My job doesn't offer maternity leave: Advice?

My boyfriend and I are expecting our first child in December. My job doesn’t offer paid maternity leave. I was hoping to add short term disability onto my benefits package at work to pay for part of my regular pay while on maternity leave, as I didn’t have it during previous years. Unfortunately, because I found out I was pregnant five weeks before our open enrollment began, I don’t qualify to have the short term disability applied to my maternity leave because it’s considered a “pre-existing health condition.” I looked into other short term disability insurance packages through my private insurance, but they only cover “unique” circumstances, like if I had a c-section versus a natural birth. We discussed it together about budgeting to cover part of my pay as I’ll still need maternity leave. My question is for any other mothers who may have had a similar experience and how they navigated this? What did others find as options? We do have other bills like anyone else, and it’s an option to do a forbearance on student loans, etc., during my time out of work. Thanks in advance for any input!

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I heard Aflac has maternity coverage but not sure if you have to have it before you get pregnant.

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Unfortunately i had to go back to work within 7 days with each of my babies cause my job never offered maternity leave

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Thankfully I am covered for short term during my leave. Having most any insurances (those I’ve looked into) you have to have the coverage for a certain period of time before becoming pregnant. As a single mother you can go through DHHS and sign up for assistance, which will help bring in a little bit of cash. We managed to save some from taxes and putting away with each paycheck to allow me to take time off. With our first, I didn’t get the chance to.

I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks before I had started my job. I actually worked a part time job on top of my full time job for 4 months to save money for my maternity leave.

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Since you are already pregnant I don’t think anything will cover. I also had unpaid maternity leave. It’s not uncommon. You would have had to add short term disability or any other supplemental coverage prior to pregnancy. Unemployment also will not cover and you will also be responsible for your portion of your medical insurance while you are off. Start saving

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My job you have to have that many hours you will be gone saved up

Start saving and budget for when your off. Im not sure if this is your first baby or not but you may not realize that you won’t really be doing anything or going anywhere during your time off of work so really you aren’t spending much money. Good luck!

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I tried to save up as much PTO as I could. I also tried to pay ahead or get rid of any Bill’s I could before the baby came. I also tried to get a little savings together. It was tight believe me, but I had enough diapers and wipes from my shower and had GCs to use as well for stuff.

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Save as much money as you can!
December is still far away. You have time.
I took 5 weeks, but I used my 2 weeks vacation time. So I only had 3 weeks unpaid.
But I had plenty bc of all the savings I had. I had fun during that time.
Best of luck to you!!

I’m sorry for this failure in our system for not offering governed maternity leave. I don’t know if you looked in to DHS programs but they might have some form of assistance that you haven’t looked into yet. Good luck and congratulations

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If your first doctor appointment wasn’t before you enrolled, they cannot prove it was a pre-existing condition as you may not have been aware before then. Currently dealing with that now. They look into the 6 months before I enrolled, but because I didn’t see my doctor before I enrolled, I should still technically get it.

In Canada we have 12 -18 months of paid maternity leave. We collect unemployment during this time. :canada:

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I was lucky with all of my kids my employer paid 80 hours of maternity leave (I was about to break that into 33 hours a week) and then I had PTO to cover the rest. I took 7 weeks with my last.
Best thing I did was stock up on everything I could while pregnant. Target has awesome baby sales. I had a wall of diapers, wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, laundry detergent etc we literally went a year with having to buy any of that. Maybe if your utility bill is 100 a month save 25 or 50 a pay period to cover it while you aren’t working.

With my first 4 kids, I had unpaid. Even tho I was full time at work with the twins, we didnt have short term disability. We just put as much away as we could to save and I only took about 3-4 weeks of leave.

You should look into Aflac.

And then there is this…

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Can you not go on EI

I don’t know what state you live in but look into FMLA

with my first i didn’t have paid leave either, i called and got any bills i could deferred for 3 months (to start around my due date) and i only stayed out what i had to, which was 8 weeks because i had a c section but i had some complications.

