Woman Claims She Deserves Maternity Leave Even Though She Has No Kids

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

This is one of the things that employers love to exploit.

Taking people who really like a job and don't have the responsibility of children, or anything else along those lines, and using their love for a job as an excuse to pile loads of work on them.

Parental leave isn't a vacation though. Much like long term sick leave isn't a vacation. They are times when you are unable to work due to other responsibilities, because you are physically unable to work, or because working would have a negative effect on your recovery from illness or accident.

Parental leave without having children isn't the way to address a poor work/life balance though.
Agreed reasonable shifts/average hours per week and a decent number of vacation days are the way to do that.

My issue with it is simple. If Person A and B are being paid the same.. they should be preforming the same whether Person B has kids or not. If Person B is leaving early every day because they have kids, thus putting more work on Person A, Person C, etc... THAT is wrong. Its you're choice to have kids, and that shouldn't cause more work for others.

[Deleted]

anyone can belong to any political party they want but you would definitely call it discrimination if only republicans could get maternity leave would you not?

see in that case its unjustified discrimination because political affiliation has no real impact on what benefits are needed/deserved, basing maternity leave on having a child to care for simply moves it to justified discrimination.

It still isn't discrimination. If you get a leave because of a major event in your life that doesn't mean other people are being discriminated against. I get this feeling that you don't actually understand what discrimination means.

[klogaroth]

My issue with it is simple. If Person A and B are being paid the same.. they should be preforming the same whether Person B has kids or not. If Person B is leaving early every day because they have kids, thus putting more work on Person A, Person C, etc... THAT is wrong. Its you're choice to have kids, and that shouldn't cause more work for others.

It shouldn't, and that's down to management.

If you're paying all your staff let's say $30,000 then you should get $30,000 worth of work from them regardless of external factors. If they need dependants leave and so are unable to complete a full days work then that is deducted from their pay.
If someone else has to then cover that time then they should be paid overtime or be given time off in lieu. If the work can be caught up on without needing to do that then everything is fine.

Not handling dependants leave properly can and will result in everyone else thinking they have a license to take the piss.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

It shouldn't, and that's down to management.

If you're paying all your staff let's say $30,000 then you should get $30,000 worth of work from them regardless of external factors. If they need dependants leave and so are unable to complete a full days work then that is deducted from their pay.
If someone else has to then cover that time then they should be paid overtime or be given time off in lieu. If the work can be caught up on without needing to do that then everything is fine.

Not handling dependants leave properly can and will result in everyone else thinking they have a license to take the piss.

Yeah - but I doubt that will ever happen though. Can't you see a lawsuit occurring? A manager tells person B that they will be docked 10% of their salary because they leave earlier...

[klogaroth]

Yeah - but I doubt that will ever happen though. Can't you see a lawsuit occurring? A manager tells person B that they will be docked 10% of their salary because they leave earlier...

Not sure. Depends where.

I don't know the US laws on it, but in the UK you do not have the right to pay if you take dependants leave. Employers may choose to pay you, but they are not obligated to.

Get a decent schedule management system and there's plenty of deductions that can be made for people being late, dependants leave, all sorts of stuff.

Some things I can get behind your employer paying you for, but sometimes you just haven't completed the work that you signed a contract to do and it was a preventable situation. In those cases I believe the employer should have the right to pay you only for the hours you worked. They may choose to still pay you, but they shouldn't always be obligated to.

If someone else has to work overtime to cover the work then things stay neutral as far as the employer is concerned. Although high overtime usually indicates that you are understaffed.

[Canpinter]

It still isn't discrimination. If you get a leave because of a major event in your life that doesn't mean other people are being discriminated against. I get this feeling that you don't actually understand what discrimination means.

I get the feeling your defining discrimination as inherently bad rather then just treating two different groups differently which can be both bad or good depending on how you discrimination.

