#1785: Duhddie taking FMLA

What's the deal with that? Is the loaf newly hatched? Did HE shit out the loaf? (I'd pay good money to see THAT!) Why does he need 8 weeks off anyway? Can he take paid time off any time he wants, just because his dick works?

Cebusta, how would your company treat a CF worker who needed to use the FMLA. I have read some horror stories on some CF boards about CF people who needed the leave to care for an ADULT immediate family member who was ill, and couldn't get it.

We are lucky. Catdaddy was recently in the hospital, and had used up all of his sick and vacation time due to the illness (congestive heart failure) that landed him in hospital. He was in hospital for eight days, and the doctors said he needed to stay home from work for an additional two weeks. Today is his first day back.

But his company has been great. They really stepped up to the plate, and told him right off that bat that he was not only covered by FMLA, but also the company's short-term disability insurance. He received 100% of his pay for the time he was out. All that needed to be done for them to start paying was a fax from the doctor saying that he'd been admitted to hospital, and I was able to make sure that this was done.

The company offers this for moo leave, as well. This sort of annoys me, as repugnancy is a LIFE CHOICE, NOT AN ILLNESS. But as long as they don't discriminate against sick CF people, I really can't complain.

I saw NOTHING in the paperwork about duhd leave, though. Not even at 60% pay. I think they have to allow duhd leave, and hold his job for the 13 weeks or whatever, but I didn't think it necessarily had to be with pay.

My opinion is that the duhd should not be paid ANYTHING, unless preggo moo has some sort of medical condition that would require him to care for her. Otherwise, I see no reason why he can't just take some vacation days to be at the hospital with moo gives birth, and then go back to work once moo and loaf are back home and settled in.

I'm glad to hear that catmommy9. The LAST thing anyone needs when they are ill is to have financial woes.

I agree, breeding is a life choice, not an illness. Maternity/Paternity leave costs companies more money a year than you can imagine.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think it's great that the Act allows for paternity leave, because why should the burden of childcare always be on the mother? There have been many rants here in the past about men who don't take an active role in the raising and care of their own children, but instead dump the "c*untwork" on the child's mother. I do applaud this guy for pitching in, if that's really what he's going to be doing on his time off.

But on the other hand, if he is abusing the system in order to get a long paid vacation, that would piss me off to no end.

I hate FMLA, it is the most abused policy in my office. Breeders are the biggest abusers too, imagine that.

I think parental FMLA is bullshit & he's abusing the system. The way I see it is: if he can afford the 40% cut for 2 mos, he'll take it-whether he's really needed at home or not.

What the he'll would he be doing to help at home, anyway? Putting together a crib takes an hour and then he'll be calling his friends & getting congratulated during the commercials of the sporting event he's watching.

Either that or sitting on line. And so what if he's off for 8 weeks anyway, there's still 20 years to deal with where he'll be doing 90% of the above. Evey single preggo moo I've ever known was still stuck cooking & cleaning around the man even when he was home during that time.

My company lumps maternal leave in with sick leave too, but the big difference is I or a close family member would have to get SICK for me to take it. What the hell kind of leaky crock is that? Why do CF'ers need a sickness as a reason to take a leave? We allready complain that parunts do less work overall when they ARE at work. Why can't I go on leave to go help in a disaster or something- or just b/c I wanted to?

I've been here 5 years & allready 3 moos who've been here under 1.5 years have gotten pregnant & used FMLA. No fucking way is that fair.

If I had a company, each employee would get the choice of taking a leave for whatever the hell they wanted. I wouldn't care if they used it to smoke pot, drink and screw for 8 weeks straight- it's none of my business and it's their decision. AAMOF, if they DID smoke pot and screw for 8 weeks, they'd come back a hell of alot happier & more productive than the parunts would. Sorry for the long post but this just chaps my ass beet red.

Catdaddy was entitled to something like 12-13 weeks of paid short term disability. He COULD have been an asshole and told the doctors that he was *too sick* to return to work, and got them to sign off on a later return-to-work date.

As it was, he was hoping to go back to work a week ago. But he was not allowed to, as the rules for the STD insurance require a note from the doc saying WHEN it is okay for him to go back. The doctor felt that he needed the extra week, and he got it.

We are forever grateful that this leave thing exists, as it's saved us from a shitload of financial worries. But on the other hand, we don't want to abuse it. We took what we are reasonably entitled to, and that is it.

Catdaddy is very happy to be back on the job, BTW. He was bored shitless sitting at home all day, when he wasn't even feeling sick.