You can apply for disability if you paid into SDI on your taxes which by the time the baby is here you have paid into plenty, they cannot fire you during this time, you can also apply for paid family leave and use FMLA during this time and that will protect your job. My job didn’t offer maternity but your job can’t force you to not have a family. Get Medical if your able to

I only had about three weeks of vacation time saved up at my job. For the rest,we just put back money during my pregnancy and used that to pay my portion of the bills for the rest of my leave. We also stocked up on diapers and things before hand- like one or two boxes every paycheck.

Look into TCI is temporary caregiver insurance that both parents qualify for… I forgot if it’s 4 or 6 weeks long for “bonding”… I’d also look into TDI!

I got lucky and had both of my first two around ‘tax time’ and was able to live off the returns. We also stocked up on sales— target runs deals where they give gift cards away for purchasing so much baby items. So I’ll buy $50 worth of diapers and get a $10 gift card. When you do that a few times (because obviously you’re gonna need wipes and diapers) you should be set til you go back to work. And if you keep receipts, I taped mine to the box, you should be able to return or exchange diapers if baby grows out of them too quickly.

It honestly horrifies me how the US deals with maternity leave. I live in Canada, and we get 12-18 months with a paid percentage of our paycheques, and paternity leave for Dad’s (other partners?) can be used as part of that. Your system is so messed up :frowning:

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Wow I feel lucky being in nz, we get paid for five months maternity leave, as long as we have worked a certain amount of hours and been employed for s certain amount of time. Hope you suss something out!

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I didn’t get paid maternity leave either. I saved all of my vacation and sick time to help… but ultimately we went a few weeks with only his income…

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Most employers won’t do paid time off for maternity leave, but have to hold your job until you return. FMLA is nationwide and pays you a portion of your normal salary while you’re home. Dads can take FMLA for paternity leave too.

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Your job doesn’t have to give you paid maternity leave. It falls under FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act). They have to give you the time off via that, but it doesn’t have to be paid. If you have complications (such as you’re ordered on bedrest), you can get disability via your state. A friend of mine did that when she was pregnant because she was super high risk and had to monitored in the hospital for the last 6 months of the pregnancy.

How many employees qt your work?

I never did short term either until this last one. I’ve had short term for the last 3 years and for once it is going to pay off. Also save. We put back our money we just got from the government for the corona virus. That way we would be covered. Last time my husband just picked up extra hours and side jobs to get us by until I got back to work.

It truly baffles me that I got 100% paid leave for 6 weeks through PETCO but other companies don’t offer paid maternity leave at all…but I took 12 weeks…the first 6 were through fmla unpaid. The 6 paid from petco was considered “bonding with baby” leave…they really need to fix maternity leave in the US.

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I get fmla but paid out with my benefits so I will only be paying out for 4 weeks. I have saved for 3 years to keep bills, daycare for my other son, and emergency funds open. I family plan so we knew ahead the approximate costs, our expenses and planned accordingly.

I was only able to save up a little bit of PTO and that was my maternity leave…I had 2 weeks and then went back to work

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If anything I wouldn’t suggest Mutual of Omaha. My work goes through them and I go back to work monday, I haven’t recieved my money for maternity leave. A girl I work with went on leave the same time as me and it took almost a month for her to get hers. I’ve tried calling multiple times but the person doing my claim never answers. So I wouldn’t suggest them at all.

Dave Ramsey he recommends you go into stock mode as all that you can now to cover all expenses during your unpaid leave.

Starbucks is so good. Part time employees get the same benefits as full time.

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I just worked and am still working OT as we both don’t get any paid.

When i had my son last year my job didnt have maternity leave and i couldn’t get fmla because wasnt there for a year the only thing they could give me was 4 weeks of some kind of personal time off and they said if i got a dr note saying they wanted me off for the 6 weeks they would accept that so my dr wrote me a note and i was off for 6 weeks i didn’t get paid tho. Id definitely look into fmla i you can to keep your job

I spoke with my employer when I was pregnant because I was in the same situation! We agreed to use my 2 weeks sick and 2 week vacation time that I had earned and pay me every 40 hours every 2 weeks. I ended up going back after like 6 weeks because we needed the money. I regret going back so soon. I wish we had more time together. Good luck. :green_heart: I hope everything works out the way you want!

Do you have vacay/sick time you can use?

