Let's talk benefits

[emc]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
I have no leave policy and no FMLA (too small). We don't have short-term disability either. Since I carry our health insurance I don't think I can drop to unpaid without losing the insurance. It's a bummer.


How long are you planning on being out of the office?
I'm not sure yet. I will have to use up all of my vacation, sick, and comp time. I probably won't really know how long I will be out until after April. I may ask if I can work from home for a bit. I'm hoping for at least 8 weeks at home.


What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
I have a HDHP that makes me want to cry. Our family deductible is $4,000 and then I pay 30% after that. I expect I will end up paying the OOP max of $8,000. I am ramping up my HSA contributions like a crazy woman so that we can pay for this baby!

[polkadots15]

I'm planning on taking 12 weeks. Then planning on going back and seeing how it goes. I really want to be a stay at home mom, but not sure if MH and I can swing that right away. Luckily I've been paying for short term disability and will have enough sick time/vacation to hopefully have most of the 12 weeks paid.

[Ruca]

I'll get 2 weeks prior to my due date off and then 6-8 weeks after delivering all of which will be paid in full. As far as benefits I had a $20k bill with DD and only had to pay $400. I still have the same coverage so I expect to pay the same.

[dandb925]

We're on DH's benefits, which are awesome, so we're lucky in that sense.

I work for a very small firm (there are 5 of us), so I'm not sure how it's going to work out, but my bosses are amazing. I'm hoping to take off May 1 - middle/end of August. I've already started saving.

[littlelion]

I expect to be off 12 wks. 6-8 wks paid. For unpaid time...well I'm hoping we meet our goals and I get the bonus in April. I'm at a new co but when I accepted I did ask about short term leave so hope all goes smoothly. I should double check tho. I opted into the ppo insurance as that was my prior ins. Out of maybe $75k for hospital stay with my son I paid $3k.

[shadesofgold]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
My state's law extends FMLA from 12 weeks to 16 weeks allowed, so that is my upper limit. I only get 2 weeks paid family leave, then will use my saved sick time which should be 2-3 more weeks. I have short-term disability insurance for up to 13 weeks to cover the difference at about half salary, but all within that 16 week cap. MH has generous paid parental leave and he plans to take a couple months off with me as well, which I am really happy about.

How long are you planning on being out of the office?
12-16 weeks

What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
Our insurance is a decent PPO plan with a $1200 deductible. We've met it for this year, but it will reset in January. Prenatal and most u/s are covered - need to check about first tri screenings. Delivery costs will be covered after that deductible with the exception of the doula we are encouraged to hire for delivery. I feel really lucky the ACA requires insurance to cover the prenatal and maternity costs now without jacking up my premiums!

[babycaps]

I'm lucky in the department.
I work for the state. So I qualify for FMLA.
The state gives me two full weeks of paid leave. Then on top of that, I'll use all my vacation and sick time. By May, I should have about 9 weeks saved up, which puts me at 11 weeks paid time off. In those 11 weeks, I'll accrue another week, which puts me at 12 paid weeks of FMLA. But, I'm also part of a union and the union holds my job for a total of 6 months!!!! So I'll take an additional 4 weeks of unpaid leave for a total of 16 weeks off.

Last time around, I only was able to save up for 8 paid weeks, 8 unpaid weeks. And for the last 4 weeks, I had to pay for my insurance premiums which was SO FUCKING $$$$$$$. Now I am on my husband's insurance.

Of our 30K bill for baby 1, we paid about 3,000 OOP for both baby and I. And sadly, I wasn't able to use ANY flex spending/health savings account because the state plan is over a year behind in bills. So we actually JUST paid our hospital bill in the past three months. Yes, our son is 18 months old and the state insurance just now processed the paper work!!!!

SO happy to be on husband's private insurance this time around!

[fishbulb]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
I'm eligible for FMLA but we have no paid parental leave. I should have about three weeks of sick leave I can take.

How long are you planning on being out of the office?
I'm a professor on a 9 month contract so this baby is perfectly timed for me. He/she is due during finals week and I'm not obligated to go to work between May 15th and August 15th. (I don't get paid for those three months anyway, so we are used to saving 25% of my salary throughout the rest of the year.)

