Maternity leave

P

premama

Registered User
For those of you working mums - has anyone applied for leave beyond the 10 weeks? If so, what would be considered a "reasonable" amount of time to take off beyond the 10 week period?

I am thinking of asking for another 10 weeks off.

I'm sure that it depends on individual situations at work but any comments will be appreciated.

:thanks
 
An extra 10 weeks may sound reasonable from a parent's point of view athough you may be lucky to get that much. But, hey, what's the harm I asking? Pitch high - it's all open for negotiation anyway. On the other hand, your employer may veto any further leave and they are within their rights to do so.
Good luck
 
My company allows a further 5 weeks unpaid, which I have taken. I only have 3 weeks to go and am dreading going back to work..... I would ask for as long as you can if your company has no policy.
 
I applied for an additional 4 weeks and that was all right. As you said, it really depends on the nature and circumstances of your job.
 
The other thing you could do, if your employers aren't happy with you taking much extra time off, is try to stagger your return somehow, such as going in half days and working from home the other half, if your work lends itself to that sort of arrangement, or working part-time for a while. Be creative in thinking up a solution that might suit your workplace.

The other thing I did, when I first started back working half-days, was to take my baby with me to work, then have my helper either take her home or hang out somewhere in the vicinity (depending on how long I had to be at work and where I was working). Reduces separation time if you have a commute, and makes separation easier to handle, especially if you are breastfeeding. I gradually stopped doing that as I felt more comfortable leaving her for longer, but I certainly enjoyed it in the early days.
 
With my first child I had ten weeks maternity leave (two weeks before and eight after – she came two weeks early). Then I took five weeks annual leave. I worked for a consultancy company which allowed us to store overtime as time off in lieu and so had quite a lot of leave owing. I then took another five weeks as unpaid leave. My daughter was about four months old when I returned to work.

With my second child I again had ten weeks maternity leave (four before and six after) and I again had five weeks annual leave owing to me. But I decided only to add two weeks to my maternity leave, thus my son was eight weeks old when I returned to work. I then took one week off every month for the next three months. I found this to be a very good way to manage. It allowed me have something to look afterward to as I started work. It also helped my milk supply because there was the chance to directly breastfeeding for that week instead of expressing. And each week felt like a holiday. The two extra weeks I added to my maternity leave didn’t feel like holiday – just more of the same.
 
Hi premama,

I am 22 weeks pregnant with my first child and plan to take an extra 4-6 weeks. My boss has even offered to let me take a full 12 months (unpaid) if I'd like - which I really appreciate. It's crazy, taking with friends back in Canada taking a full year and here it's just 10 weeks. Ask around your office and find out what other people have done in the past. But like the other posts, I think it depends on the office and a case by case basis.

Good luck!
Canucker
 
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