So, about policy.

The way my company works, they give Paid Time Off – PTO. 

You accrue PTO with every paycheck, so you are constantly building a bank of time-off.

You have to USE your PTO for any time you take time off of work.  This includes sick days, vacation days, doctors appointments, paid holidays – yes, that means on Christmas day, if it falls on a work day, the will use my PTO to pay me.

PTO is also supposed to be used for Maternity Leave. 

So lets just say that you are a young couple, about to get married, with plenty of PTO saved up, and no plans for having a baby in the immediate future.  Lets say you use all of your PTO at the time surrounding the wedding and your honeymoon.  Lets say that the time that elapses between your honeymoon and when your surprise pregnancy is near due is filled with lots of holidays and doctors appointments.  If that were the case, it might surprise you to find out that, near your due date, you only had about 10 hours of PTO banked – enough for approximately one day off of work.

I found out yesterday that I have absolutely no paid maternity leave provided for me.  None at all. 

Brock and I cannot afford to live single income.  I refuse to put my baby in daycare (especially at only a week or two old!)  My heart is just broken, so disappointed in this system, in this country, and the lack of help for working moms. 

Sometimes I wish I still lived in Canada.  I guess that could be arranged.

**** EDIT ****

I do need to add that the company does allow for UNPAID maternity leave – meaning I would be allowed to take up to 12 weeks off without pay.  The problem with this is I can’t afford to take even 4 weeks off without pay.  We need the income. 

So yes, they allow “maternity leave”.  They don’t have maternity benefits, or any system in place to help someone out in my position, where there is no PTO to speak of, and no disability or out of work coverage.