Diane suggests,

>  Then I thought, "and what if all the
> mothers going back explained sweetly that they wouldn't be able to come
> back
> for 7 weeks, not 6?"  They wouldn't get fired, most of them (and we'll let
> those who *would* get fired out of this); their employers would grouse,
> threaten, stomp their feet... and be forced to wait out the extra week.
> It's only 5 days, after all, but it's another precious 7 to the mom.
>
> Is it possible that we women could just take the bull by the horns and
> start
> lengthening these ridiculous "leaves" ourselves?  And after we've done 7
> weeks for a while, we start explaining that we just can't come back before
> 8.  At that point, we'd have added *33%* to our leaves pretty painlessly,
> and could round it utterly painlessly from "8 weeks" to "2 months".

While it is a wonderful idea in theory -- in practice, it will probably not
work.  Sigh.  I wish it would.  But for one thing, most mothers will tell you
that while they might get "sick leave" (read:  paid) for 6 weeks, they won't
for seven.  And if they tell their employer they are going to be gone for 7
weeks, if the facility is under 50 employees (not subject to the family leave
act), the employer doesn't have to keep their job.  And if it is over 50
employees, then the employer doesn't have to save THEIR job -- just one that
is similar.  Meaning if I'm a mother-baby nurse on the day shift, then I
might have to switch to cardiac care on nights if I take the 12 weeks family
leave.

So it gets a bit sticky.

Of course, they could all have my husband for a boss who recommends to all
his pregnant employees that they not come back at all, and if they are still
waffling about coming back at 6 weeks, they go for the 12, and still waffling
then, they shouldn't come back at all.  He wants them all to stay home and
breastfeed their babies....and doesn't hesitate to tell them that.  If they
insist on coming back to work, he makes sure they have a good pump and time
to pump during the day.

He's a wonderful boss.

Of course, if he were any less, I'd shoot his kneecaps out......

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC
Lactation Education Consultants, Wheaton IL
www.lactationeducationconsultants.com

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html