Have You Ever Seen a Good HR Department?

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Clarissa

February 13, 2013

The HR department insists that a pregnant colleague will not get a single day of her maternity leave before her due date. Keeping in mind that due dates are always approximate, this puts her in danger of going into labor right in the classroom. I’m sure the HR department sees some educational value in a professor’s waters breaking in front of students, but I’m not sure what it is. I also have no idea why one of the six weeks of the paid maternity leave cannot be taken before the due date.

HR departments suck something fierce everywhere. Ours, for instance, is really horrible.

But hey, at least my colleague gets those six weeks. Her husband will not get a single day off work for the birth of his child.

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12 responses to “Have You Ever Seen a Good HR Department?”

David Gendron

February 13, 2013

No

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  February 13, 2013
  
  I rest my case. 🙂
  
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  1. David Gendron
    
    February 13, 2013
    
    But yours seems completely idiotic.
    
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    1. bloggerclarissa
      
      February 13, 2013
      
      After they threatened every faculty member and the Dean with firing us all and then said they issued the threat just to try it out, I’m not surprised at anything they do.
      
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Sarah

February 13, 2013

Goodness, how harsh. What if the baby is in danger of arriving on the early side? Here, a doctor can prescribe sick leave before maternity leave kicks in (4 weeks before the due date – this is France…) if the baby is in distress. Does that happen in the US too?

I must say, France is a really cool place to have babies and kids. It might cost a fortune in taxes, but the care is fantastic, and really appreciated (by me anyway)!

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  February 13, 2013
  
  “Here, a doctor can prescribe sick leave before maternity leave kicks in (4 weeks before the due date – this is France…) if the baby is in distress. Does that happen in the US too?”
  
  – This is a good question. Does anybody know? I’d really be interested in knowing this.
  
  “Here, a doctor can prescribe sick leave before maternity leave kicks in (4 weeks before the due date – this is France…) if the baby is in distress. Does that happen in the US too?”
  
  – Unlike the US where the policies are beyond barbaric. Is there paternal leave in France?
  
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  1. Sarah
    
    February 13, 2013
    
    There is for salaried employees, a total of 14 days to be taken within 4 months after the birth. My ex-h (a doc) wasn’t interested in taking it (too busy, as ever…).
    
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    1. bloggerclarissa
      
      February 13, 2013
      
      14 days is something!
      
      I have to say that I simply can’t understand anybody who’d refuse this. These are very mysterious people. I’m not saying they are bad or anything. Just completely mysterious.
      
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Broadsnark (@Broadsnark)

February 13, 2013

No. I have never seen one. And I say this as someone who has actually worked in HR for many years.

Re the doctor being able to prescribe sick leave before maternity starting – The rules vary from state to state. Some states, like NY and CA, have pregnancy/disability leave. Most doctors in those states will say their clients are pregnancy disabled at some point prior to birth. (Ridiculous terminology, but nevertheless.)

In states where they have no maternity or paternity leave laws, federal law would apply. That is FMLA and is for orgs with 50 or more employees within a certain radius. Thankfully, I work for a nonprofit that has very generous policies and I have not had to deal with FMLA. But I have never heard of anyone forcing a person to only take leave after a baby is born. The only requirement I am aware of is that employees provide 30 days notice if possible

Click to access whdfs28e.pdf

Those orgs not subject to state laws or FMLA can pretty much make up any policy they want.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  February 13, 2013
  
  “No. I have never seen one. And I say this as someone who has actually worked in HR for many years.”
  
  – 🙂 🙂 🙂
  
  “Those orgs not subject to state laws or FMLA can pretty much make up any policy they want.”
  
  – Ours is a state university, so there is hope, I guess.
  
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Guess Who This Is

February 14, 2013

Ha, nope. At my work, when I asked for an accomodation for my epilepsy, HR insisted they got to decide what a “reasonable accomodation” was. Needless to say, they didn’t think it was “reasonable” to stop the thing that was triggering my epilepsy and rendering me completely incapable of doing my job. They did think, however, that buying me an eye patch to wear at work was totally reasonable.

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Adam Lawson

February 28, 2013

No.

And can I add “financial aid department” to the list of generally sucky departments? (I graduated years ago but still remember *that* mess.)

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