So, I just found out that I am about 5 weeks pregnant. WHAT A SURPRISE. Not expecting that at all. haha It's looking like I will be due around the beginning of May. I'm brand new to the district, so I only have 10 days of sick leave. I know I can take up to 6 weeks with FMLA, but I'm guessing I probably won't be paid during that time? What is everyone's experience with teaching and maternity leave?
Congratulations!!!! I'm not sure about FMLA-- I had been in my school 13 years when I went out for my first maternity leave. But I can tell you that, at ages 40 and 42, my pregnancy didn't interfere with my teaching at all. (Of course, I was lucky enough that my morning sickness took place over the summer for both my girls. My son, being adopted, didn't cause any issues in that direction.) I was able to do all I needed to without any issues. Again, congratulations on your upcoming addition!
Thanks so much! Was it an issue for you to take time off after the baby was born? How long did you take off? Since the due date is May 1 and our "last day" (if no excessive snow days) is the 23rd, I was wondering if I would be able to just have the baby and stay home that month.
If you were in my district, you could take that time (you are guaranteed 12 weeks of insurance) but you would only be paid for any sick days you still have. You might go "late" which would help you out with being paid. I recommend trying to save some money up so you can just have your baby and then stay home from then on - through the summer. In my district we get paid through the summer - and if you took the last few weeks "off" you would still get paid through the summer but they would figure out what amount to take out of that based on the time you took off. Congratulations!!! Oh - in terms of teaching with morning sickness --- I had it pretty bad... if you end up feeling sick, try eating tiny bits throughout the day (cheerios are great for this!) My "baby" is 20 months old now and trying to close my laptop . ... so that's it for me for now!!! Good luck!
Congrats on the pregnancy! In my experience, you would get paid for the sick days you have and they will dock your pay for each day you miss. I agree with others to start saving up for that time now. I figured out my daily rate, and started taking money out of each check to put into savings to cover my extra time out. I was due in early April, and like you, wanted to take the rest of the year off. Instead, I went on bedrest in mid-March, had my daughter late-March, and had to go back to work the last 8 days.
Congratulations!! You're right that, in general, the 6 weeks guarenteed by FMLA isn't paid. Do you have short term disability? Two of my coworkers are pregnant and we've discovered that our best options for maternity leave are to use 6 weeks of short term disability because we get 60% of our pay during that time and then we can tack on any sick time we have (at full pay, obviously) at the end.
I honestly don't know if I have short term through the school. I am on my husband's insurance since his company's policy is amazing! I do know that at my last job, I could get the short term at any time even after the person was pregnant, so I may check into it and see about doing the Short-term policy. 60% is better than 0%!! haha
Congratulations!! Definitely check on the short term disability. I am enrolled in it through my district even though I'm on hubby's insurance. With the my first, I didn't have the short term disability, but I took 12 weeks anyway (with FMLA). My 2nd and 3rd (I'm 36 weeks right now actually), I took 12 weeks and I'm planning on 12 weeks again. I used up my leave days first and then got the 60% short term dis pay. Start looking into long term subs now to get a good one - ask other teachers and your office staff who the great ones are. My long term sub knew I was pregnant a few weeks before my principal did. About the sickness, sucking on Dum-Dums (the little suckers) helped a lot. Before my kids knew I was pregnant, I told them I wasn't feeling well and they helped. Then they all went "oooohhh, that's why the suckers!" when I let them in on it. Good luck!
I'm in a Catholic school if it makes any difference. My oldest is adopted; I took 6 weeks off when he arrived from Korea. (That, by the way, is NOT considered "maternity leave" since there was nothing medical about it.) I also took 6 weeks for my older daughter. I was a SAHM by the time my younger daughter was born. So it sounds to me as though you may be able to finish your year when the baby comes. But check with someone in HR when you're a bit further along.
Ok, so here's another question....I obviously won't be telling my class for awhile. I want to get through the first trimester. But, how did you all tell your class that you were expecting? And thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!!
My district works it exactly like you described - you get paid for only what sick time you've accumulated, and the rest of your time is unpaid. Additionally, there is a downside to the time you're due (in our district). If you don't return to school before the end of the school year for at least 5 consecutive days, you don't get paid throughout the summer, either. I've had three kids, and I was lucky enough to be able to save up enough money to stay home with each for 6 months, the maximum my district allows. It was all unpaid except for what little sick lieave I'd accumulated...and by the time I had baby #3, what with the first two having illnesses all the time and whatnot, I had no days. I didn't have any morning sickness issues with babies 2 and 3. With baby #1, I was lucky enough to be in a school with a bathroom in each classroom....enough said. I never really "told" my classes. My first baby was born in January, so when we started the school year in September, it was pretty obvious. I didn't tell the previous years' class, because I was still not very far along. My last two babies were born in September, so again, those classes KNEW when I started the year with them in late August. I teach PreK, so the previous year's classes pretty much never noticed, lol. I'm sure the moms were asking....and some of them HAD to have figured it out, because each class gave me a shower!
You need to check with your HR department. Maternity leave benefits might not kick in until after you have been with the district for a certain length of time. I know that FMLA doesn't kick in until after you have worked for them for 1 year.
Congrats! It varies A LOT between districts. My district has short-term disability that pays for maternity leave. Now would be the time to sign up since it is the beginning of the school year. If you have the baby in May, you could just be out for May and then go back next year when school starts, but you would have the option of taking the rest of your materinty leave when school starts back up.
Wow. It's amazing the variations. I will definitely be making an appointment with HR to see what my options are. Thanks all!
At some point in my 2nd trimester, I opened the class with something along the lines of "I know you're wondering. No, I'm not getting fatter, I'm pregnant And thank you for your kindness in not asking..." When we adopted Brian I let them know a few days before that we were waiting for the call saying he was on the plane from Korea.
My others were pretty obvious when the year started, but last year I told them when I was 3 months. I found an online Hangman website and put in the message "Mrs. XXX is pregnant!" They had fun figuring it out together. And just to add... in my district, you'd be on leave for the rest of May and would be able to continue your leave for a few weeks when school started again. Kind of a nice way to do it if you can.
FMLA only requires that the job be held for you, not to pay you. Other than that it varies. I would call someone from HR right away. Some schools let you take disability or let you use sick bank leave. The good thing is, you are due pretty close to summer so you will at least have those 3 months with your little one. Enjoy!
Congrats! I also just found that I am around 5 weeks pregnant! I was out for 6 weeks during March-April of this year for pregnancy related issues, and I wish I had done so many things differently. First of all, start planning for your leave well in advance. I did not do this, and it was very difficult when I suddenly could not work and did not have weeks worth of plans in place. It added extra stress at a time I definitely did not need it! You never know when you might be placed on bedrest or something unexpected happens so it's best to be prepared for that just in case. Hopefully, you won't have to deal with that, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Definitely check with HR to find out what your options are. In my district, we aren't allowed to use all of our sick days toward maternity leave unless we are actually physically incapacitated during the time. So even if you have 10 days, you may not get paid for all 10 of them. Also, check into your short term disability options. Because they were offering an open enrollment period, I was able to increase my disability amount even though I was already pregnant at the time. This was a blessing because while I was out of work, I was able to receive my regular pay because of sick days and my disability payment on top of that. This helped so much with my medical bills and such. As for telling the kids, mine are older and had already started to guess so around 13 weeks I just told them that yes, the rumors are true. I think the hangman idea is really cute! Best of luck, and a happy and healthy 9 months to you!
