When is the best time to inform my boss of our plan to have me stay home after baby?

Question

Having a tough time deciding when to do this. I want to make sure everything ends on good terms incase I ever need to go back. So obviously I want to give as much notice as possible. But here are my concerns: I am 28 weeks and need to work until baby arrives..

I fear if I tell her too soon that two things might happen.. 1. she finds a replacement too quickly and i cant work through to october  2. She lets me continue working.. but no longer wants to be accommodating for my doc appts.

If I wait, and tell her closer to due date.. I dont want her to be offended she didnt get more notice

If I wait until I am on maternity leave.. she will really be upset and I will have burnt that bridge for no possible return if needed

Answer

If maternity leave is paid be careful leaving and not coming back

Answer

I'm going to take maternity leave them come back and work for a short time and give my 2 weeks then.    I'm doing this because of my health insurance.

Answer

I would actually talk with a lawyer just a consultation or read your paperwork about the maternity leave. If you give notice would you give up your maternity leave. If so wait until maternity leave is started to give notice of not returning. They have to replace you for maternity leave either way so I doubt it would be a big deal to wait until maternity leave starts. Read the paperwork and make sure you are covered before you tell anyone anything. You don't want to be screwed out of your benefits just for telling too early.

Answer

It's a slippery slope...I personally would wait as long as possible, only because I made the mistake of telling my boss I was pregnant at 5 weeks because I thought I could trust her and all of my employees and started discussing staying home once baby is here, I was then blindsided with being "let go" because I wasn't hitting my "revenue goals" which is a joke. Come to find out after I left, one of the employees there I became close with showed me text messages from my boss saying she didn't believe I was actually pregnant and that I could still be fired even though I announced it to everyone. The whole situation put me in a tough position because getting a job pregnant is nearly impossible, I've been trying for almost 5 months with no luck :/ So my point is you think you can trust someone, especially your boss in a professional atmosphere but that's not always the case.

Answer

I'm in same boat. I'm waiting cuz I'm afraid they'll pull my short term disability. I hinted that I may be reducing hours once baby comes but that until that comes I'm not sure what I'll want. So that way they kinda know but don't ?

Answer

Not really a maternity leave.. as they dont offer one.   More of taking my own time off.. unpaid.    When she told me about the no maternity leave back in March she also mentioned I may only get part time when I return. And understood if we had to weigh our options. She asked me tolet her know if I planned to stay home. At the time I had no plan for it. But now we do.. as the cost of childcare would take up too much of my paycheck.  I just want to do this on good terms. Incase we cant make it on one paycheck.  But I dont want to screw myself by telling her too soon and being out of work.. or her not wanting to cover appts since I wont be staying.

Answer

Basically if I returned FULL TIME I make roughly 1400/month.    after the cost of child care my take home pay would only be 800/month. Not including the cost of disposable diapers  for the daycare.  (I plan on cloth diapering since I will be home).  Soo maybe 700/month after that.  And that is with working long days 5 days a week. If i work part time i basically pay a sitter to work.. and bring home next to nothing.   The plan instead will be for hubby to pick up 10 hours of overtime each week.. and my cousin would like me to babysit .. so I will still make some money doing that.   Hope it all works, makes me nervous.

Answer

Legally they can't fire you because you're pregnant. I think you sooner you tell them of your intentions the more understanding they will be.

Answer

I would tell her you're wanting to take more time off after the baby and thinking of maybe staying more at home that was if she needs to hire and train someone else they have time to do so.

Answer

If you want to end things on good terms then she deserves to hire a replacement you can train. It could take weeks or longer to find and weeks to train. You could offer to be available while put to answer questions or work something out to do some part time work later on if needed. But if you leave her high and dry you risk destroying any trust she has in you professionally.

When is the best time to inform my boss of our plan to have me stay home after baby?

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