Things I Don't "Get"

[lawdog77]

In France, there are damages available for.either side, but in practical terms most settle.

[rocket surgeon]

Typical Boomer selfishness

i just had a guy ask for 6 weeks paternity/maternity leave...he's a whatever ya call 'em with a capital "M", but times sure have a changed. 

[ZiggysFryBoy]

i just had a guy ask for 6 weeks paternity/maternity leave...he's a whatever ya call 'em with a capital "M", but times sure have a changed.

DiD tHaT gUy WaNt To ShAvE hIS HeAd ToO?

[jesmu84]

i just had a guy ask for 6 weeks paternity/maternity leave...he's a whatever ya call 'em with a capital "M", but times sure have a changed.

How do you handle that? Allow him the time off? Disagree with the notion of time off for dad?

[Pakuni]

It would make driving 100% safer that's for sure. People actually following the rules of the road rather than thinking the world revolves around me - novel concept.

And the trains would run on time.

[Dr. Blackheart]

And the trains would run on time.

In Italy...

[rocket surgeon]

How do you handle that? Allow him the time off? Disagree with the notion of time off for dad?

   i guess i didn't make myself clear-yeah, he wanted that too!  i'm not sure if you're up to speed there jes my man, they want their cake man.  you ought to try being a boss sometime...good luck

[rocket surgeon]

DiD tHaT gUy WaNt To ShAvE hIS HeAd ToO?

no, just a mohawk dyed pink if he had a girl and blue for a little dude

[Cheeks]

Typical Boomer selfishness

The job has to get done and they know it.  They have dreams and families, too.

[Cheeks]

Must have been one hell of a company party 9 months ago

Overlaps.  Some have been out only a few weeks, others 3 months.  One woman almost a year on LTD.

[Cheeks]

That is just a lack of planning and poor management. I have been making arrangements with teammates for 5+ months. Everyone is incredibly supportive and excited for me. I have heard zero resentment, and the majority of my coworkers are in their 40s and 50s. I am splitting it up into 4 weeks right away and another 4 weeks after my wife goes back to work next summer. I have committed to checking in on email every day or two and calling in to our weekly team meeting. I think that is a fair compromise.

People take leave all the time. My boss was out for 6 weeks after back surgery. Another woman had breast cancer and was intermittently out for weeks at a time during heavy chemo sessions for years. Someone else needed 3 weeks to grieve after losing a spouse. Life happens. If management can't adapt, that is on them.

And MU82, it was absolutely one of the major reasons I came here, along with total compensation. We are just starting a family. I was determined to find a job that would let me be the kind of dad I want to be.

Not my dept as I stated, but when you are in a sector that is downsizing already, contract help and other options are not tenable.  My point was the work still has to get done and with less resources means more burden on them if alt employment help is not available.  Right?

[real chili 83]

I get 8 weeks. Paid 100%. It was a big part of why I chose to work for this company

The free market in the USA is starting to catch up to practices in the rest of the world. More and more companies are adding this benefit. It is a good development, I think.

Um, how do you define "more and more"?

Hundreds, thousands? Or two or three at a time? 

[buckchuckler]

It would make driving 100% safer that's for sure. People actually following the rules of the road rather than thinking the world revolves around me - novel concept.

Well, as long as you had blue eyes and blond hair.

[rocket surgeon]

Well, as long as you had blue eyes and blond hair.

   ...and big'uns eyn'a?

[jesmu84]

   i guess i didn't make myself clear-yeah, he wanted that too!  i'm not sure if you're up to speed there jes my man, they want their cake man.  you ought to try being a boss sometime...good luck

Maybe I misunderstood.

I thought you were saying a male employee of yours asked for 6 weeks paternity leave.

I was interested, if that was the situation, whether you granted it

I was also interested on your opinion of maternity/paternity leave in general.

[rocket surgeon]

Maybe I misunderstood.

I thought you were saying a male employee of yours asked for 6 weeks paternity leave.

I was interested, if that was the situation, whether you granted it

I was also interested on your opinion of maternity/paternity leave in general.

it was a male, it was one of the questions he had during an interview.  i offer paid time off (PTO).  they can use it for whatever they want.  for this particular position however, it was a salaried position with a draw against collected production.  also, i am not a business of 50 or more and typically employees must have worked 12 months to be eligible.  so in my situation,  i need to know if and when this employee would be taking an extended leave as we usually have patients booked out a few weeks in advance.  if they want to continue to draw a salary, they will need to earn it back anyway. 

[jesmu84]

it was a male, it was one of the questions he had during an interview.  i offer paid time off (PTO).  they can use it for whatever they want.  for this particular position however, it was a salaried position with a draw against collected production.  also, i am not a business of 50 or more and typically employees must have worked 12 months to be eligible.  so in my situation,  i need to know if and when this employee would be taking an extended leave as we usually have patients booked out a few weeks in advance.  if they want to continue to draw a salary, they will need to earn it back anyway.

