Tips for negotiating parental leave
Talk to your boss.
It’s often much easier to work with an established employee who requires a leave of absence upon becoming a parent” than it is to hire and train someone new, says employment attorney Valerie Samuels. “Yes, you have this baby now, but you’re still a wonderful employee and your company will benefit if your needs are being met,” says Jessica kent, president of the Birthing circle of Frederick in Frederick, Maryland.
Ease back into it.
Can you work from home or arrange for flexible hours? Would your employer be open to you working shorter days or weeks for a while? maybe you can discuss returning to work part-time or coming in on weekends when your partner can take care of the baby.
Tag team with your partner.
Work together to stagger your combined leave. “my husband took off two weeks, i took off six, and then he took off another two when i went back to work,” says kent.
Tap into vacation and sick leave.
Talk with your company’s hR department about using saved or leftover vacation and sick days to create your own parental leave. if your company already offers leave, you can use these days to extend it.
