Hey all,
So we're expecting our second in Feb 2017 and I'm trying to think through how we're going to do things at home. I'm WFH full-time which is a huge plus already but with a newborn and 1.5yr old, it'll still be rough I think. My employer has a parental leave policy where the primary caregiver of a newborn is allowed up to 16 weeks of fully paid time and job protection that adds 4 weeks on top of FMLA (I'm in CA so it would be 55% Paid Family Leave + 45% paid by my work).
If you're not the primary caregiver you're allowed up to 4 weeks of fully paid time and can use those 4 weeks within a 6mo period (but they have to be used consecutively). I can take more time accordingly but at partial pay (for an additional 2 weeks via PFL) and up to 6 more weeks of unpaid leave (or supplemented w/ PTO) which is protected by FMLA.
The definition of "primary caregiver" is pretty loose but it's basically you giving your word that you'll be the one 'primarily' caring for the newborn during the period of time the benefit allows.
I was thinking that if I file as the primary caregiver, it would help out my wife a lot. Especially because we don't have family really close or want to put our 1.5 yr old in daycare or with a nanny and incur added expenses. The potential issue here is the strain it would put on my coworkers. From March-June, I think it would get pretty busy for our group as there are some high-vis things going on in the org. I did express these concerns with my manager and he seemed to passively indicate that taking 16 weeks off would definitely be hard for the team... the other thing about the policy is that they don't let you take incremental time, so if I'm the primary caregiver, the clock starts ticking from day one until 16 weeks later. If I return to work before that, I forfeit the remaining time.
Even if I go 8-12 weeks and forfeit 8 to 4 weeks that seems like it would still be viable but I still don't know what impacts that would leave on the group. We're a relatively small team where I have one true counterpart and a couple others who can step up but would be pulled from other resources. The work isn't the most engaging or stressful work, so the other part of me thinks it would probably be fine. But knowing this I'd be gone during a generally busier time of year still concerns me a little, and I think this is also what concerns my manager.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Just stick with the 4 weeks of leave and take those whenever it's the most "convenient" for my group? I don't want to underestimate how difficult it can and will be with a new addition where we already have a young toddler to deal and very little extra help. Like I mentioned, since I'm at home, it's a nice benefit where I can help out with little things here and there. But once the days come of sleepless nights, I think it's going to be very rough trying to WFH. I'm also wondering if my boss would unofficially allow for 'flex time' where I can just work during whatever hours work best for me, etc. Already, all of my team is 3 hours ahead on the East Coast, and I go from 8am-5pm so it's not like there's pressing need to be present exactly at the same time all the time. I didn't propose that but subtly asked a question of if there are other options... he said we would talk about it more.