Here's and example of what I mean. Imagine you had 10 people 1 of whom is diabetic, and you have one insulin shot. Not discriminating would be to give 1/10th of the shot to everyone, discriminating would be to give the shot to the only person who actually needs and would benefit from it. Its discrimination but totally justified.

[Deleted]

I get the feeling your defining discrimination as inherently bad rather then just treating two different groups differently which can be both bad or good depending on how you discrimination.

There is no treating "two different groups differently", because it's individual. You, as an individual, get parental leave because you got a kid recently, either through birth or adoption.

Here's and example of what I mean. Imagine you had 10 people 1 of whom is diabetic, and you have one insulin shot. Not discriminating would be to give 1/10th of the shot to everyone, discriminating would be to give the shot to the only person who actually needs and would benefit from it. Its discrimination but totally justified.

This is not discrimination.

[Spiral Mage]

Okay, LOL! That picture is funny ..

But in all seriousness, [1] Isn't this vacation time? [2] She may have a point. [3] "To a lesser extent, men .." Fuck you lady. If I demanded something like this, I'd want it for everyone, not just my own gender. Go screw yourself.

I think a job having an "emergency" leave .. like, when you're just wound so tight, your nerves threaten to tear you apart, might not be a bad thing. Lotsa' people cave to that, some even haul off and kill themselves.

A break like that might not be bad.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Okay, LOL! That picture is funny ..

But in all seriousness, [1] Isn't this vacation time? [2] She may have a point. [3] "To a lesser extent, men .." Fuck you lady. If I demanded something like this, I'd want it for everyone, not just my own gender. Go screw yourself.

I think a job having an "emergency" leave .. like, when you're just wound so tight, your nerves threaten to tear you apart, might not be a bad thing. Lotsa' people cave to that, some even haul off and kill themselves.

A break like that might not be bad.

Isn't that what vacation is for?

[klogaroth]

I think the core issue, being one of those skiving Europeans, is that people in the US get screwed when it comes to the amount of vacation that they get.

That's what needs sorting, rather than giving people leave to fulfil responsibilities that they don't have.

[Nfinitii]

It's not even discrimination, everyone can take maternity leave, u just have to have a kid first.

Anyone who has kids understands what a fucktard this bitch is. When I had my daughter I took 3 unpaid days off to help my wife, then back to work, getting up 3-4 times a night, getting up early to go to work, then coming home to making dinner and taking care of my daughter so my wife can get a break. Then doing it all over, I love my daughter to death and would do it again in a heart beat, ffs.

This bitch wants "meternity" leaves b/c she didn't have a kid? I didn't even get maternity leave and I had a kid! Give me a break, this bitch can go fuck herself.

[Lysah]

People always get insane special treatment for having kids, as if it doing something literally everyone can do makes you special somehow. I would rather we stop treating breeders like royalty first.

[Canpinter]

There is no treating "two different groups differently", because it's individual. You, as an individual, get parental leave because you got a kid recently, either through birth or adoption.



This is not discrimination.

All groups are made of individuals, if only republicans could vote it would still be individuals that cast each vote. if you fulfill the criteria you get the benefit

Recently having a kid is part of your family status and earns you some benefits, that;s fine but it is still discrimination, simply justified discrimination.

[Deleted]

All groups are made of individuals, if only republicans could vote it would still be individuals that cast each vote. if you fulfill the criteria you get the benefit

Recently having a kid is part of your family status and earns you some benefits, that;s fine but it is still discrimination, simply justified discrimination.

Getting parental leave, based on the fact that you as an individual just got a kid, isn't discrimination in any manner no matter what you say.

[Canpinter]

Getting parental leave, based on the fact that you as an individual just got a kid, isn't discrimination in any manner no matter what you say.

why? because you say so? Discrimination is just treating two groups differently. group one is people who have not had a kid recently, group two is those that have. the second group gets a benefit and thus there is discrimination. now i will say again THIS IS NOT BAD discrimination can be perfectly fine depending on how it is done.

