Today was my last day at work before I start maternity leave. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I am glad to have a chance to rest, but I get a lot of comments insinuating that taking off three weeks before my due date is wasting my leave. I personally think it is important to rest up before the baby though, because resting is not something I'll be doing for quite some time I imagine.
I also don't think it is wasteful. I can take up to 6 months under the state's Parental Leave policy. Of course, that's all unpaid and doesn't come with the same guarantees that the Family Medical Leave Act provides (although FMLA is also unpaid and is only for 12 weeks). I don't qualify for FMLA since I haven't been working there for a year. I don't think my job is in danger of being given away though, so I'm not that worried about the guarantee part. It's just that I am currently scheduled to start back in November and I also get comments wondering why I am planning to stay out so long! That's only 4 months - how is that too long? I guess because it's longer than the usual 12 weeks. Actually, the agreement I have with my boss is November or December, but I've been telling everyone November simply because they get so shocked when I say that, I don't think they could handle it if I said December. :)
Oh well, you do what you have to do. Since today was my last day, I don't have to put up with the questions anymore anyway. Another reason why going on leave now is good for my health!
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1 comment:
I don't think that there can be a leave that is too long to be with your baby!!! You just take as much time as you can afford in order to give your baby a good start in life. Some people are luckier than others in the amount of time that they can take.
Those other people were just envious.
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