Is it fair for women in the workplace to use maternity leave every 1-2 years?

[Anonymous]

Really?  How much of a problem are we talking?

Oh huge. Equipment not working, contracts cancelled, paying trucking fees with no revenue earned on equipment. It's not an issue in my line of work right now. Actually, now is the perfect opportunity to take time off. But, when it's busy, absentee employees are a nightmare.

[RW]

With maternity, you usually have months to prepare, yet it's still a huge issue?



Sorry but I'm going to call bullshit.

[Bricktop]

When people bitch about parental leave do you folks not realize that for the first 4-6 months of life a baby relies on its mother for milk?

That does not explain why an employer has to PAY for it.



Any leave is a cost to the employer. It has to be paid for. How its paid for is moot. The point is if you are being paid, and you are not at work, someone is paying for you to have your baby.



That is bullshit.



It also discriminates against those who do not, or can not have babies. Maternity leave is a victory for rabid feminism, nothing more. We all know that once feminists start screaming, the trade unions come a running.



It is not a triumph for women. It is an impost that employers will seek to avoid wherever they can.

Here, Employment Insurance pays for it - a fund paid into by employees not employers.  An employer will pay for her replacement if she quits to have babies as well.



It doesn't discriminate any more than sick leave does.  Nice try.

Well, that does not happen here. Employee leave benefits have become a major cause for unemployment figures rising for some time now.



If the employees pay for maternity leave, then I see no problem, other than if a woman takes maternity leave, there should be NO guarantee that her position will remain open to her for longer than, say, 90 days. The employer still has to backfill the vacancy. Swapping staff in and out is a COST.

[RW]

When people bitch about parental leave do you folks not realize that for the first 4-6 months of life a baby relies on its mother for milk?

That does not explain why an employer has to PAY for it.



Any leave is a cost to the employer. It has to be paid for. How its paid for is moot. The point is if you are being paid, and you are not at work, someone is paying for you to have your baby.



That is bullshit.



It also discriminates against those who do not, or can not have babies. Maternity leave is a victory for rabid feminism, nothing more. We all know that once feminists start screaming, the trade unions come a running.



It is not a triumph for women. It is an impost that employers will seek to avoid wherever they can.

Here, Employment Insurance pays for it - a fund paid into by employees not employers.  An employer will pay for her replacement if she quits to have babies as well.



It doesn't discriminate any more than sick leave does.  Nice try.

Well, that does not happen here. Employee leave benefits have become a major cause for unemployment figures rising for some time now.



If the employees pay for maternity leave, then I see no problem, other than if a woman takes maternity leave, there should be NO guarantee that her position will remain open to her for longer than, say, 90 days. The employer still has to backfill the vacancy. Swapping staff in and out is a COST.

That'll cost you here all right because a woman is guaranteed her position or an equivalent when she returns.



Why should we have to pay as a gender because we carry babies?  That's bullshit.

[Bricktop]

You don't have to pay. Don't have babies. Make up your minds.



However...I fully support the improvement in home based work facilities. Modern phone and computer technology removes the need for some work to be office based.



Women want it all. They want to answer the call of nature to breed, but they want self fulfilment through vocation (which is odd, given that being a mother is a far more noble pursuit).



In the end, they really don't know what they want...and end up having nothing.

[RW]

We want to have a baby then come back to work.  In my case, I took a pay cut so I could do my job from home and raise my children.  I had my cake and ate it too.



What I didn't want is to have invested 4 years into an organization to be canned because I answered mother nature's call.



That aside, what do you think happens to immigration numbers as births by citizens decrease?  I'll give you one guess.

[Bricktop]

Your investment is neither here nor there. In most organisations, very few individuals are indispensable...in fact, quite the reverse.



The fact is that being a mother and full time worker is incompatible. Do your work, then have your babies. If, later you can return to work, go for it.



If not, be a mother. Its a great job.

[Romero]

It also discriminates against those who do not, or can not have babies. Maternity leave is a victory for rabid feminism, nothing more. We all know that once feminists start screaming, the trade unions come a running.

What, no Nazi reference? Don't you think that a mother looking after her newborn for a few months is just like Nazi Germany?

[RW]

Your investment is neither here nor there. In most organisations, very few individuals are indispensable...in fact, quite the reverse.



The fact is that being a mother and full time worker is incompatible. Do your work, then have your babies. If, later you can return to work, go for it.



If not, be a mother. Its a great job.

My investment is significant to me and was significant enough to my employer to keep me on as a remote employee.



Being at home employees and parents worked for both my husband and I so it's hard to agree they were incompatible.  



I had two great jobs at once :)

[Bricktop]

It also discriminates against those who do not, or can not have babies. Maternity leave is a victory for rabid feminism, nothing more. We all know that once feminists start screaming, the trade unions come a running.

What, no Nazi reference? Don't you think that a mother looking after her newborn for a few months is just like Nazi Germany?

Not particularly.



On the other hand, I think forcing an employer to pay for women to have babies does lean that way. Moreso the Soviet Union, perhaps, but there is little socio-political difference between socialism and fascism.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

For me, I am pleased that where I used to work for two decades, they allowed me to take a 6-month maternity leave for a very special reason. I was caring for my premature infant. Who better to nurse him to wellness than me. I was not about to leave him with day care workers as he was strapped with a heart and respiratory monitor. 1/ It was I he needed, my full attention. He fought to gain his strength from being a premature infant to an active and energetic baby.



1/ I have nothing against day care workers. Both my sons were happy at day care. As a result, so was I.

[Romero]

Your investment is neither here nor there. In most organisations, very few individuals are indispensable...in fact, quite the reverse.



The fact is that being a mother and full time worker is incompatible. Do your work, then have your babies. If, later you can return to work, go for it.



If not, be a mother. Its a great job.

Still you act as though women should be blamed for the audacity of having children. As if they're fertilizing themselves or something.



A man got you pregnant? Your fault! Your problem! Get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!



How come you don't blame men for women needing maternal leave? "Just don't have babies", right?



And it's as if you don't realize you were a child and you've had a mother. I don't know about you, but most people haven't grown up in Leave It to Beaver world. Women have been having children, jobs and careers for quite some time now. I haven't seen the breakdown of society yet.

[cc]

It also discriminates against those who do not, or can not have babies. Maternity leave is a victory for rabid feminism, nothing more. We all know that once feminists start screaming, the trade unions come a running.

What, no Nazi reference?



Don't you think that a mother looking after her newborn for a few months is just like Nazi Germany?

Wince ..



Please tell me you didn't say that . pleeeeeease



Double wince



Say RW. With this guy around, I really need a "wince" smiley

[cc]

Being at home employees and parents worked for both my husband and I so it's hard to agree they were incompatible.  



I had two great jobs at once :)

Now, that's really neat!!

[RW]

It also discriminates against those who do not, or can not have babies. Maternity leave is a victory for rabid feminism, nothing more. We all know that once feminists start screaming, the trade unions come a running.

What, no Nazi reference?



Don't you think that a mother looking after her newborn for a few months is just like Nazi Germany?

Wince ..



Please tell me you didn't say that . pleeeeeease



Double wince

Godwin's Theory rears its ugly head.