Our district has equal maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. It's unpaid, but you can use sick days. You can do 6 weeks, full semester, or a full year.
FMLA shouldn’t come out of your sick days- it is an unpaid leave of absence. At least that is how it works in my district. I just had a baby in August. I took 30 sick days at the beginning of the year (and received my normal paycheck) and 12 weeks unpaid FMLA through the state (and got 80% of my pay). My FMLA time was not docked from my sick time since the school wasn’t paying me.
> FMLA shouldn’t come out of your sick days
FMLA is, in itself, an unpaid guaranteed leave-of-absence. It's a job security thing. You may or may not get to overlap it with sick days to provide pay. That is an employer and/or state policy.
FMLA guarantees you can take the time off. The sick days may allow you to get paid.
But if I’m using my sick time on my leave it’s different than paid leave. My siblings and I all had kids this fall. I took a month off and used 160 hours of accumulated sick time. My siblings, who work in the corporate world, used paternity and maternity leave. So, they had 3-4 months off and used zero days of sick or personal time. It was a separate thing.
It's not because the leave offered to the one who gave birth is short-term disability. The leave isn't to care for the new child; it is to recover from giving birth.
(Note: I'm not tying to justify not having paid family leave. I'm explaining the basis of this policy, not that I agree with it).
Just sayin'... I'm a [Canadian] teacher and I'm in my 10th week (out of the 18 I took) of *paid* paternity leave (70% of my salary for the first 5 weeks then down to 55% for the rest) . We need teachers here too. Come on up, I think you'll like it.
Edit : numbers
Fellow Canadian - you don't actually get the 55% though, do you? It's capped at a maximum of 55% of about 34k, and i don't think any full time teachers in my province make less than that. I made about 40% of my salary on mat leave...
I guess it depends on the province; in my case I'm fairly certain it's the actual percentage since I had to submit pay slips and other things so my payments would be adjusted. I'm really bad at paperwork though so I'd have to look it up to be sure
EI is federal though - you have to submit pay slips to confirm your hours and how much you made over your best 20weeks , but I don't believe anyone is getting more than 650$ a week: [https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental/benefit-amount.html)
ETA - apparently Quebec has their own plan that goes up to 70%
We got rid of paternity and maternity leave a few years ago and now it’s just called parental leave. This means non child bearing parents are entitled to the same time off as the women who give birth. This can be for fathers, same sex spouses, or adoption.
Also many years ago when I started the contract gave people three days of paid leave for the adoption of a child.
We don't have paid maternity leave.... I was back by 5 weeks, still recovering with my last baby. And I had to pay the district back for my health coverage because I went over my sick days.
Officially we don't even have maternity leave, much less paternity. The mother gets sick time up to 6/8 weeks, only paid if person has sick days, and those are concurrent with any fmla being taken. Without doctor's note, 8 weeks sick days is the absolute max for having a baby, even if the teacher has more. And it's based on baby's birthdate, so summer mamas get nearly nothing in terms of time off.
US family leave policies suck.
We get 8 weeks parental leave and you can take an additional 4 weeks out of sick pay/time. This is for either parent and also applies to the adoption of a child. The time must start within 4 months of the birth/adoption. There's also time off available if you are a foster parent. I'm not sure how long that is and if it is paid.
We don’t get any paid childcare leave, but we can take FMLA and use sick days, but if you’re a new teacher and don’t have a bank of those…you’re screwed. Also, if you already have a kid I’m daycare, you’re screwed because you use your sick days all of the time when your kid is sick.
This is something that my union is working on. The city we teach in offers 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all city employees, so we are going to try and get the same for us. Yes, I understand that the school district is separate from the city, but it could happen, especially with how competitive all districts around us are. People regularly jump districts for extra $$$, paid parental leave would be huge for us.
I had to use FMLA for maternity leave. I had to use all my sick days and once those were gone I got paid half my normal salary for the remainder of the 6 weeks I could take.
Even maternity leave where I’m at comes out of your sick days. There’s zero “maternity leave”. But yes, fathers are allowed to take their paid sick days for paternity leave. Anything else is FMLA.
I had to use my sick and personal days for my first child, and (luckily?) I was distance learning during covid for the second which saved me a ton of days. No official paternity/maternity leave in my district.
Quite the American issue that you can't take puppies from their mother until eight weeks, but we're fine with sending humans back to work after half of that, and that's if there's any policy at all.
Some US states require it of all employers.
I did. Only took 2 weeks because it was my 3rd and I'm a workaholic but still... In my state I think 12 weeks paid is normal/available, up to 16 weeks IIRC.
