US Holidays?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Its available thru some employers, not all. I received 6 weeks but that was 35 yrs ago.
My daughter, as a teacher, received 0. Nada. Her union sucks.

seriously ??? 0 weeks for maternity leave ??? crikey. that's insane to me. here for the first 2 children it's 16 weeks, split into 6 weeks before the birth and 10 after, but it can be lengthened for medical reasons if your pregnancy is not going well. and fathers can take 14 days off for a single birth or 21 days for a multiple birth.

starting with the third child, it is lengthened to 26 weeks : 8 before, 18 after.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Since I'm self-employed, I get exactly zero holidays and zero vacation each year. Every day is the same to me. While those around me had "Christmas" this year, I had "Thursday."

Back when I was someone's employee, as I recall I got two weeks of vacation, two weeks of sick time, and as much "comp" time as I felt like earning. (If the notion of "comp" time is not of common knowledge, say someone (like me) worked a holiday (which I always did). I would then get time and a half for that day later.

Now ... every day is just a mix of work, caring for the animals, helping my neighbors, cleaning house, and projects. Same thing ... day in and day out.

yes, technically for me it's the same situation, since i don't have a boss to request vacation from. but i give myself days off when i need them, and i don't (usually...) work holidays or weekends (except when there is an urgent deadline, of course. ). since i'm freelance i organise my own time. i suppose technically i could give myself 52 weeks of vacation, but i would probably have trouble paying my rent in that case (alas).

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

seriously ??? 0 weeks for maternity leave ??? crikey. that's insane to me. here for the first 2 children it's 16 weeks, split into 6 weeks before the birth and 10 after, but it can be lengthened for medical reasons if your pregnancy is not going well. and fathers can take 14 days off for a single birth or 21 days for a multiple birth.

starting with the third child, it is lengthened to 26 weeks : 8 before, 18 after.

Seriously. She had to take sick leave in order to get paid. This results in teachers (and others with no maternity leave) going back to work way to soon, before their bodies are ready. Luckily for her, I was here and she had no babysitting worries. I still remember the panic I felt when I had to go back to work, leaving my precious with someone I did not know well.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

seriously ??? 0 weeks for maternity leave ??? crikey. that's insane to me. here for the first 2 children it's 16 weeks, split into 6 weeks before the birth and 10 after, ...

French Justice Minister - Rachida Dati - returned to work 5 days after giving birth recently.
I take more time off than that if I have a cold.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Seriously. She had to take sick leave in order to get paid. This results in teachers (and others with no maternity leave) going back to work way to soon, before their bodies are ready. Luckily for her, I was here and she had no babysitting worries. I still remember the panic I felt when I had to go back to work, leaving my precious with someone I did not know well.

wow, i can imagine. that is really harsh.

Originally Posted by Sparrow

French Justice Minister - Rachida Dati - returned to work 5 days after giving birth recently.
I take more time off than that if I have a cold.

yes she did, and the controversy is STILL making the news. and in fact i'm not sure how she was even allowed, because while you can shorten the time, i believe the legal minimum is 8 weeks (2 / 6).

some people blame sarkozy for "forcing her hand" in a way, because he scheduled an important announcement concerning her Ministry for only a few days after she gave birth, so perhaps she had no choice. others say it's her own decision and none of our business. personally i think she's insane, 5 days after childbirth is far too early to go back to work, and i hope she doesn't suffer any bad effects to her health because of it.

(oh, and i would take more time off for a cold as well, if i were an employee.)

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Dang, great company to work for! (I'll chalk it up to yo being ill.......)

Make that 21 years

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Do firms in the US offer any form of paid maternity/parental leave?

According to Wikipedia "Five countries in the world do not offer some form of paid parental leave - Australia, the United States, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea."
I'm wondering if it's available from employers if not from the state.

Not many US companies provide paid maternity leave. They are forced to provide FMLA if the company is big enough to qualify, but that only guarantees that a job (not necessarily your current job) will be available when you return after a max of 16 wks. Vacation and/or sick time must be used if the mother wants to be paid during that time off.

My coworkers work until they go into labor, so that they can afford to be home with the new baby for as long as possible.

[Sweetpea]

What's this about sick time? Can't you even get sick anymore across that big pond we call ocean? (a.k.a. the US)

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

What's this about sick time? Can't you even get sick anymore across that big pond we call ocean? (a.k.a. the US)

Some companies offer a certain amount of 'sick days', meaning if you call in ill, you still get paid.

Teachers here (my district) get a whole 10 days per year.

[Sweetpea]

Hmm, you always get paid if you call in sick, here. If the sickness extends beyond a certain amount of time (often you'll be under a doctor's supervision), your pay may be cut, to 70% of your last earned salary.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

What's this about sick time? Can't you even get sick anymore across that big pond we call ocean? (a.k.a. the US)

Mine are included in my PTHO (paid time hours off) of two weeks.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Hmm, you always get paid if you call in sick, here. If the sickness extends beyond a certain amount of time (often you'll be under a doctor's supervision), your pay may be cut, to 70% of your last earned salary.

yes, that is how it works here too. if you are absent more than 3 days you do need a note from a doctor confirming you are really sick. and if you see a doctor because you are sick, they will write you an "arrêt maladie" which means you are not supposed to return to work for X days.

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Mine are included in my PTHO (paid time hours off) of two weeks.

so, if you get sick twice in one year for a week, you have no vacation ??? that sucks !

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

yes, that is how it works here too. if you are absent more than 3 days you do need a note from a doctor confirming you are really sick. and if you see a doctor because you are sick, they will write you an "arrêt maladie" which means you are not supposed to return to work for X days.

so, if you get sick twice in one year for a week, you have no vacation ??? that sucks !

Never thought of it that way, but yes. Or I just don't get paid. Each year I stay with the company I get more vacation though.

[HarryT]

In the UK, maternity leave is a statutary 26 weeks, with pay (ie 6 months), and you're entitled to that no matter how short a time you've been with your employer. Your job is protected while you're on maternity leave.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In the UK, maternity leave is a statutary 26 weeks, with pay (ie 6 months), and you're entitled to that no matter how short a time you've been with your employer. Your job is protected while you're on maternity leave.

Yes, here too. Even if you're on sick leave, your job is protected.

[Halk]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In the UK, maternity leave is a statutary 26 weeks, with pay (ie 6 months), and you're entitled to that no matter how short a time you've been with your employer. Your job is protected while you're on maternity leave.

Yep, there's arguements against statutory maternity leave here.

Imagine you run a small company, you are going to hire someone to do the books. Do you hire a 25 year old woman who has just got married? Or do you think to yourself that she's going to miss 1 year out of the next three if she decides to have kids. It's also illegal to discriminate against women. If it's a small company how are you supposed to cover for someone for 6 months, and still keep their job open?

I can see why maternity leave is there, but I can also understand the problems with it. Personally I think people should be sensible enough to save up in advance, but that's not going to happen. There's really no easy answer I can think of other than a complicated complete revamp of national insurance to turn it into actual insurance against things like that.