[koalasong]

I have a question regarding benefits. I know when I had my two biological children, I received temporary disability payments from our state for maternity leave. I understand that employers must given 12 weeks of leave. But my employer does not offer any adoption benefits. I am wondering if the government has anything like TDI for adoptive parents or if we must just use vacation time and personal savings as I will obviously not have a paycheck coming in during those 12 weeks and I certainly want to be able to take them all to stay home with our little girl. Does anyone know?

[Sheba]

Employers must give you FMLA but do not have to pay you for the time off. When you have bio children there is a medical reason for being off but when you adopt, you are still healthy in their eyes. I took time off with my 3 bio children and am with this adoption but will have to use my vacation time or not get paid. And not getting paid is not optional for more than 2 weeks for us right now. But I requested flex time for a month and they agreed to that as well. So for about 6 weeks she will be with one or both of her parents before the transition into daycare with her sisters.

Julie
lid 2/23/05 Kennedy

[bthomas9500]

I think it might be different, depending on what state you live in. Here in Georgia, the only thing we're eligible for is up to $2000 reimbursement on non-recurring adoption expenses. Other state have provisions like this, but I'm not sure which, exactly. The Georgia reimbursement is only for international adoptions when the child is determined to be special needs.

Another option is to petition your employer to add adoption benefits to their benefits package. I was quite successful in my attempts and ended up assisting in the passage of a sizeable reimbursement on adoption expenses (no paid time off, but I'd rather have the cash reimbursement for tax purposes!)

Under FMLA your employer is required to give you up to 12 weeks off in the year following the birth or adoption of a child, IF they and you meet certain requirements (length of employment and size of your company being the biggest factors).

Maybe you could say what state you're in and you might be able to get more specific help!

Interesting your state offers TDI for maternity leave, Georgia has nothing like that. Perhaps your state is progressive enough to have something for adoptions as well? Your county Department of Human Resources should be able to help you as well.

Good luck!

Brandy

[Sheba]

I live in Michigan and they offer no help for adoption and they offer hardly if any reimbursement on your taxes. I think it is 1200 on your year end taxes but nothing while off. Also my employer does not offer and will not include adotion benefits because benefits are already getting sky high here.

Good point to check your state. I know the FMLA is a federal act though and you can take it off without penalty, they just do not have to pay you.

Julie
lid 2/23/05 Kennedy

[Ready2bparents]

I live in Florida and one of my co-workers was able to take maternity leave when she adopted her son. I'm not sure if it was our company policy (I work for national publicly traded company that give $5,000 adoption assistance)

I would think that we would have the same rights as any parent and would be prepared to fight the system if necessary.

[soontobethree]

It is my understanding that adoptive families receive FMLA the same as biological child births. Your employer is never required to pay you for it, they are just required to let you have 12 weeks off. This is a federal thing so there should be no difference state-by-state unless of course the state is more generous.

Hooray for companies that reimburse for adoption expenses! I'm sure their insurance premiums are lower because you have not incurred any pregnancy related expenses.

Melanie

[Crackerjack]

Just remember that FMLA only applies to companies with 50 or more employees....so if you work for a really small employer, they do not have to give you the 12 weeks.

CJ

[jasonsmom]

I think CA is the only state that offers adoption benefits for everyone. I'm a teacher in MA. I am allowed under our contract to take off 2 years. However, it is totally unpaid. Teachers, at least in my system, get paid for 180 days of work; we do not get paid vacation time and we aren't allowed to use sick time for adoption since we're not sick. If the baby has developmental delays, which is common for institutionalized children, I may be able to get my 5 family sick days paid but that will be all.
Our agency requires one of us to take off 2 months. We will probably be traveling either April or May; I'm hoping for May since it would mean I have to take off less time before the end of the school year when I'll get off July and most of August.
Paula

[twoinblue]

I was a little upset that I could not use sick leave for FMLA. My agency allows a father to use sick time when a child is born. I had assumed it would be the same for adoption but not so. I intend to take my child immediately to the doctor when we get home and have him write us a note so we can use some sick time.

[jasonsmom]

Originally Posted by twoinblue

I was a little upset that I could not use sick leave for FMLA. My agency allows a father to use sick time when a child is born. I had assumed it would be the same for adoption but not so. I intend to take my child immediately to the doctor when we get home and have him write us a note so we can use some sick time.

Our teacher contract allows WOMEN to take off 2 years if desired; it makes no provision at all for men although since we have over 50 employees I assume they'd qualify for FMLA. So far this matter has never been raised at work but it'll be interesting if it ever is.

Paula

[twoinblue]

Yes, but I think you are assuming as I incorrectly did that FMLA is the same as sick time. I am authorized up to 2 months FMLA the same as maternity leave but because it is an adoption, I have to use vacation time.

[MissyAmomChina]

Hi,


Just wanted to toss out a solution we came up with. We wanted to maximize our time home with our daughter and not to take our leave at the same time. This became tricky. What eventually worked for us was accessing FMLA not for the adoption, but for the delays our daughter had from being in the orphanage.
Lilianna had the very expected and typical delays for a child who spent 1 year in an orphanage. She was evaluated at our local children's hospital international adoption clinic. Her gross motor delays qualified for physical therapy and the doctors and physical therapist were very willing to help us access FMLA. They shared that this was something that they do often for families.

I know not everyone agrees with accessing EI or using FMLA this way. However, I did want everyone to know it may be an option.

Take care,
Melissa