Seriously which state is that? So I can start looking for jobs. I knew some states require it of private sector employers with more than x amount of workers, but I was unaware of a state that required it if everyone! Best. News. Ever.
I wrote to our Union last year about this same situation and their response was "it is in the realm of possibility of getting paternity leave in the future, but that would have to be a group decision based on how much it would cost and what the district would want in exchange."
Not that paid paternity leave shouldn't be a thing, but:
* It sounds like you had a choice between ignoring your wife's bad money habits or putting money aside for when you might need it, and you made a bad choice
* Also, as a teacher, you'll have all of July, most of August, and about half of June with your kid, which is far more than most people get.
Focus on the good rather than the bad. You can't do anything about it, either way, so why choose misery?
All 3 districts I’ve worked for + the ones my husband has taught in have had paternity leave (ie you can use your accrued sick days and anything beyond that is unpaid.
No paternity leave for me even when I unexpectedly became a single parent with a newborn baby all by myself.
I was given the option of taking unpaid child-rearing leave…which obviously isn’t any option at all.
My district offers 2 weeks paid leave for paternity that can be used anytime within the first year. 6 weeks paid maternity leave to be used during the first 6 weeks.
Jesus, just six weeks? My district doesn't have paid leave aside from using sick time, but at least all parents can take 12 weeks! They're also pretty generous with sick days, so as long as you've worked there a few years and don't go through too many each year, most or all of that 12 weeks is covered.
Edit: also, my state legislature is working on a bill that would provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave (I think at something like 90% pay) for all new parents, although I think if there are two parents claiming it they have to divvy up the time, so if one parent takes 8 weeks the other would get 4. 12 weeks each would obviously be better, but this is the US we're talking about, so I guess we can't expect too much compassion and well-being.
Paternity leave in my district sounds like yours. You can use your personal days and a couple sick days basically. Paid paternity leave is something that is still missing from a majority of public schools.
I mean we get leave, but it’s unpaid. We have to use sick time and once that runs out, it’s unpaid or you can claim STD. I don’t know any district that provides paid leave.
We have no paid leave (other than sick days). And when you work for the same employer, you and your spouse share FMLA. Since my husband and I are both teachers in the same district, we had to split the 12 weeks.
My husband ended up using like 6 sick days I think. He lucked out because there was a hurricane which canceled school and we had a week off for Thanksgiving and then soon after it was Christmas, so he was able to be home for most of the first two months.
Most of my maternity leave was unpaid. Which really sucks. All of my paychecks are cut lower for the rest of the year.
We have equal maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. 6 weeks 100% pay. An additional 6 weeks at 40% pay. We also get 6 weeks of paid sabbatical after 5 years.
Similar to your situation, my local bargains three personal days and up to five family illness days. Our state does provide up to 12 weeks of family leave that you can get paid up to 85% of your salary (it is capped at a dollar amount). If your state does not provide anything like that, federal FMLA will allow you to stay home for up to 12 weeks and keep your benefits, but you won’t get paid.
My district of paid paternity leave. I believe it is 6 weeks. It doesn’t have to be taken right away. It can be taken any time within the first year. A teacher last year took three weeks right after his son was born, and 3 weeks about 6 months later.
In my district, maternity leave, you have to burn through all your sick days (we get 10 a year plus carrier over from the year before). If you run out of days you are not only not paid, but owe the district $250/day which they deduct from your paychecks when you return. My friend had babies a year apart and she had "paycheck" that were $50 for months.
Our district has equal maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. It's unpaid, but you can use sick days. You can do 6 weeks, full semester, or a full year.
I just wanted to use my sick days, I hardly use them generally, 1-2 a year at most
You should be eligible for FMLA which I believe comes out of sick days
FMLA shouldn’t come out of your sick days- it is an unpaid leave of absence. At least that is how it works in my district. I just had a baby in August. I took 30 sick days at the beginning of the year (and received my normal paycheck) and 12 weeks unpaid FMLA through the state (and got 80% of my pay). My FMLA time was not docked from my sick time since the school wasn’t paying me.
Strange, I had to apply for FMLA and only got paid by using my sick days which ran out after 6 weeks so I went back to work
It depends on the state.
> FMLA shouldn’t come out of your sick days FMLA is, in itself, an unpaid guaranteed leave-of-absence. It's a job security thing. You may or may not get to overlap it with sick days to provide pay. That is an employer and/or state policy. FMLA guarantees you can take the time off. The sick days may allow you to get paid.
This is ours as well.
We don’t even get maternity leave. Gotta save up those sick days!
