Maternity Leave (Seattle: how much, law, best)

[monkeymunch]

Question for the Seattlelites:

What company do you work for (or have you worked for) and how much maternity leave do they offer? I'm not expecting but planning on kids in the next 2-3 years and am considering this as the main benefit when trying to decide if I want to begin a job search in this area or not. Thanks!

[eskercurve]

I know of a few companies who have a typical two month maternal paid leave policy, and then can extend that longer for unpaid leave up to a year. Paternal leave at that company is non-existent. Still stuck in the 50s at that one company.

[amaiunmei]

Lesser-Known Washington Law Doubles Maternity Leave To 24 Weeks | KUOW News and Information

[MmeZeeZee]

These policies can change so I'd look for a career where you can establish yourself quickly and keep up your skills during a leave of absence, rather than counting on that one or two extra months you'll get here in the US.

Washington is pretty generous but ultimately it's the US so it's up to your family to figure it out. We find it much more economical to pay for a nanny to keep our sick days to ourselves, and to play tag team (and I worked from home) than to depend on a three-month maternity leave.

Good luck!

[BellevueNative]

Many, many companies offer maternity leave beyond the 12 weeks required by law, but it's often unpaid. There is no requirement for maternity leave to be paid.

[Hemlock140]

In addition to FMLA the state provides additional time. Neither law requires pay, but last time I had a person off for maternity leave it was a total of 15 weeks. It can often result in a different assignment when the person returns, they cannot be let go but do not have to get the same assignment back.

[Sabinerose]

It has been my experience that maternity leave simply means that you will have a job to return to when you come back... it doesn't always mean you get paid while you are on leave. I would go so far as to say it rarely means you get paid while on maternity leave.

Not to be confused with short term disability that is offered by some companies and can be enacted post birth, and you DO get paid for a certain length of time.

[RVD90277]

i hesitated a bit before posting here because i don't really know so take this with a grain of salt. of course all companies allow leave under FMLA and other laws, etc. but for paid leave where it's a special perk that the company gives you...

amazon - not much. i think women get a few weeks or maybe a month or so. men get nothing.
microsoft - pretty good. women get 10 weeks, men get paternity (but not sure how much).
google - very good. women get 5 months, men get 7 weeks.
facebook - very good. both women and men get 4 months.

enjoy.

[mike62pp3]

From what I've seen, Microsoft seems to offer the best in the Seattle area. They offer 8 weeks of paid maternity leave and up to 12 unpaid weeks, for a total of 20 weeks. They also offer 4 weeks of paid paternity leave and up to 8 unpaid weeks, for a total of 12 weeks.