PTO Conundrum

[dara1012]

I work for a company where all of our holidays, vacation and sick are in one "pot" of PTO. I get 28 days a year which means I earn more than 1 day a pay period. We can roll over PTO up to 12 weeks at the end of the year, but when we leave the company we only paid 2 weeks. We do not get any paid time for FMLA (maternity leaves and other medical leaves) so when I was planning to get pregnant I saved up PTO so I could have 12 weeks paid off w/ DS which was nice. I am not pregnant now, but considering trying in the next 1-2 years.

Here is the conundrum:
I currently have 7.5 weeks of PTO, I am not thrilled with work at the moment and contemplating beginning a job search, if I find something else I lose 5.5 weeks.

So, do I start trying to take vacation time to work it down so I don't lose so much if I leave .....or.....do I maintain where I am at so that if I get pregnant in the next year I will have enough to take the full 12 weeks off?

[jlschlangen]

Oh goodness tought decision. I am not sure what I would do I would say save it or you could look in case you find something.

[elizac]

I would look for a different job, especially with a good maternity leave policy.

[fungirls]

It's so hard to say. Finding new employment in this economy is tough, though you are adding new position and education to your resume which makes your chances of changing jobs higher. Look at your budget and find out if you could afford to go with 4 weeks unpaid if you have another baby - that way you would still have 8 weeks paid should you still be there. Or find an employer with a short-term disability policy that would cover your maternity leave. Can you start taking off 1 day/week to whittle down the time?

[laurac]

I'd say take the time now and look for another job that does offer maternity leave. You work so hard, Deb, enjoy that time they give you. Take a vacation. Even a mini one. Recharge your battery and look for another job. And ask yourself, do you love your job enough to stay for another 2 years to accumulate enough time off to have another baby? Use it now. None of us is promised tomorrow.

[apryllraye87]

That is really tough.. but I would take the vacation now and then start looking for a job with a better maternity leave benefit. Keep in mind though that at most places you have to be an employee for a full year before you qualify for maternity leave benefits.

[deannemdm]

Unless it has changed, I think FMLA only applies if you have been at the company for 12 months.... not sure if that has changed, most companies will still give you the time off though even if you haven't been there a year. A company with short term disability would cover some of maternity leave (or bedrest or both) for a limited amount of time too.
I remember when I was working that with the company I was with you could not use your PTO if you had already given your notice (people would give notice then take remaining time off) so the wise thing to do was to take time off then give notice as they would only pay out 3 wks of pto when you left

[nevaehsmom327]

Look for a different job before you get pregnant. I wish I would have found a new job before I did...but the health benefits and what not here were worth staying for even though I'm not a huge fan of my actual job right now.

About trying to use the time up....that's time you can take off to use for days you may have an interview.

It may take a year to get benefits, but remember, you have 9 months of pregnancy. So technically, if you found a job within the next two months...you could still have a baby by July of next year and have maternity leave covered.

I guess my whole thing would be just do what makes you HAPPY. if your current job is miserable, get out of it and find something new before trying to get pregnant and being stuck there.

[sarahisis]

I think maybe the first decision would have to be.. do you want to get pregnant in the next year? If yes, I think I may be in the minority here but I would stay since you have so much time built up..
If no, then I'd take some nice vacation time to spend it down so you don't lose it... then if things don't get better then start looking.
Do you think you would stay in the same realm of your "job description" or work toward something more toward what you are going to school for? Just changing companies; in this field, is not a garuntee of "better" lol

what does hubby think??


good luck.. that is a tough choice!

[dara1012]

Thanks for your replies ladies.....I am not miserable at my job, just some things that have happened in mgmt lately have made me feel unappreciated.....there are things I really love about my job (clients, my co-workers and the people I supervise) and that makes the whole decision to even begin looking elsewhere difficult. I am aware that FMLA would only cover me if I have been employed 12 months prior to the leave - I am definitely a "planner" so am trying to work out every situation. I am taking next Friday off and the following Monday, but when I accumulate almost 2.5 days a month the PTO adds up quickly and I have to work long hours to make up for when I am gone so it almost feels like taking PTO isn't worth it.

In terms of a baby....the earliest I would even consider discussing and attempting to try is next fall or winter. I will finish my master's degree in June 2013. I am not sure I want to be pregnant while working on my thesis and to be honest I am not 100% sold on having a 2nd child, but I am not sold on NOT having one either. If I stay with my company and have that much vacation time I could potentially take a couple of weeks to a month off of work to focus on my thesis....so there are pros and cons to sticking where I am at.

Isis- to answer your ? I am not sure......I am well aware that changing companies in this field would potentially (and unfortunately probably) not be better. My company does a lot of things really well, sometimes I struggle with the mgmt decisions, but not sure that would change and I don't want to make a drastic decision because I feel slighted or undervalued in this situation. (I think we need to go out for drinks....you could be my DD! j/k). DH would love for me to have a 9-5 M-F job.....but I am not sure that will ever happen for me with what I like to do.

[sarahisis]

we can go for drinks... def I'll come pick you up!!!

[momof3anddog]

Your current job -- I think you are pretty much set if you decide to stay where you are at for having a baby if and when you do decide to do it; You could even still take some time off and still keep accruing it at a rate that you would still have enough to take a 12 week maternity leave. I would start taking some time off and do serious job searching during some of the time off. Using some of the vacation time for that will take some of the stress of of trying to "fit" the job search into your already busy schedule. It will also tell you what is out there and whether is is "worth it" for you to leave -- as the economy is poor and having seniority where you are at is pretty important these days.

However, on-going poor upper management is always difficult and makes wanting to stay at a job very unpleasant -- especially when you are their direct subordinates as it sounds like you are. However, I think that poor upper management is pretty common right now in many places. Management has been pared down so much in so many places due to the poor economy -- that those that are left often have the same sense of insecurity and low moral as the more "in the trenches" management and line workers. Same stuff is going on where I work and I have worked there for since the late 1990's.

But know that whatever you decide to do, it will end up okay and as it should. Being in a "waiting room" like you are now -- when you don't know exactly how everything is going to come out -- is the toughest place for us "type A+++" planners who don't like to leave anything to chance.

Oh, and that 2nd child. It'll happen or not. And either way is okay and is how it should happen. One child is fine. You have more time for that child and more money and if someone has a health change or a financial situation change, you can manage pretty well with just one child usually. More children are good too. I like my little life with one older child and twins, just now over two. But I can tell you that with all the recent medical drama I have had with them (eg. hospitalization for RSV, repeated bouts of stomach flue/gastrointestial virus), sometimes I think my older child gets slighted in terms of having us "there for her" on the level that she was used to when she was an only child.

But now I digress in talking too much about myself. This is a little along the lines of my own personal beliefs and I hope it doesn't offend. But I always believed that when a person listens to their soft-spoken inner spirit, they are led down the path they are meant to go.