Thanks for the info. Appreciate the clarification

[lawdog77]

Overlaps.  Some have been out only a few weeks, others 3 months.  One woman almost a year on LTD.

Sounds more like FMLA, not maternity/paternity leave.  It should be unpaid, as well as private

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Im taking 8 weeks paternity leave when my younging comes in January. Looking forward to it.

[UWW2MU]

My last employer had 6 weeks of 100% paid paternity leave.  They later reduced it to 60% pay.  Last I heard, they eliminated it when "Aligning benefits" with the company they merged with (aka, stripped all the great benefits they had).

Between their paternity leave policy and generous tuition reimbursement (12k a year to pay for my MU MBA), it kept me at the company for 9 years.  If not for those benefits, I would have left in the 3-4 year range. The institutional knowledge, experience, and efficiencies maintained through that 9 years, plus the fact they didn't need to hire an train a replacement or replacements, saved the company far more than it cost.  It was a win-win.

Unfortunately, short sighted bean counters fail to see that sort of thing.  With the reduced benefits they'll miss out on hiring or retaining some great people.

[rocket surgeon]

My last employer had 6 weeks of 100% paid paternity leave.  They later reduced it to 60% pay.  Last I heard, they eliminated it when "Aligning benefits" with the company they merged with (aka, stripped all the great benefits they had).

Between their paternity leave policy and generous tuition reimbursement (12k a year to pay for my MU MBA), it kept me at the company for 9 years.  If not for those benefits, I would have left in the 3-4 year range. The institutional knowledge, experience, and efficiencies maintained through that 9 years, plus the fact they didn't need to hire an train a replacement or replacements, saved the company far more than it cost.  It was a win-win.

Unfortunately, short sighted bean counters fail to see that sort of thing.  With the reduced benefits they'll miss out on hiring or retaining some great people.

if the company is still in business, they must know what they are doing. if they scaled back their benefits programs, they ceased being cost effective.  i've met a lot of people who have never written a paycheck, much less run a business, claim they know better.  give it a try sometime.  if there are other companies offering similar benefits that your company eliminated, go get it and good luck on ya.  short sighted "bean counters" are usually unemployed "bean counters".

[skianth16]

if the company is still in business, they must know what they are doing. if they scaled back their benefits programs, they ceased being cost effective.  i've met a lot of people who have never written a paycheck, much less run a business, claim they know better.  give it a try sometime.  if there are other companies offering similar benefits that your company eliminated, go get it and good luck on ya.  short sighted "bean counters" are usually unemployed "bean counters".

In general, I'd agree with this. I worked in the M&A field for a while and talked with lots of bosses about compensation and benefits. From my experience, there wasn't necessarily a better or worse way to approach this from a corporate perspective, but I will say that management tends to be much more in tune to the value of benefits than most employees would think.

At a personal level, it sucks that there are numbers attached to things like health care and parental leave, but it's a very real and necessary thing for companies to consider. Contrary to general opinion, me experience was that most employers truly wanted to offer as much as possible to employees. I heard many C-suiters talk about wanting to offer the best benefits they could in their area and/or field but struggling to do so given the rising costs.

[mu03eng]

The irony of this debate is that people are saying a paternity policy would lead to discrimination against men of child bearing age....they are correct and we know this because that's what is happening to women of child bearing age! And guess what, if companies start discriminating against child bearing age people of both genders they are going to rapidly run out of work force plus all the remaining work force wont be out on leave but likely have kids they have to take time for.

Companies can absorb all of this if they are forward thinking and employee centric. But either a lot more reform is necessary to level the playing field for women and to change the cultural expectation to one where men are equal care givers to women

[Hards Alumni]

if the company is still in business, they must know what they are doing. if they scaled back their benefits programs, they ceased being cost effective.  i've met a lot of people who have never written a paycheck, much less run a business, claim they know better.  give it a try sometime.  if there are other companies offering similar benefits that your company eliminated, go get it and good luck on ya.  short sighted "bean counters" are usually unemployed "bean counters".

Maybe.  Or they were told they had to raise profits to meet stock holders unreasonable demands.  Short sighted dividends traded for quality workers isn't something that is noticed immediately, but is certainly noticed in the years ahead.

[Cheeks]

The irony of this debate is that people are saying a paternity policy would lead to discrimination against men of child bearing age....they are correct and we know this because that's what is happening to women of child bearing age! And guess what, if companies start discriminating against child bearing age people of both genders they are going to rapidly run out of work force plus all the remaining work force wont be out on leave but likely have kids they have to take time for.

Companies can absorb all of this if they are forward thinking and employee centric. But either a lot more reform is necessary to level the playing field for women and to change the cultural expectation to one where men are equal care givers to women

When you compete internationally and those other nations have fewer benefits, higher productivity, etc, and consumers ultimately want cheap and fast, it makes it very difficult.