@qork There are certain things that aren’t up to managers but rather to HR especially surrounding mat leave. I would go to HR directly and let her tell you if she is the one that has to push it through
@qork If this is vacation/PTO rather than sick leave or disability, you don’t even need to justify it and the only consideration in approving or denying leave should be business coverage needs. (Which should obviously not be an issue given that you’ll be out for presumably weeks and have a coverage plan in place already.)
I’d have said something like “As you know I’ll be giving birth the week of XX/XX. My last day will be Tuesday, I will use vacation the rest of that week.” Or whatever. You don’t need to give them a blow by blow.
@ldrkert4 I agree. If you are using PTO it should be like any other PTO request. I was in a similar situation and let my manager know I was using a couple days prior to me going out for mat leave and there were zero issues. I wonder if maybe the manager misunderstood the request not realizing OP wanted to use PTO. Anyhow, agree that following up with the manager should definitely be the next step!
@ldrkert4 I don’t think that’s how it works with FMLA/disability insurance. FMLA has to be used from the beginning of the disability and can’t be “saved up” by using PTO first. It’s not the supervisor being a jerk, it’s the Department of Labor. OP can likely get a note from the doctor and change the start date on the FMLA paperwork and then add PTO at the end (if her company doesn’t require PTO to be exhausted concurrently with FMLA leave).
@katrina2017 OP wouldn't normally qualify for FMLA or disability the day prior to delivery unless medically unable to work, which apparently is not the case here. It's very common to start leave before birth by using vacation prior to the eligibility date (and even through any disability exclusion period).
I agree that using vacation in lieu of another form of leave for the day of and following delivery is unusual and potentially problematic but that isn't the issue in this post, it seems that was already approved, and we don't know anything about OP's leave arrangements thereafter, so I can't (and didn't) comment on that.
@ldrkert4 FMLA applies to any time taken off for the condition (pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum), so it absolutely does apply (if the company is following the laws literally) prior to delivery. This technically includes time spent going to prenatal doctor appointments, for example, even if done on an employee’s lunch break or while using PTO. If the company is aware an employee is doing something related to the condition during what would be typical business hours for that employee, they can dock FMLA hours against it. I’m not condoning this, but it’s the way the laws are written and some companies absolutely do nitpick in this way.
@alyg Only of she applied for intermittent FMLA so she could use it prior to delivery. If she made the VERY common mistake of waiting until her c-section date to start it, that would be the designated start date that was approved by her doctor. It can be moved but her doctor would have to approve the start date.
Although, if the state she lives on has different laws, that can change it.
@ldrkert4 This is generally not true. In all places I have worked, PTOs have to be taken concurrently with FMLA/paid leave of absence. One can't concatenate PTOs with FMLA/leaves.
@ldrkert4 Yes this. "Let me rephrase, I will be out starting Wednesday. Let me know if there's anything I need to clear with HR around PTO before the birth"
@qork I had a scheduled C-section as well, and I just asked my doctor to write a note saying that my leave needed to start on X date. I picked a couple days before so I could prepare. The doctor doesn’t usually care when you want to start your leave, so they wrote me the note no problem. Then at that point it falls under your FMLA.
@tomsionandrew This is what I did too. My company has a generous leave policy, but it is based on you working all the way until the day of or before delivery. Just have your doctor write a sick note for whenever you want to stop working and you won't have any issues.
@tomsionandrew I almost passed out at work because pregnancy caused POTS type symptoms for me. My doc wrote a note at 39 + 3 that I needed to stop working. Didn’t have my daughter until 41+3. I think most docs are willing to help you out when it comes to being rested and prepared for delivery.
@qork If I’m understanding this right, it sounds like this day is one you wanted to use PTO for, and not your actual maternity leave.
Contact HR directly about taking this time off. The manager doesn’t have control over maternity leave— and is likely mistaking this PTO request as part of your maternity leave.
@roky23 The problem is, she already stated that the reason for taking the time is related to the pregnancy. That means the company can absolutely count it as FMLA leave time. Now, they should still grant it to her, and they must if the doctor writes a note, but they can also dock it against her FMLA hours since they’re aware the day off is to prepare for the baby (since PTO and FMLA run concurrently, an employee can’t say, “this day is just PTO and don’t count it against FMLA” if the employer is aware of the reason for the time off). It’s not great but it’s the way the laws are written.
@qork This is due to the FMLA last day worked date. The paperwork would have to be updated. Your manager is needing to run the change by HR. Just follow up with them.
@reborn1 Yup, I put my last day worked as the day before short-term disability began. At my company, we can use short-term disability starting 2 weeks before due date. Last time, I took 2 days of PTO before starting short-term disability.
This time, I am taking 1.5 weeks of "unlimited PTO" (company switched to this model earlier in the year) before starting short-term disability because I want some more time to myself and in case baby comes earlier than 38 weeks. I am also using a combination "unlimited PTO" and two weeks of health time after maternity leave ends so that baby will be 6 months old by the time he starts daycare and will have had at least his first dose of the pediatric covid vaccine.
@qork So, this is not really answering your question, but if after checking with HR if it's a no go, id talk to my doctor. If you've had even the slightest difficulty with pregnancy id play it up a little and see if they could write you out for the last day or two.