What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
Ok, but better thanks to some programs they offer. We get $1000 off our bill for delivering at the university hospital, the $300 copay is waived for participating in our insurance's maternity management program, and our overall OOP is reduced this year by $2800 since I'm participating in my employer's wellness program.

[k3am]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
I have 4 months unpaid through my job, 2-4 weeks prior will be disability, 6 weeks after disability, and 12 weeks PFL.


How long are you planning on being out of the office?
4 months. I may see if I can get them to agree to some extra time.


What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
I have Kaiser and good coverage. In total I'll pay $500 to have her, for a hospital stay of up to 10 days, regardless of type of delivery or interventions. I will continue to pay the employee portion of our insurance over the course of my leave, about $450/month.

[teraiin]

This thread is panic attack inducing for me. I have to admit my knowledge of maternity leave is non-existant.

Do you have maternity leave? How long? I honestly don't think I have any. Where I work is very small. We don't even have an official 'HR' person to ask. When I got the job maternity leave was never mentioned. MEDICAL leave was mentioned via doctors note due to injury... but I believe it is unpaid.

How long are you planning on being out of the office? This is the scary question for me. Our plan has always been or me to resign and be a stay at home mom and put more work into my freelance writing. My current pay really wouldn't make sense with paying for daycare too. But now that it's 'here'. I'm scared to tell my boss because I've never even hinted we wanted to start a family (MH felt like it was none of their concern, our future plans). I know the way my boss thinks and although she'd let me out gracefully she won't be happy and neither will anyone else. Particularly when they realize I'd be staying at home.


What about health insurance? Good? Bad? We have very good insurance although I admit I don't really know what our coverage will be for some things. I have a ten dollar copay to all appointments. $100 for an ER visit (includes x-rays, medications, etc.). I'm just not sure about delivery, hospital stays, ultrasounds and stuff. I should probably look into that.

[helloerrbody]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
We can take up to 12 weeks under FMLA. I have enough personal and sick days saved up to take off all of May and the week in June we work (school district) paid. I already have off for the summer which works perfectly.

How long are you planning on being out of the office?
Until mid August for sure, but I might become a SAHM or find something part time instead of going back full time.

What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
It's alright. My ultrasounds aren't covered at all during pregnancy. Boo. But my deductible is only $1,000 so that's nice. I think they pay for 80% of labor costs/hospital stay.

[emc]

Sept 22, 2015 20:16:17 GMT -5 k3am said:

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
I have 4 months unpaid through my job, 2-4 weeks prior will be disability, 6 weeks after disability, and 12 weeks PFL.


How long are you planning on being out of the office?
4 months. I may see if I can get them to agree to some extra time.


What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
I have Kaiser and good coverage. In total I'll pay $500 to have her, for a hospital stay of up to 10 days, regardless of type of delivery or interventions. I will continue to pay the employee portion of our insurance over the course of my leave, about $450/month.

I should add that while I do have a high deductible, my employer pays the entire premium. It kind of equals out having to pay so much after delivery. 

[raelien23]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
I qualify for FMLA and also will have sick days I will take.

How long are you planning on being out of the office?
I'm a teacher so will take the end of the year off - I have enough sick leave to finish out the year paid, including about a week before baby. That gives me about 16 weeks off. I am still unsure if I am going to go back full time in September. I might do only half time the first semester (every other day) and then go back full time second semester.

What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
I have great maternity care - everything is paid for and the OOP expense is estimated at $200 for everything.

[Aaemommy]

I know our school has paid maternity leave but I just started in August so I don't know if it would cover it since I haven't been there a year. I haven't gone in to get all the details yet. I'll be off the end of the school year though summer break, so 12ish weeks depending on when the baby comes.

My insurance is up in the air right now. Currently I'm covered under my dad with the new healthcare law but I turn 26 in October so only my first appointment will be covered by them. Our plan is to turn to private insurance because my work offers good insurance but very expensive monthly premiums that they don't fully cover.