I had unpaid maternity leave with my first. Save money now wherever you can. I didn’t eat out and took my lunch to work so that money got saved back. I suspended my cable because it isn’t something we had to have so that monthly payment got saved too. Sit down and budget now to see where you can make cuts and save.

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I know it’s not much help, but I started putting money back from the moment I found out I was pregnant. I totaled up my monthly expenses and was able to get a rough estimate of the money I needed to have saved in order to take my 3 months off :grimacing: Gotta love America’s maternity leave situation

I took a loan out from my 401k.

PTO girl that’s it I just got off my maternity leave FMLA isnt worth it unless u plan on going back to your job its unpaid

I didn’t have maternity leave pay for either of my pregnancies. FMLA provided 6-8 weeks, but I had to save up money prior to ensure we could pay our bills. My husband held the medical insurance and continued to work, but we had to simply make it work. Most companies in the US do not pay for maternity leave. At most, you cash out any vacation time you have owed.

That is crazy! With my daughter the employer I was with didnt offer maternity leave until after a year of employment & I was obligated to quit my job until I was ready to come back (lies, they never returned my calls). My current job offers 8 weeks, but i can take short term 1st as long as it’s before I deliver then maternity starts AFTER. Also, men here get 4 weeks paternity leave!! My b.f. only gets 1 week. I dont have insurance through my company, but an outside insurance company still takes care of fmla, s.t., l.t, etc aafter a year of employment.

This is always mind blowing to me. I’m canadian and we By law get 12-18 months Mat leave. Best of luck!

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With all my kids I went back to work a week or less after I had them. Gotta do what you gotta do.

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As a teacher, our district signs us up for disability. It covers maternity appointments kind of like GAP but only a few $100.
I had fmla. Used my 20 days of paid leave, my two “emergency days” and any day I spent out for the baby post my paid leave, I spent on a sub. $100 a day.

See if the company did any disability for you. A lot of people borrow against their 401k. I don’t super recommend it but it works :woman_shrugging:
If you have GAP, it should help as well.
Ours paid us $1500 every night in the hospital. I spent 3 nights there while pregnant. It super helped

You should be able to apply for maternity leave supplemental income through your state. Same with SNAP benefits.

In California we have state disability. It is paid from your paycheck. Look into it. Some states have it

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Depends on the State also. Maybe check it out on your states website.

My daughter still had her job but wasnt paid , not much you can do

I was able to be off from work through FMLA and from my drs office I had applied for disability which was how I was getting paid while on maternity leave. Once you deliver let the disability office know and then they’ll switch it to postpartum disability and then you’ll still be able to get paid an additional 6-8 weeks. As long as your job allows FMLA then you should be good there but they do not pay you directly it’s all coming from what you’ve paid into disability.

Save money… Cut back where you can… Good luck…

I’ve saved up all of my PTO and started putting what I could in to savings each paycheck.

I’ve never had paid maternity leave. In the months leading up to my due date, I saved all sick days, and called in late or left early for appointments so i didnt use sick pay. I had a couple of weeks of pay saved by the time I gave birth so that sick/PTO would cover at least one pay period. Each paycheck I put back a specific % of the check, (like 20% of the check, no matter what) so that I would accumulate enough to get me through my 3 months.

Just gotta try and save, call your student loans, if your income in the household is low enough, sign up for food stamps and WIC as soon as you stop working.

I just tried to save as much money as possible beforehand. Babe was born in February so I also had my income tax to add to that.

I’m in California and we are so lucky we get disability and baby bonding afterwards. I also used saved PTO. Hopefully something works out, lots of good suggestions here.

I wonder I was never allowed paid materni leave in fact they actu stripped me of my job after asking me to return at 6 weeks to find out at 2 weeks they hired som and I was no longer able to return.

Save money. Have boyfriend get a second job.

Worse case scenario, file for bankruptcy. Stays on your credit history for 7 years. If you can, stay with family and rent a room. You are a single mom who won’t be working so you might be able to qualify for government assistance

Does your work allow people to donate pto time to you?

