maternity leave

Wow. So work is trying to screw me out of 6 weeks of my maternity leave. According to the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) of 1993 I am entitled to 12 weeks unpaid leave for the birth and care of a newborn child, adopting a child, medical leave for myself, caring for a family member that has medical need – but for some reason our HR lady only sees the “medical” aspect of that and says that I only get to take 6-8 weeks depending upon the type of birth I have. How that’s right is beyond me especially considering that adoption is in no way medical for the adopting parent, so how would they say that works? Anyways, they tried this on me when I first found out I was pregnant and I thought I got ‘em cleared up on this issue and then this morning I send in my FMLA paperwork to our HR lady and she says AGAIN that I only get 6-8 weeks off b/c that’s what the doctor said was MEDICALLY NECESSARY and if Bobby or Chris want to “approve” me taking more time off they can, but they don’t have to and if I take longer than they approve that they can fire me for being absent or whatever. So I called the fucking Federal Department of Labor (they then referred me to the TN Dept. of Labor since I’m in TN) and they cleared it up for me that I’M RIGHT! So I sent our HR lady the following email:

Ok, I’m sorry - I just can’t let things die without knowing the exact specifications, the why’s, the how’s, the who’s - so just FYI (in case you run into another me in the future, LOL) - I called the Department of Labor (I called the federal number and they had me contact the TN office in Nashville since I’m in TN) and asked them to clarify: is the FMLA only for the allotted recovery time of 6-8 weeks after birth or am I allowed to take 12 weeks total under the act regardless of the time it takes to recover? They said that I get the full 12 weeks regardless of medical necessity b/c it’s for Family leave AND/OR Medical leave (not just medical leave). The number of weeks my doctor determines is medically necessary for me to recover has nothing to do with the leave as it applies to childbirth and FMLA b/c the remaining weeks in the leave would then be considered Family leave – I’m allowed to take up to 12 weeks leave (or shorter if I determine I would like a shorter leave) to have the child and care for the child.

So her only response was “Cool, thanks” and I’m sure that was short for “You’re an irritating bitch that refuses to take the answers given to her and I hate to be proven wrong” but whatever – I refuse to allow them to cut short my time with my child. They’ve done that to 2 other employees here and I’m not going to be one of those b/c while it might have been OK for them, it’s not for me. Granted, pointing out where mistakes are made on the part of the company is a surefire way to get on the shit-list here (and is how a warehouse worker who’d been here for 35 years just got forced into retirement), but I’m still not bending on that issue. They have to abide by federal law, damnit, and I want my time off with Lola. She’s far more important than any job.