I am very lucky. I will get 6-8 weeks of paid sick leave after having my baby and 12 weeks of paid parental leave guaranteed. I also just hit 15 years at my job which means I’m now making a ridiculous amount of annual leave for the US- about 5 weeks. I didn’t use much leave during the beginning of the pandemic so rolled over the maximum amount of leave going into the new year-240 hrs or 6 weeks of leave. I found out in February that I was pregnant so I started saving my leave so I could use as much as possible to add to my maternity leave. I’ve used almost no annual leave this year so asked to use the 5 weeks I accrued this year, and will lose if I don’t get to use them, and then most of the leave I accrue during my parental leave once that is up.
My boss said no. Her response was that 3 weeks is the max anyone gets approved. So I would have to use 2 weeks before the baby even arrives and lose 2 weeks on the end. Which shortens my overall maternity leave by a month. Well that didn’t sit well with me so I decided to file a grievance with my union. The union tried informal negotiations and got spun a load of horse shit about end of year leave requests (newsflash: it doesn’t matter if I’m out on parental leave or annual leave- I’m not going to be there during the holidays).
Yesterday the union submitted a formal grievance, but I was also admitted to the hospital for monitoring after a worrying ultrasound. I’m only 30 weeks and they’ve already told me that I’ll be here until the baby comes, which will hopefully be closer to 4 weeks. I’m writing this from my hospital room after being woken up for vitals, blood sugar, and a quick monitor of the baby. I know it’s a ridiculously privileged place to be coming from but I’m so mad I might have to end up using my annual leave instead of sick leave. Woohoo- two weeks alone in a hospital room! My ideal vacation. One of the reasons I’ve stuck with this job is for the benefits. What is the point of toiling away for 15 years at the same place if I can’t use the leave I’m given for it’s intended purpose? While my wife and I will likely have another kid, I will never have another kid. This pregnancy has been so hard already and is only getting harder. I shouldn’t be forced to use my annual leave as sick time when I have more than enough sick time to cover it.