How do you get time for materinity leave?

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I have about 3 places in mind I'd like to work for. How do I get time off? I work somewhere they say if you work full time you get 12 weeks PAID. But everywhere else is saying you have to use vacation time.... so you're telling me you get 6-12 vacation weeks a year now? I dont think so.. so anyways why am i hearing so many different things??

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

The FMLA law is what you want to investigate. It specifies that for certain employers where the employee meets criteria, they must hold the position for 12 weeks. How the employee gets paid is up to the facility. However, per federal law, to be eligible the employee must have worked for the facility for 12 months.

At my facility, you may use up to 6 weeks of short term disability pay for lady partsl delivery or 8 weeks for surgical delivery. If you want to take off for the full 12 weeks permitted, then the remaining time comes out of paid time off credits or is taken without pay.

If you are currently pregnant, you will not be eligible for FMLA and will have no federal protection. Whether the facility will work with you is up to their policies.

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The FMLA law is what you want to investigate. It specifies that for certain employers where the employee meets criteria, they must hold the position for 12 weeks. How the employee gets paid is up to the facility. However, per federal law, to be eligible the employee must have worked for the facility for 12 months.

At my facility, you may use up to 6 weeks of short term disability pay for lady partsl delivery or 8 weeks for surgical delivery. If you want to take off for the full 12 weeks permitted, then the remaining time comes out of paid time off credits or is taken without pay.

If you are currently pregnant, you will not be eligible for FMLA and will have no federal protection. Whether the facility will work with you is up to their policies.

No no not pregnant. Shoo couldn't handle that right now. I currently work as an aide at a hospital anf I was just unclear of what they gave or how they gave it. So I have already been working there over a year but still thankfully not pregnant. It's silly I ask but I always think about the future. I'm really wanting to work in Postpartum care rather than what I do now and I would have to change hospitals to get that setting.

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Thank you so much for all of your advice!

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

I've never heard of anywhere in the US giving 12 weeks of paid leave. After 1250 hrs of work and providing the company is >50 people, you would be eligible for the 12 weeks of FMLA leave. That law guarantees job protection only; the employer doesn't have to pay you for the time off. You'd qualify for 6 weeks STD leave after a lady partsl delivery, 8 weeks if a c-section (at least that was still the case 3 yrs ago when my youngest was born); my last two jobs required a 2-week waiting period. During this time you got paid with any available PTO, and once PTO is exhausted then you got the remaining 4-6 weeks paid at a percentage of your usual pay. So yes, much of your pay is funded by yourself. See you won't get PAID from STD until your PTO is exhausted........but once you hit that 6-8 weeks postpartum mark you're not considered medically unable to work anymore.

It's not ideal for sure. You have to plan, and if you can't afford to take the full 12 weeks off you don't take them off.

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