Plans for work after baby is born/ maternity leave ??

[pgfairy]

Me and DH both work full time (37h weeks roughly). I'm planning on taking up to 6 months and then utilising this new law in the uk as of April '15 that says the other partner can take the remainder of the maternity leave when I go back, so DH will take over as a stay at home daddy after that for the rest of the 39 weeks, possibly after. I'm the main earner so it's better for us to lose his paycheck than mine financially.

This is the current plan anyway, hopefully things will change for us in the next couple of months though (fx).

 

[wonders10]

I am a speech pathologist and work in the school system. Timing isn't awesome as I will be having this baby right as school goes back...oh well! I plan on taking 12 weeks off, unpaid maternity leave, then returning full time while my super awesome mom is watching baby. So lucky to have her! If I could take off the first half of the year and return after Christmas vacation I would but there is no way my finances would allow it.

 

[spicyorange]

Me and Dh both work full time (35hrs) I'll be taking 9-12 months off then going back part time (hopefully)- I'm aiming for 25hrs over three days

 

[Praying4BB]

I'm in law school and I thought it was going to be manageable with one since we have family sort of close by. I was planning to continue part time in the fall semester and then go back full time in the spring... but with the twins news, I am seriously rethinking it all. DH works full time and is out of town a lot, sometimes for weeks at a time. Not sure we can afford quality child care for both for the amount of time I will be in class and studying. I can't really even ask my mom or MIL to help with two on their own! We'll figure it out though

 

[Leggiero]

Congratulations on twins, Praying! I feel for you, OH and I had a thought last week that if we were having twins, we weren't sure if we could bear asking our parents or siblings to take them on for a full work day, as newborns! But I'm sure you will figure it out.

Both OH and I work 40 - 50 hours p/week. I plan to take my year of maternity leave and have no choice but to return to work at my regular hours. Day care is our most likely option unless we move closer to my parents (who don't work during the day) - even then, while I know my parents would gladly watch the baby for us, I'm not sure I'm prepared to ask them to take that on. They do still work, and my brother and I only recently left home (within the last three years). I don't want to disrupt their lives with such a huge responsibility! So, undecided, as of now, but we have a while to come up with a plan.

 

[Mrsgoodhart]

Wow- so interesting how maternity leave varies amongst countries! I'm in the US- notorious for crappy maternity and nearly nonexistent paternity leave. I plan on taking around 12 weeks off- this leave will be partially paid at 66 2/3% for the first at least six weeks (eight for a c-section but I would like to avoid that) through my disability insurance at work, and then I'm just hoping that I will have enough PTO saved up to stay off paid at least 50% for another 6 weeks. Legally I won't have job protection beyond 12 weeks, but I do not anticipate that my employer would give my job away as lots of us have had babies and stayed out longer than three months.

This makes me curious, if I run out of PTO, I wonder if my husband can donate? We work at the same place and there are sometimes situations (usually medical crises, someone gets cancer, etc.) in which employees can donate their PTO if others have run out but still need to be off work. Might be worth looking into!

I work 36 hours a week (12 hour shifts) and would love to be able to go back to work part-time (24 hours/week) when I do return but it will just depend on our financial situation at that point.

 

[mum140381]

its 9 months paid and 3 unpaid in the uk i could not imagine only have a couple of months off x

 

[pgfairy]

its 9 months paid and 3 unpaid in the uk i could not imagine only have a couple of months off x

I'm not sure I'd consider it to be 'paid'. Not like it is in some countries. After 6 weeks it's half of minimum wage. Still something is better than the nothing you sometimes get in the US I guess.

 

[Maggs]

My husband and I have a pretty good work schedule at the moment so hopefully this will continue after. Dh works full time, Mon to Fri 8-5 and I work two evenings a week where dh meets me at work and he brings ds home while I go to work and I work every other weekend. I'm a support worker so there's lots of odd hours I can do opposite of him. I'll take the full 9 months plus I'll use holiday time probably a month or do earlier so I don't need to work right to the end. Dh will just take the standard paternity leave as he is the breadwinner in the family so his salary is more important than mine.

 

[raggamuffin82]

I work part-time (0.5). I'm planning on coming back part-time after my year of maternity leave.

 

[Leggiero]

Wow- so interesting how maternity leave varies amongst countries! I'm in the US- notorious for crappy maternity and nearly nonexistent paternity leave. I plan on taking around 12 weeks off- this leave will be partially paid at 66 2/3% for the first at least six weeks (eight for a c-section but I would like to avoid that) through my disability insurance at work, and then I'm just hoping that I will have enough PTO saved up to stay off paid at least 50% for another 6 weeks. Legally I won't have job protection beyond 12 weeks, but I do not anticipate that my employer would give my job away as lots of us have had babies and stayed out longer than three months.

This makes me curious, if I run out of PTO, I wonder if my husband can donate? We work at the same place and there are sometimes situations (usually medical crises, someone gets cancer, etc.) in which employees can donate their PTO if others have run out but still need to be off work. Might be worth looking into!

I work 36 hours a week (12 hour shifts) and would love to be able to go back to work part-time (24 hours/week) when I do return but it will just depend on our financial situation at that point.

It is very interesting to compare - I am often reminded of how so very lucky I am to have guaranteed, stable maternity benefits. Employment Insurance (through federal government) covers 55% of my weekly earnings, but my employer tops up to nearly 100%. When I factor in the costs associated with my commute to work, I'll be saving money during my maternity leave!

The toss up though is the unbelievable costs of child care here (in my area) - about $1200 to $1500 per month. For this reason alone, we could never afford to have two children under school-age simultaneously!

You should definitely look into whether your DH can roll over some of his PTO to you. There are often opportunities out there that we don't know about before it's too late - it's a great idea to do your research.

 

[HerdingDogs]

I'm going to work until I can't. The closer I get to my due date, the more likely I can stay out of work until winter break and get those extra weeks. Definitely going back full time. Looked into daycare, but my coworker said there are lots of connections for low cost daycare from wives of district workers or community parents that give priority and discounts to teachers from our district.

 

[xCookieDoughx]

its 9 months paid and 3 unpaid in the uk i could not imagine only have a couple of months off x

I had 9 months paid when i had my son which was awesome and I'm a bit sad I can't have that again but being self employed has its serious downsides! I could take 9 months with maternity allowance from the government as I have worked since I was 14 so therefore entitled to it but can't guarantee I would get my business back after being closed for that long! X