[mrssqueegy]

I'm in Canada so technically we get a year with job protection (not paid unless you contribute to employment insurance which I don't because I'm self employed).

I'm planning to take 9-12 months off.

All health care is covered by the government.

[emc]

Sept 22, 2015 21:37:33 GMT -5 mrssqueegy said:

I'm in Canada so technically we get a year with job protection (not paid unless you contribute to employment insurance which I don't because I'm self employed).

I'm planning to take 9-12 months off.

All health care is covered by the government.

 

[starfishy]

I will leave school the last week in April (spring break) and return in September. I will get six weeks paid and 12 weeks of benefits. I *might* have to return for the last day of school to secure my benefits for the summer but that would be fine. It's a half day. I hold our family's insurance and its damn good so I don't want to lose it. I'll return in September to start the new school year, even though my job would be held for 2 years.
My H actually gets 6 weeks paid paternity so when I go back in September he will take his 6 weeks with the baby and then we will start daycare.

[summerdonna]

We don't have any paid maternity leave. I have been saving my leave for quite a while and will have about 14 weeks saved up by the time baby gets here. I'll accrue leave while I'm out so I think I will have about 16 weeks to take if I'd like.

My insurance is really good so I am fortunate that way. One of the perks of working for the government!

[annarose]

I am covered by FMLA for 12 weeks. However, I didn't take out short term disability this year because I listened to my husband ( lesson learned). I will verify today but I'm pretty sure I can't sign up for it next year when I am already pregnant.

So I will probably only take 8 to 10 weeks with 3 weeks paid out from my vacation time.


Insurance was good the lasting me around - about 1800 total out of pocket for everything. We changed our limits around but H said he will change them back to the high end coverage come January? Not sure how all of that works. Hope to be around the same amount out of pocket.

[shadesofgold]

Sept 23, 2015 6:58:37 GMT -5 annarose said:

I am covered by FMLA for 12 weeks. However, I didn't take out short term disability this year because I listened to my husband ( lesson learned). I will verify today but I'm pretty sure I can't sign up for it next year when I am already pregnant.

So I will probably only take 8 to 10 weeks with 3 weeks paid out from my vacation time.


Insurance was good the lasting me around - about 1800 total out of pocket for everything. We changed our limits around but H said he will change them back to the high end coverage come January? Not sure how all of that works. Hope to be around the same amount out of pocket.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can't use the maternity benefit if you're already pregnant when you sign up. But you should triple-check in case.

[graysweater]

Do you have maternity leave? How long?
No actual paid maternity or paternity leave here, but I do qualify for FMLA for up to 12 weeks. If I want to be paid I use all of my extended illness time and then use my PTO.

How long are you planning on being out of the office?
If I have figured everything right I should be able to be out for 10 weeks getting paid at 75%. We are going to save up between now and then to cover the difference. Should be fine.

What about health insurance? Good? Bad?
Its decent, could be much better. Our estimated dr cost is $1900 oop. Then the cost of sonograms and lab work. I hold the insurance for myself and our son. My husbands employer pays for his insurance, which is amazing.

[snoris]

Since I'm starting my home daycare soon I'll just have to work it out with my sub & families. I am definitely feeling naive about the amount of energy I will have. I plan to close the daycare for the actual birth and a few days recovery, then have a sub run things & I'll slowly start appearing again as I'm able. STM, does that sound reasonable?

My H's insurance is ammmaaayyyzzzing, thank God because letsbehonest I need it. In fact when I went to the hematologist/oncologist office the receptionist was thrilled THRILLED with our insurance. The dude was a big cheerful/soulful/contagiously happy man in the first place, but I have never in my life seen a human being get so excited about insurance before. I am fairly certain we will pay zero, even with my complications. Score!

[k3am]

snoris, honestly, I think there are a lot of variables with the situation you're looking at. Do you know who the sub would be, are they reliable, etc? Would they be able to handle everything without you there? Is your house set up so that you (and I really mean you, since in the beginning, baby will sleep through everything) can get some rest while you have 2-3 kids being watched in other parts of the house? (This would not be a possibility for me with our set up, but I know everyone has different options, and your set up may be completely conducive to this!).

