Parental Leave

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>>Brandon Desch: Having or adopting a new baby or child is an exciting time. Under the family and medical leave act, most companies must grant expectant mothers and fathers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. But there are other issues worth researching and putting into play before, during and after your parental leave.

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>>Brandon Desch:Background music Getting ready to bring a child into your life is a very emotional and very difficult thing. There's a lot to plan, a lot to figure out. So by talking to your employer and figuring out what kinds of laws, policies and benefits are available to you, both in your current employer as well as the state you live in, it's gonna help you figure out a lot of things, plan well with your situation and figure out how you wanna take your leave.

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>>Narrator:Background musicThe success of your parental leave depends on how organized and informed you are before you leave.

>>Brandon Desch:The family and medical leave act, also known as FMLA, covers most employers. Therefore most employees are going to be able to qualify for leave under the FMLA. Many states have laws that help people when they're on leave but not every state is the same. New Jersey, for example, as well as California, they both have disability leaves for parents or for individuals who are going to be taking time off to either have a child, adopt a child, or bond with their child. Minnesota however is a state that doesn't have any such leave so it's very important to talk to your employer, understand what policies they have, what benefits they have and what laws affect you in your state. Before you go on leave it's a good idea to spend some time with your manager to talk about what you expect when you come back to work. When you have a child your life is going to be changed quite dramatically. They'll be doctor visits you're going to be wanting to attend, whether expectedly or unexpectedly so it's going to be very important that you understand how your company will treat those leaves or treat those time off and also have a good relationship with your employer, your direct manager because they're the ones that you're going to be working with on this unexpected basis to say, hey I need a day off or I need to work from home today or whatever the case might be. music Many fathers aren't aware of the fact that there are benefits and laws that help protect them when they're having a child. They also qualify for FMLA so they can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to bond with their child when it's born. Some states also have enriched benefits, so for example California a father could take up to 6 weeks off and receive disability pay during that time. For paternity leave, people can take it either all at once or in blocks as they go along and it's really a personal preference how you want to do that. Some people may want to do it all up front to help their spouse in the initial nurturing and raising of the child. Others may want delay it and take it in other blocks so they can spend more time later on as the child is developing.

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>>Narrator:During your parental leave how connected you stay with your company is up to you.

>>Brandon Desch:Some people, they can't leave their laptop alone for a minute. Other people they absolutely want the time to themselves. They lock the doors. They throw away the computer. It's a very personal choice. So just figure out what's gonna to work for you and let your manager know a head of time if you plan to be doing some work or staying completely focused on your family. The one time I would say that you wanna stay in touch with your employer for sure is when you're getting ready to come back to work. You're gonna probably have an anticipated return to work date and so your employer is going to be expecting you around that time. As it gets close, stay in touch, make sure that they're aware of when you're planning to return as well as reaffirm are you going to come back on a full time basis, part time basis. Your ideas may change once the child is born and once the child has come into your life. So stay in touch with your manager so that you're both on the same page as far as how you're gonna return to work.

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>>Narrator:And there are several ways to ease back into work after your parental leave.

>>Brandon Desch:Be aware that coming back to work can be a very difficult experience. You have a new child at home that you've been bonding with. Coming back to the workplace is gonna create maybe a little bit of anxiety. Plan your return to work midweek or towards the end of the week. That will allow you to ease into it having a short work week while also getting adjusted to how your care is for your child at home. Another idea is to look at maybe working only a couple days a week for the first few weeks as you adjust. Some people also tend to work from home once or twice a week. Either way talk to your manager, figure out what will work in your job, in your situation that will best enable you to come back to the workplace.

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>>Narrator:For more information go to bnet.com.

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