[Blazemoore]

Maternity leave isn't a vacation, it's time to allow the woman to heal after her vagina is literally torn open during childbirth, or even worse, her entire abdomen is cut open for a c-section. Women typically struggle to walk or stand for more than a few minutes for days or weeks after delivery, and will continue to bleed and cramp for weeks as their body contracts the womb back to a normal size. That's on top of the constant care of a newborn. No sleep, painful breast-feeding, etc. This woman's entire premise is a spit in the face of any mother.

As a man, I don't get maternity leave either. I'm fine with that, as I'm also thankful I don't have to endure a living creation rupturing forth from my nether-regions. I do get paternity leave, but I have to use my vacation time if I wish to be paid for that. I'm pretty sure this woman would have a similar option.

[Hiricine]

You know its interesting how in one of the MOST female dominated professions (nursing) this problem really doesn't exist. You generally get paid vacation hours, you can use them on maternity leave, sick time, or anything if you want to get paid while you're off. If you have a kid and don't have any vacation time, you can take 3 months off and not get paid. Its gender neutral, and the men have the same options, though of course for biological reasons are more able to return to work shortly after the birth of a child but generally don't.

The cases people are asking for more maternity leave and special privileges for women (and sometimes men) are generally in male oriented workplaces that happen to have women. If you want paid vacation when you have a kid you should have to skip the trip to the coast.

[Therec]

Sounds like there are some shitty companies out there if people with kids get all sorts of special treatment.

Here's how it works where i'm employed.

If a person has a kid, they get up to 3 months off of half-pay maternity leave. After that it is on them.

Everyone gets 1 week sick leave and 2 weeks vacation.

If your single, you get to use those sick days for colds, exhaustion, etc. You get to use the two weeks vacation for whatever you want.

If you have kids and your kid is sick, you can use sick time. If you run out of sick time you can use vacation time to take care of the kids. Out of both? Any work you miss you have to make up, either by working longer hours or working the weekend. Same thing goes for having to leave early to pick up the kids. If you dont make up the time you don't get paid for 40 hours.

You dont get a raise for having kids, you dont get extra vacation time. You get 3 months at half pay to sleep 4 hours a night (if lucky) and stress about every cough or slight fever. Then the next 16-18 years of time and money get to be split with your kids, rather than all on yourself. Have more than one kid, sure its another 3 monts of maternity, but say bye bye to even more money and free time for the next 16-18 years.

I listen to parents stress and panic all the time about their kids, whether it be not enough time or money. Being childless myself, I get to go out drinking with friends, buy what I want when I want, and my life is pretty much stress free. I do not envy people with kids for one second, and 3 months to take care of a newborn seems like a perfectly reasonable gesture for what comes the 18 years after.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Maternity leave isn't a vacation, it's time to allow the woman to heal after her vagina is literally torn open during childbirth, or even worse, her entire abdomen is cut open for a c-section. Women typically struggle to walk or stand for more than a few minutes for days or weeks after delivery, and will continue to bleed and cramp for weeks as their body contracts the womb back to a normal size. That's on top of the constant care of a newborn. No sleep, painful breast-feeding, etc. This woman's entire premise is a spit in the face of any mother.

As a man, I don't get maternity leave either. I'm fine with that, as I'm also thankful I don't have to endure a living creation rupturing forth from my nether-regions. I do get paternity leave, but I have to use my vacation time if I wish to be paid for that. I'm pretty sure this woman would have a similar option.

No one HAS to endure that.

[Blazemoore]

No one HAS to endure that.

Way to miss the point. Choice or not, it's required to birth a child. Point is, the woman is physically unable to work for much of the maternity leave period. Point is, most companies still require you to use vacation time or take the time off unpaid. Point is, there is normally no preferential treatment taking place. I'm sure the woman in the article has vacation time she can use for her "Me Time". If not, that is a larger discussion to be had.