im thinking of using 2 weeks vacation on top of that.

Basically since we have no policy - it means i dont get any paid time off from the company. Your situation might be different since they are start up and might want to develop a policy. I would just ask them if there is a specific amount of time they want you back by and plan to have an offer if they ask you what you want.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

Posted by BabyFever10

I work for a small company (7 employees) and we have no maternity leave policy - or a policy for anything else for that matter

Anyway when i told my boss i was preggo the first thing he wanted to know was how long id be out - so it seems like he is leaving that up to me. At the very least i will take the NYS diasability leave for 6 weeks and im thinking of using 2 weeks vacation on top of that.

Basically since we have no policy - it means i dont get any paid time off from the company. Your situation might be different since they are start up and might want to develop a policy. I would just ask them if there is a specific amount of time they want you back by and plan to have an offer if they ask you what you want.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

I would just make sure whatever you agree to is in writing.... I would try and add language in from the FMLA, even though you aren't protected against it. Good luck.

Re: maternity leave if you work for a startup or VERY small company

When I was pregnant, I worked at a small firm and the last few women who got pregnant never returned to work after their babies were born. I told them I wanted 3-4 months off. They made it more attractive financially for me to return after 3 months. I wanted a set return date so I could have daycare lined up. I was due on Christmas and I negotiated a return date of April 1st.