Some women are about to bounce back from delivery really well. I just went to see my friend on Saturday who had a C-section on Thursday - and the woman was bouncing around her room, full of energy, didn't look sore at all. I couldn't walk normally for almost 5 weeks, pooping was a half hour occasion, and when baby slept, I had to sleep. Based on all this, we're planning to keep DD in daycare while I'm on maternity leave.

I feel like Debbie Downer here, and I'm not trying to rain on your parade - I totally think it's possible, but just think you should also be prepared and have some contingency plans in place.

[snoris]

k3am, thanks for your thoughts - this is why I asked!

My Mom can sub for me for week 1, MIL can sub for week 2, and H can take a long vacation if needed. I also have a cousin who does daycare on the other side of the neighborhood and she would have room to take on 2 or 3 extras if something terrible were to happen. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

We purchased our house with daycare in mind. We bought a raised ranch, so the bottom floor has a huge room connected to a full bath for daycare only. The top floor is our personal home with no daycare access. There will be a fridge & foodwarmers in the daycare so besides food prep in the morning and dishes after daycare is over, everything is 100% separate. Even our bedroom has no windows facing the outdoor play area. I'd like to think I could "get away" in the same house... at least that's what we were thinking of when we selected this home.

Don't worry about being a Debbie Downer - I'm asking for a reason. Remember, I am naive??? Truth. It's good to hear about your recovery. Half hour poops and 5 week recoveries are not something I'm thinking about.

[k3am]

snoris, it sounds like a reasonable plan. Some folks will automatically rule you out as a DC provider at the get-go based on it, but some won't shy away from it. We pay a boatload for a center since we can't afford to have DC shut down without weeks of advance notice and we don't have back up care readily available.

Your delivery date is a moving target, so your parents would have a general timeline, but not know the exact days your DC would be out of commission. A lot of folks who put their kids in in-home DC's know to expect this kind of thing (and obviously you would be clear with them upfront, so it wouldn't be a surprise) and it's one of the trade offs for getting a better price - if the provider is seriously sick or injured (or closed for vacation), they'll have to find alternate care. This is no big deal for some folks, but for others, it's a bigger deal.

We don't have options like that in my area in terms of houses. It makes me sad to watch HGTV and see what people get elsewhere. We have a 1400 sq foot house, so if someone sneezes in the living room, you hear it in the bedroom.

[littlelion]

The only thing I can add snoris is like k3am said about people recovering from labor differently applies to how women feel towards the end of their pregnancy. Some are active and easily mobile until the very last day others not so much. My cousin gained differently/more than I did, she's also much shorter, so she could barely walk towards the end of her pregnancy. Hope you have help then too!

[snoris]

OOhhh yes, good thought littlelion! Duh, especially being high risk, God only knows if they'll put me on bedrest or something crazy beforehand, or who knows if I'll just be too wiped in the last few weeks. Good thoughts, good thoughts. I am a little worried to start the DC now if something unexpected happens, but we could sure use the extra income when my temporary job is over. Also technically I'm waiting for medical approval to get my DC certified because of my medical issues and it looks like we're getting closer to that. I do think between my moms, H, and family in the area I could absolutely get the help I need, but if it's something more than a week of help (for each person) I think I'd be asking too much.

k3am, I assumed it might be tougher to get clients right now since I'll be upfront about my pregnancy. I am only looking to take 2-3 kids to maintain my income so hopefully there will be a few out there! & LOL we have far from an HGTV home - but we did get a great deal and plenty of sq footage for the price.

[Deleted]

Ill be taking the 52 weeks off paid. Ill probably prop a few weeks of vacation on to that before baby comes.

[k3am]

@jennatles, what country do you live in again? Utopia?

[mrssqueegy]

Sept 23, 2015 21:30:37 GMT -5 @jennatles said:

Ill be taking the 52 weeks off paid. Ill probably prop a few weeks of vacation on to that before baby comes. 


STUCK

Is your EI topped up the whole time?  With my last kid, I was only topped up until 17 weeks, then I went back down to my regular EI payment.  This time I've got nothing because I'm self employed so don't pay into EI.