Confusion About Maternity Leave and FMLA in the United States

In taking the challenge from @JamieWilkey and others to write daily online I had a menu of current topics to put out there today. Then a conversation room on gender roles and culture put together by @ShaneeMoret put one topic to the top of my list. The picture captures my approach to raising my son so that when he finds a life partner my hope is that he is a true partner and not expecting his partner to "mother" him. There were a number of topics that could be dived into from that discussion, I encourage anyone looking to open their mind to different perspectives to drop into those conversations.

Thank you to everyone who got on stage to share their perspective. The unexpected conversation thanks to the diverse audience led me to one topic of confusion and concern that relates to employer benefits but also managed care. "Maternity Leave" and societies misconceptions about it. Your health insurance is not going to pay you maternity leave. It is important when pregnant to discuss with your provider or their office how billing will be handled for the pregnancy as well, especially if it spans more than one plan year.

The number one fact for people in the United States to understand is that a woman who has a baby is guaranteed to have zero paid days of maternity leave. There were a couple participants who felt strongly there needed to be a focus on getting paternity leave. Other participants thought we should focus on paid leave for the person having the baby and undergoing the physical trauma. I had a friend who worked for a lawyer and had a health crisis related to pregnancy a month before she was due, which basically led to her liver failing and a need to deliver the baby. Her employer, with less than 50 employees so not subject to FMLA, disallowed her paid time off, fired her, and did not pay out the owed pay. So she spent a month in the NICU, jaundiced from the liver complications, worried about her newborn and unemployed without an income.

The confusion comes up because of the national Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and that does not guarantee pay during leave but if leave is taken for up to 12 weeks it is suppose to protect people from job loss. We use it for protecting women's jobs after they have a baby but also for any other need to have 12 protected weeks. Some employers provide paid maternity leave under their disability protection.

Who is covered by FMLA? The US Department of Labor is the best source to get details. A rough guide is that you have to work 1250 hours in the past 12 months to be covered. There is a list of qualifying experiences that include the birth of a child, adoption, illness and to care for certain members of your immediate family. A little known detail is that if the injured or ill person is a service member of the military FMLA protection is extended to 26 weeks.

What pays for Maternity Leave? Employers can cover the cost of maternity leave in different wats. Many employers offer short term and or long term disability policies for employees, or offer to allow employees to buy these policies. Who pays the premium impacts if the benefit is taxable when paid out. Disability insurance is what provides payment for most maternity leave in the United States and many are limited to 6 weeks, this is excluding the first week of "disability" where there isn't pay on many policies.

What health plan you pick during open enrollment usually won't impact your maternity leave. The disability insurance you choose or are given can. They are often not full pay but a percentage of the normal pay, 50% or 60% of pay is common. Accumulated paid time off (PTO) can supplement the pay or cover pay for the first week. Some employers have generous maternity policies in the United States, they are the exception. The majority of American women whose income is needed by their family go back to work before the 12 weeks of FMLA protection is over.

This is the tip of this topic. I gained a lot listening in the room to hear people's thoughts on this and the impact of other culturally driven gender roles. During the conversation someone from Canada explained they currently get a year and a half of paid leave and the time can be split between the parents of the child. This sounds like a fantasy in comparison to American standards that would provide each family the opportunity to balance the bonding time with their new addition according to their personal needs and beliefs.