how do maternity benefits work in USA?

[houseelf]

California has extended FMLA benefits to 6 months. Also, many progressive employers have done the same: Thomson and the State of Minnesota come to mind. Microsoft offers paid paternity leave of at least four weeks. With this being said all of the following are true:

-The employer only has to offer this if they have more than 50 employees;
-You only are entitled to this if you have been employed longer than one year, else it is considered a short term disability;
-You can be forced to take every shred of sick leave and vacation time resulting with a return to work with no safety net for the inevitable sick days that you will need.
-You aren't guaranteed the same job, just a similarly ranked position at similar pay.

Best of luck. We're in the dark ages on this topic here in America.

Kelly

[spotty_dog]

-You only are entitled to this if you have been employed longer than one year

I think this needs emphasis. I may have miraculously gotten hired at almost 6 months pregnant, but my employer isn't obligated to give me anything but the sick time I accrue between now and then. It's in their best interest to offer me some leave, but I'm not expecting them to offer more than about 6 or 8 weeks, unpaid.

I've signed up for short-term disability insurance, and I believe that it will pay 66% of my salary starting 31 days after I stop working on medical advice, and lasting probably until 6 weeks after the birth.