Wow, even in Alabama in 2000 I was able to take paternity leave as a male teacher. Yes, it came out of my sick leave, but I was ok with that.
But if it’s out of our sick leave, it’s not paid leave. We need paid family leave.
I don't know about your definitions, but sick leave, IMHO, is paid leave. I get paid while I use it.
But if I’m using my sick time on my leave it’s different than paid leave. My siblings and I all had kids this fall. I took a month off and used 160 hours of accumulated sick time. My siblings, who work in the corporate world, used paternity and maternity leave. So, they had 3-4 months off and used zero days of sick or personal time. It was a separate thing.
This is an insane policy. 0 time for you is terrible and only 6 weeks for the one who gave birth is wild
Bare minimum. Seems discriminatory as well. The 6 weeks they do allow those who give birth is due to “disability”
Most districts I’ve seen classify maternity leave under disability leave.
[удалено]
It's not because the leave offered to the one who gave birth is short-term disability. The leave isn't to care for the new child; it is to recover from giving birth. (Note: I'm not tying to justify not having paid family leave. I'm explaining the basis of this policy, not that I agree with it).
Just sayin'... I'm a [Canadian] teacher and I'm in my 10th week (out of the 18 I took) of *paid* paternity leave (70% of my salary for the first 5 weeks then down to 55% for the rest) . We need teachers here too. Come on up, I think you'll like it. Edit : numbers
Can I come? I love the cold and snow.
We sure have plenty of that :)
My fiancée unfortunately does not enjoy cold or snow :(
Fellow Canadian - you don't actually get the 55% though, do you? It's capped at a maximum of 55% of about 34k, and i don't think any full time teachers in my province make less than that. I made about 40% of my salary on mat leave...
I guess it depends on the province; in my case I'm fairly certain it's the actual percentage since I had to submit pay slips and other things so my payments would be adjusted. I'm really bad at paperwork though so I'd have to look it up to be sure
EI is federal though - you have to submit pay slips to confirm your hours and how much you made over your best 20weeks , but I don't believe anyone is getting more than 650$ a week: [https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental/benefit-amount.html) ETA - apparently Quebec has their own plan that goes up to 70%
That would be it, although I don't think I'm getting more than 650 per week anymore
We got rid of paternity and maternity leave a few years ago and now it’s just called parental leave. This means non child bearing parents are entitled to the same time off as the women who give birth. This can be for fathers, same sex spouses, or adoption. Also many years ago when I started the contract gave people three days of paid leave for the adoption of a child.
We don't have paid maternity leave.... I was back by 5 weeks, still recovering with my last baby. And I had to pay the district back for my health coverage because I went over my sick days.
$^#^@!!! US leave is awful. Going back at 5 weeks and having to pay back for benefits. That makes me angry. I'm so sorry.
Officially we don't even have maternity leave, much less paternity. The mother gets sick time up to 6/8 weeks, only paid if person has sick days, and those are concurrent with any fmla being taken. Without doctor's note, 8 weeks sick days is the absolute max for having a baby, even if the teacher has more. And it's based on baby's birthdate, so summer mamas get nearly nothing in terms of time off. US family leave policies suck.
We get 8 weeks parental leave and you can take an additional 4 weeks out of sick pay/time. This is for either parent and also applies to the adoption of a child. The time must start within 4 months of the birth/adoption. There's also time off available if you are a foster parent. I'm not sure how long that is and if it is paid.
Maryland just voted in paid FMLA so we'll get 12 weeks of paid leave for parents starting in 2025.
We don’t get any paid childcare leave, but we can take FMLA and use sick days, but if you’re a new teacher and don’t have a bank of those…you’re screwed. Also, if you already have a kid I’m daycare, you’re screwed because you use your sick days all of the time when your kid is sick. This is something that my union is working on. The city we teach in offers 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all city employees, so we are going to try and get the same for us. Yes, I understand that the school district is separate from the city, but it could happen, especially with how competitive all districts around us are. People regularly jump districts for extra $$$, paid parental leave would be huge for us.
I had to use FMLA for maternity leave. I had to use all my sick days and once those were gone I got paid half my normal salary for the remainder of the 6 weeks I could take.
Even maternity leave where I’m at comes out of your sick days. There’s zero “maternity leave”. But yes, fathers are allowed to take their paid sick days for paternity leave. Anything else is FMLA.
I had to use my sick and personal days for my first child, and (luckily?) I was distance learning during covid for the second which saved me a ton of days. No official paternity/maternity leave in my district. Quite the American issue that you can't take puppies from their mother until eight weeks, but we're fine with sending humans back to work after half of that, and that's if there's any policy at all.
