[kimbo17]

Okay this is such a messed up situation I just want to see if anyone has heard this from their current/past employers.

The Situation: I took my full FMLA, which at my company is 12 weeks of leave for the birth or adoption of a child. We are required to take all of our banked leave first then go on leave without pay. I had enough annual leave and sick leave to cover 12 weeks. I submit it and today just got called from HR saying I can't take the sick leave since I didn't actually birth the child!!! If I had birthed the child then I would be sick and would get a doctors note.

Anyone ever heard of this? I looked in the FMLA handbook and it does not state this anywhere?!

In my opinion sick can also mean mental stress, anguish, etc. Might not necessarily mean I have the flu.

Someday in my spare time I want to lobby congress to get more rights and reform for adopting parents. We need higher tax deductions, leave benefits, and a lot of laws written on the domestic side of adoption......anyone want to join me?!

[WVUMom418]

I was told the same thing in 2005 when we brought Mia home and HR has informed me of the same thing again in preparing for brining Angie home.

[Smokey_Kat]

This is also the case at my job. I can't use sick pay, only vacation. Another adoptive parent who works with me told me about this little wrinkle. It's not stated clearly in the policy and I had to get clarification from HR.

[guatmama2b]

I would love to join you! I am currently in the same situation... only about halfway through my unpaid FMLA leave

My company said and I did later find it in our policies, that your sick time is for YOU and only you--the employee. You can use your sick time under FMLA if you, your spouse, child, or other immediate family member is sick, but not for an adoption. The theory is that becuase you didn't give birth, you have no physical reason that you cannot work. I would bet that the only way to really fight it would be to get a note from a Dr saying that because of x y or z (ex. anxiety disorder brought on by stress of adoption) that you are physically unable to work. In that case, they would probably have to approve your leave and if not, you would at least have a legal argument.

Good luck!

[2xaround]

Yes, that is the response most employers give. The sick leave offered to woman after giving birth is there because her body is healing. Some woman have complications that require them to take sick leave earlier in their pregnancies and then go on disability when that time runs out. Companies offer sick leave to cover time off for medical related conditions and adoption is not considered a medical related condition.

I think many people feel that they offer that time to allow mom's time with their babies, but 6 weeks for a v-delivery and 8 weeks for a c-section are considered the normal recouping time a woman needs after birth.

It would certainly be nice if all companies offered a bonding and attachment benefit, but unfortunately they don't.

[dac_cincy]

I sent you a PM

[JustBarbara]

Yup, same here - though my company gives 13 weeks FMLA - I used saved comp time (1 week - the max), saved vacation over two years (6 weeks) and took the rest unpaid. Yes, it would be 'nice' if they gave us paid time off but I can only imagine the uproar from those who don't have children about adoptive parents using sick leave. Hmmm - we ARE allowed to use up to 12 sick days for a sick child - and given that my child was sick for a week while I was on leave I guess I could have filed out the paperwork etc. but really I was too busy groveling for 6 weeks to get a four-day week when I came back to work (now, that made me sick!).

From an objective viewpoint I can understand it because we are not sick and we are not recuperating from childbirth but ...

[hol332]

Same issue with me. I get zero unpaid leave for this adoption. I'll do a combo of unpaid FMLA and the vacation days I have left this year and next.

[Hopeadopt]

I have heard the same thing sadly when I looked into it. I wish the US would do what they do in the UK and Canada, 9 months parental leave for adopters PAID!
I wish there was a stronger movement to lobby the Government!
Best wishes!

[hopeful4baby]

My company is allowing me to use sick time. 6 weeks is what they allow mothers who birth and that is what they will allow me as well--the first employee ever to adopt. But my company also has a defined sick leave policy that sick time may be taken for "personal illness or care of an immediate family member."
In my case, I don't have the 6 weeks of sick time, but since I pay annual dues (one day of sick time) to the "sick bank" I can "borrow from the bank" the full 6 weeks.
Check with HR to see what they've done in the past. Try to see if there is any precedent at all.

[amyfk]

I was in a slightly different situation.
I was a part-time employee in a municipal library. I was there for five years.
I figured I would be entitled to unpaid FMLA for 3 months. I put it in to my library director, and he rejected it. I appealed and he rejected it again. Under NJ state law(where i live) unless you have worked approx. 1,000 hrs. in the prior year you are ineligible for FMLA. I quit my job to take care of my child and I also was ineligible to collect unemployment( even when I appealed).
I didnt run into the adoption issue, but the FMLA requirements stink.
I feel for all the folks who cannot spend as much time with their new children as they feel they need.
Also, folks dont realize that although we didnt give birth, adoptive parents need to bond with their new children as they have not been with them since day one.
The system needs an overhaul in my opinion.
Amy K, NJ

[Justhavfaith]

I think that I was in a similar situation. I couldn't take any short term disability which normally is 6 weeks or 8 weeks for birthing a child. Now that Josh is home, if he is sick, I cannot take a sick day, I MUST use vacation or unpaid leave. That would be the case whether he was adopted or bio.

[Drazil]

The reason most employers do not allow for the sick time is that sick time (I think anything over 3 days consecutively or something like that) is paid under short term disability and is usually defined pretty clearly what that entails as far as the employee being sick (disabled or recovery period). FMLA is allowed when the employee has worked 1,000 hours or more during the previous year and the employer employees 50 or more employees. The 12 weeks is unpaid under FMLA and can be taken consecutively or broken up into sections of time (employer must OK this ahead of time). This is very customary under this law.

[Waiting4Bryan]

My company allow me to use both my sick leave (I had about 12 weeks worth) and my annual leave. Of course, I work for an amazing, very family friendly non-profit mental health center.

[Tamiswaiting]

I'm sorry about this, but it doesn't surprise me. It is totally up to the company if you can use sick time. I was lucky in that my company is one (of the few from what I read) that did, or I would only have had 4 weeks instead of the 9 that I've taken.