This whole thing makes me really sad. Your country has some of the greatest wealth in the world and yet you as a new mom can’t even stay home with your new born if you don’t have beneifits.
If I was American I dont think I would have kids, just giving birth to a health child is expensive, a complicated or an unhealthy birth could cost 100s of thousands
Yes I pay a bit more in taxes to get universal health care but you don’t see it, what you see is me walking out of a hospital with no bill with my government maternity leave for a yr. Oh that maternity leave is just unemployment but for a yr that everyone pays into when it’s taken off your pay cheque

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My employer doesn’t offer paid maternity leave but I most employees take MLOA…which allows you to use sick and personal/vacation days.

Unfortunately our country is WAY behind on medical maternity leave. There is no such thing as paid ML. Just PTO and sick. However, they cannot replace you if you envoke the Family Medical Leave Act. I forget how many weeks that is, but ask your HR department for more info.

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What state are you in? Massachusetts has paid FMLA starting in January 2021. If you’re in MA, maybe you can go unpaid for the few weeks in December, then start paid leave in January.

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I have only been paid once out of 4 kids. Even then pay was only for 6 weeks. The other kids I purposely saved money through taxes that year so I knew I was all set. I also used any PTO time I had saved to pay me whatever I had. I would make it so I would pay myself for the same amount of hours each week so I would still get a few paychecks after being out and not just one lump sum.

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:disappointed: Short term, in every job I’ve had, was automatic. It was long term that we paid extra for.

I got cash assistance threw food stamps when i was pregnant and didn’t have a job it was a big help having that and i got wic and that covered all the formula which i would have paid 500 or more on 8 cans of formula that costed 14 dollars a can. I hope you can get something

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Many, if not most, employers don’t offer paid ML unfortunately. Do you have PTO/sick time that you’ll be able to use? Most short term disability benefits offer 60% of your pay for 4 weeks - at least this is how mine was set up. My suggestion would be to make a list of unnecessary purchases that you make each month, eliminate, and start putting back as much as possible.

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FMLA is about your only option, but it’s unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks so save your pto/sick/vacation to get as much as you can when you go out. Also, start saving now… a little at a time helps. Plus cut costs as you can now to help you save for when you’re out.

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Depends on the state. FMLA is not paid, 12 weeks, it is only job protection. California allows paid disability 4 weeks before delivery, 6 weeks after for vaginal delivery or 8 for c section. You can then file for PFL (paid family leave) for an additional 6 weeks. PFL and FMLA can be taken at anytime within babies first year.

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I saved and saved and saved the whole time I was pregnant because I knew I wasn’t going to have paid leave. I accumulated all my vacation and sick time by scheduling doctor appt on my lunch break. I only took 3 weeks of maturity leave then had to go back to pay the hospital bill. It was rough but necessary. This was 11 years ago. Not sure if laws have changed but if not, start saving and accumulating!

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I’ve had and currently will have 6 months paid off with all 3 kids. SDI, FMLA/baby bonding, PTO,
Etc. I also applied for supplemental short term disability because we planned our pregnancies so got extra free money, then cancelled the policy. You also have until December to shore up your bills and save money.

I just had to bite the bullet and go without pay. But we were young and thankfully had family we could stay with when I couldn’t work.

Definitely get wic and food stamps during that time will help. Wic is usually that day you go so you dont have to wait. Aflac offers something for maternity leave but I dont know their qualifications or prices maybe something to look at if you haven’t.

We didn’t have paid leave either. We moved in a roommate, my husband took a second job and by breast feeding and using cloth diapers we were able to to downsize enough for me to stay home the first year. Wic was also helpful

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I start my unpaid maternity leave after today. I am no benefits so I don’t get sick, vacation, pto time… so I just saved and saved. I worked extra and cut back. That’s about all you can do unfortunately. I can afford to take 6 weeks off. It sucks.

Make a list of what your bills are for 6 wks. If you have debt, lust only the minimum payments. Calculate what that is and try to save that much between now an December to cover your time off. If you aren’t currently saving, the first place you can look to cut is your grocery bill. Shoot for $100/person per month. So a family of 3 = $300/mth. Less than $100/wk. This should also include toiletries. Pay the minimum on debt until you have at least $1k in a savings account.

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I was a stylist working at a salon and no leave, no insurance, we just skimped on everything and saved up while we could.

