Poll: How long should you wait after starting a new job to have babies?

I am with you on the timeframe thing. Not clear on details of maternity leave, but then I found this article:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_maternity-leave-the-basics_449.bc

A woman has to be a full-time employee for a year before she can take advantage of our maternity leave benefits. In some cases, I'm sure exceptions could be made.

Find out if the employer falls under FMLA guidelines. If they do then maternity leave and short term disability is spelled out already.

There's no way to make blanket statements about maternity leave. What is done one way here, may not be done the same way somewhere else. It can be tricky too. There are all kinds of loopholes for employers.

@ FutureMrsM, thank you for the article. It is helpful in getting me to understand the basics.

@Paris, thank you for explaining how your company does maternity leave and how there could be loopholes.

I believe you have to be with an employer for at least a year to qualify for FMLA, period (if your company meets the guidelines for FMLS as Paris said). Maternity leave is up to your company. I work for the gov, we don't get maternity leave but we can use FMLA for 12 weeks. We can use annual/sick leave for that time so we get paid if we want.

This would also depend on what country you are in. I am in the US.

You need to be at a company for 1 year before benefits start (on most companies) however, it really depends. I was pregnant with my first daughter when I started a new job (i was 4 months) the company really liked me and I told them I was pregnant right off the bat. They gave me 6 weeks leave with pay, and they didn't have to do that. Then I quit that job to go back to school, I got pregnant while in school had to quit to find a job so again I was pregnant at hire. I didn't tell that boss until I was 4 months into working there. I got 4 weeks off but still went in on weekends because it was without pay.

Iw ork for the government and it follows the FMLA rules which is you have to be with an employer for 12 months to qualify for FMLA. You are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. However, I didn't use that instead I used what sick and annual leave I had build up. I took 8 weeks off; 6 paid and 2 leave without pay. It sucked as HR didn't process my paperwork correctly. they tried to fix it when I returned to work but I didn't want to go in the hole for leave after the fact.

@Stephanie, I am in VA, US.

Thank you everyone for sharing their personal experiences. When I read up on this topic from online articles, I don't get a full sense of how it really works.

Me too If you're in the US, FMLA applies if your employer meets the guidelines (I think 50+ employees). The majority of companies, in my experience, offer no paid maternity/paternity leave, though there are some great ones that offer a few weeks. But FMLA will allow you to take up to 12 weeks unpaid to care for a newborn without your job being in jeopardy. If you have short-term disability, that will sometimes pay you something while you are out (often a percentage of your salary/coverage) BUT you must have it BEFORE you get pregnant. I think you may be able to buy this individually (without employer contribution), but I am not positive about that.

BUMP!

I was hoping to get some more opinions on how long to wait (I don't mean the required time before FMLA kicks in).

Thanks everyone.

Haha @Stephanie we posted at the exact time. I guess I didn't have to do my shameless bump. Thanks for your response.

I would say at least a year.

It honestly depends on your job. For instance, I work for state government. My benefits kicked in immediately as a new hire so I could have had a baby right away. I also live in CA and we get SDI/PFL which is an employee-funded paid leave benefit so as long as I have the hours in my previous 12 months (at a former job), I would also qualify for paid leave. Sorry, there's no right or wrong answer. If you want to start your family, do it!

This 12 weeks off stuff...how do you guys do it??

We can get up to 12 months off in Ontario, Canada

I couldn't imagine going back to work with a 3 month old at home!

More power to you all!

The US is pretty much the worst developed country for family leave. I agree, regardless of leave policies, I'd want to be at a company at least a year before taking leave, two would be better. Personally, I want to finish school, work for 2 years to get our student loans paid off and save for a house, and then think about babies.

That is how i feel too. I do not want to spend 4 years going to college to then not get a job because I am having kids, and try and get a job 5 years after I graduated school.

I have no idea, but at my job I was told that every time a new girl was hired, they usually got pregnant within three months (by the significant others, of course) so there was a joke going around for my first three months saying I was next. I was like hell no. I've been here two and half years, and am not planning on having a kid until I'm 30. They give us 12 weeks maternity leave, but I'm not sure how that works with pay or anything.

At my firm you have to be there at least 1 year to take advantage of maternity leave.

I'd wait at least a year though I also think 2 is ideal. While I totally support family leave(fathers too!) and would never judge a person for how they time their family, it's a pain to cover someone's position.

I think it will honestly depend on your status/reputation in the company. I would say wait 1 year no matter what. Then evaluate where you stand. Do people like you? Have you done extraordinary work? Have you had struggles with the job?

Thank you for all the recent responses. I didn't get a chance to say this yesterday since I was out shopping for my wedding dress. I was pooped out by the time I got home.

@Eleanor, I know what you mean about how difficult it is to cover someone's position. That is why I will definitely try to work it out with my new company.

@Kimberly, thank you that is really sound advice. I will wait a year and evaluate where I stand.