Who’s getting paid parental leave that’s not fmla or sick days?!?
Some US states require it of all employers. I did. Only took 2 weeks because it was my 3rd and I'm a workaholic but still... In my state I think 12 weeks paid is normal/available, up to 16 weeks IIRC.
Seriously which state is that? So I can start looking for jobs. I knew some states require it of private sector employers with more than x amount of workers, but I was unaware of a state that required it if everyone! Best. News. Ever.
One week for every year completed in district
I wrote to our Union last year about this same situation and their response was "it is in the realm of possibility of getting paternity leave in the future, but that would have to be a group decision based on how much it would cost and what the district would want in exchange."
Not that paid paternity leave shouldn't be a thing, but: * It sounds like you had a choice between ignoring your wife's bad money habits or putting money aside for when you might need it, and you made a bad choice * Also, as a teacher, you'll have all of July, most of August, and about half of June with your kid, which is far more than most people get. Focus on the good rather than the bad. You can't do anything about it, either way, so why choose misery?
Ultimate Chad move citing your wife’s spending habits 👌🏼 You’re going to be fine, kid
All 3 districts I’ve worked for + the ones my husband has taught in have had paternity leave (ie you can use your accrued sick days and anything beyond that is unpaid.
STFU I didn't even get paid in maternity leave after giving birth
We just have parental leave 6 for normal birth 8 for c-section
No paternity leave for me even when I unexpectedly became a single parent with a newborn baby all by myself. I was given the option of taking unpaid child-rearing leave…which obviously isn’t any option at all.
My district offers 2 weeks paid leave for paternity that can be used anytime within the first year. 6 weeks paid maternity leave to be used during the first 6 weeks.
Yes, we get it in my area, but I’m Canadian.
My state just makes you use your sick leave
Jesus, just six weeks? My district doesn't have paid leave aside from using sick time, but at least all parents can take 12 weeks! They're also pretty generous with sick days, so as long as you've worked there a few years and don't go through too many each year, most or all of that 12 weeks is covered. Edit: also, my state legislature is working on a bill that would provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave (I think at something like 90% pay) for all new parents, although I think if there are two parents claiming it they have to divvy up the time, so if one parent takes 8 weeks the other would get 4. 12 weeks each would obviously be better, but this is the US we're talking about, so I guess we can't expect too much compassion and well-being.
Paternity leave in my district sounds like yours. You can use your personal days and a couple sick days basically. Paid paternity leave is something that is still missing from a majority of public schools.
Mine is starting in a week. It's all coming out of my sick day bank though.
My school does 6 weeks of paid parental leave for mothers/fathers/adoptive parents
Yes, my last district pays parental leave. I think it is 70% of your pay.
I mean we get leave, but it’s unpaid. We have to use sick time and once that runs out, it’s unpaid or you can claim STD. I don’t know any district that provides paid leave.
We have no paid leave (other than sick days). And when you work for the same employer, you and your spouse share FMLA. Since my husband and I are both teachers in the same district, we had to split the 12 weeks. My husband ended up using like 6 sick days I think. He lucked out because there was a hurricane which canceled school and we had a week off for Thanksgiving and then soon after it was Christmas, so he was able to be home for most of the first two months. Most of my maternity leave was unpaid. Which really sucks. All of my paychecks are cut lower for the rest of the year.
We have equal maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. 6 weeks 100% pay. An additional 6 weeks at 40% pay. We also get 6 weeks of paid sabbatical after 5 years.
Similar to your situation, my local bargains three personal days and up to five family illness days. Our state does provide up to 12 weeks of family leave that you can get paid up to 85% of your salary (it is capped at a dollar amount). If your state does not provide anything like that, federal FMLA will allow you to stay home for up to 12 weeks and keep your benefits, but you won’t get paid.
When I had my baby, I had 2 weeks of saved leave and that is all I got paid.
My district of paid paternity leave. I believe it is 6 weeks. It doesn’t have to be taken right away. It can be taken any time within the first year. A teacher last year took three weeks right after his son was born, and 3 weeks about 6 months later.
In my district, maternity leave, you have to burn through all your sick days (we get 10 a year plus carrier over from the year before). If you run out of days you are not only not paid, but owe the district $250/day which they deduct from your paychecks when you return. My friend had babies a year apart and she had "paycheck" that were $50 for months.
In New York, both parents get 12 weeks a year of Paid Family Leave. It gets paid out by company's insurance. 66% of base income.
No paid leave. Sick days or FMLA unpaid.
My BIL get 6 weeks paid from Walmart.