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Definitely request a “Maternity Leave Forbearance” this will postpone your payments for 12 months. It will not hurt your credit :grinning:

OMG, no Maternity leave !! OUTRAGEOUS :pensive::pensive:

Ask your doctor, there’s a form they give you so you can get maternity leave through unemployment. Your job has to hold your position for you.

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I don’t have paid maternity leave. I worked it out with my boss to work a couple extra hours in the day and saved up that way.

You might be able to get deferred from student loans for a few months. Make a few calls. It’s worth trying.

Doesn’t child birth have the SAME Time off policy as a broken leg or a heart attack??? Meaning they are treated EQUALLY!!

I am sorry… I wish that Americans would get the support we have in Canada

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Apply through unemployment. State normally offers paid FMLA if workplace doesn’t. You can also go on paid pregnancy disability through the state with doctor recommendation at 36weeks.

Disability covers the rest of pregnancy +6 weeks for vag delivery or +8 weeks for c-section then FMLA kicks in for either 6(vag delivery)to 8 (c-section) weeks after disability wears off.

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I live in Canada, we get up to 18 months of paid maternity leave at 55% pay (max of $550/wk) the fact that the USA has not made it law to give parents a suitable amount of time to heal after child birth or adoption is disgusting. I do hope you all make the right choice in your election later this year and help you mommas out ( and dads and adoptive parents and surrogates) :cry:. I really don’t see how your government expects people to procreate and have people to continue the population of they don’t make it any easier to have children

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Ask your employer if you can “work from home” then save up to pay your bills. If you are pregnant, then you have some time to get this “figured out” before you deliver. Kids are never “free”, but you can also see if you will qualify to food assistance, WIC, or utilize foot pantry’s if needed. Also, look into breastfeeding (free) and utilizing “cloth diapers” rather than disposables ( much cheaper)… then “give up” the spendy phone plans, and look into a “pay as you go” , other areas of cut back is satellite/Cable TV, and services such as music streaming, on-demand movies, learn to cook from home and reduce your “entertainment” such as eating out, and “date nite’s” You will learn to get by on less. <3

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Save up any time off you have. Save up as much as you can. Call your lenders (mortgage, car loans, student loans) and ask for a temporary reduction. Most will work with you as long as you communicate with them.

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Ask your employer about FMLA and if there are any other options regarding maternity leave. Try saving money take out loans apply for public assistant and WIC shop early for the baby also don’t be boujee towards places like goodwill or Walmart have a baby shower.

I saved money through out my pregnancy, my sons dad gives me money every month and the stimulus check has helped me. It’s June and I haven’t worked since the middle of Dec. Had my baby in Jan C-section and we are in June. I have FMLA to protect my job and will be returning in August because I work for the schools and have been able to enjoy my baby and breast feed him all these months. My work also throwed me a baby shower and then my friends from church did as well so I still have diapers and wipes and cloths. All those things have helped big time. Your child needs you try saving so you can be with him for a few months. Plus I don’t know if you get money back from your taxes but you can also use that to pay your bills in advance

You can’t get unemployment while on maternity leave, at least not in most states, because she’s still ‘technically’ employed. I didnt get paid materleave either. What I did was every paycheck i paid extra on electric and water, get extra groceries for the deep freezer to stock up. Then kept some extra cash in an envelope from each check. My husband and I both work at the same job, so we both worked some overtime for some extra $ as well. It sucked! But was well worth not constantly worrying while I was out on leave about if the bills would get paid or not.

I worked for a temp agency when I was pregnant so no benefits. I saved every extra penny and worked up until 40 weeks (had my daughter at 42 weeks). I moved so I had to quit that job but with the money I saved up, plus unemployment and short term disability, I was able to stay off for 3 months before landing a new job with benefits.

I was in this same predicament and had to do FMLA leave. Unfortunately it’s unpaid for up to 12 weeks. Me and my boyfriend saved money especially knowing it was going to be around the holidays when I was off. But the FMLA leave allows you to keep your job. They can’t fire you or replace you while you’re gone.

Oh my goodness I’m from Canada and I had no idea the US doesn’t help with maternity leave! In Canada your employment place does not pay at all, we have “income insurance” and they pay you for maternity leave and give you up to a year off! That’s really unfortunate and sounds extremely stressful on the mother to have to worry about that!

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