Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with leave

Company B is really awesome.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:48:26 -0800

I'm working part time at two jobs right now - they worked together to hire me so that I could have enough income until Company A can hire my full time. Too bad I want to stay with Company B. I'm a recent college grad, and I had been applying to jobs since December without any luck. Come April, I applied to a job on Craigslist for Company A - an administrative assistant position at a small home office, in a field that has something to do with my degree. Company B is the hiring agency that Company A uses, so I met and interviewed with them first.

Company A could only hire me part time. They told me it was likely to go to full time in a year or so, with a $2/hr pay raise. At that point, Company B called and said, "We've spoken with Company A. Why don't you work for us part time, too, until you go to full time with Company A. Or maybe you can stay here forever! *Laugh*"

Long story somewhat short, I took both jobs.

Company A is in a home office, very messy, with cats and dogs and a scrapped kitchen renovation. It's a thirty to forty minute drive. I've since discovered (I've been there two weeks) that my duties involve a lot more than standard admin work, and go into a direction that stresses me out and I'm not interested in - making sales calls, coaching clients, handling the IT around the office, etc. They also expect to be able to bring me on full time in September.

Company B is a classy, small office. It's a forty to fifty minute drive. I've only been there a week and a half. I'm not working there as an admin, I'm doing more research and social network marketing, which I really like. I asked them on the first day (because I really liked my first day at B) what would happen if I liked company B better than A, and it seemed like they would be interested in bring me on fulltime - but since it was just a supposition, we didn't have a concrete discussion.

Here's the thing: I like the people at Company A. I don't want to waste their time. I also don't want to look like a jerk. I don't know if Company B can hire me full time. But even if they can't, I can't see myself staying at Company A for very long - I'm really not happy with it at all. Also, it's only been a short while, but I really know I don't want to stay with A, I want to be at B. Would it look bad to tell them all this after two weeks?

I want to know what you would do in my shoes. Talk to them soon? Talk to them later? Talk with B first?

All the people involved are very nice, I don't want to be an asshole, and the companies do work together, so if I do leave A for B, I will be at least speaking with, if not seeing the people from A.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Anon in case company A is on meta! Though it would be pretty clear anyway...throwaway is companybisawesome@gmail.com]

Resume etiquette for grad school leaves of absence

dormouse — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:13:10 -0800

How do I include a leave of absence from grad school on a resume? I just finished my first year of graduate school, and for various reasons (unsure it's what I want to do with my life, need perspective, stress, anxiety, etc) decided to take a leave of absence for ~1 year. In order to gain perspective (and earn money to live on) I would like to find a job during this time. Ideally, I am looking for a job in the same field as grad school, so I would like to include the school on my resume (it's a good program). But, I want any reference to seem positive while still being truthful. How do I word this experience to indicate a leave of absence rather than dropping out, or not going at all?

What to do for the next six months?

leurocristine — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:45:57 -0800

I'm back home, on leave from college, until September and trying to find a job that is engaging and pays relatively well. I have been leaning towards physical labor jobs because my only previous job was doing clerical work in an office and it's not something I'm looking for again. I joined a few temp agencies focusing on light industrial and general labor work and though I haven't go on an assignment yet it seems that overwhelmingly these jobs pay near minimum wage, especially since I have no knowledge of skilled trades and slim work experience. I want to find something with the same technical lean (that is, not an office job), but that pays better, preferably around $12-15/hr. I've also been considering waiting tables. Overall, though, it seems that there aren't a lot of job openings available right now and I'm having trouble sorting this out. I'd appreciate any suggestions on what work to pursue and specific advice on how to go about that would be great. I live in Southwest Houston, by the way. Thanks.

Is my mom really not eligible for FMLA?

Monday — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:27:50 -0800

Is my mom really not eligible for FMLA to take care of my sister when my sister gives birth? My mother, a resident of Georgia, works for a large hospital. She has over 280 hours of flex time built up. She would like to take off four weeks to fly to California and help my sister as my sister gives birth to her first child. My mom has turned in an FMLA form (I guess it is marked optional) from my sister's doctor.

In these tough financial times, my mom wants to protect her job. She is going to take two weeks on the flex time, and take two weeks unpaid. Apparently, her work is understaffed, so they don't want her to go.

Human Resources told my mother verbally that she is not eligible for FMLA because my sister is out of state and married.

I have looked at the FMLA, and I can't see how my mother isn't eligible. If it comes down to calling a lawyer, my mom will decide not to go and stay working at her job. Is there some resource we are missing? What can my mother do?

I can post clarifications later today.

Is there such thing as "spare time" during maternity/paternity leave?

Alabaster — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:21:37 -0800

Is there such thing as "spare time" during maternity/paternity leave? Our first child is due this month and we're both taking a few weeks of leave from work to stay home with our newborn. Never having been through this, I'm fairly ignorant:

Some people tell me that the baby will monopolize every moment of every day and that we will be too exhausted and busy to think about anything else during our leave time.

Others tell me that the baby will sleep a lot and the down time is good for catching up on projects, creative work, etc.

I'm guessing the answer is somewhere in between, and that it depends greatly on the baby.

What are your experiences?

(I'm asking specifically about the first few weeks, particularly when home on leave from work -- however I'd also be interested in advice on how to balance having a baby/young child with hobbies and creative work--especially when these require hours of intense solitary work).

Switching while on leave?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:34:26 -0800

ParentingLeaveFilter: I just started my paternity leave. Unlike a previous recent question, I still want to work -- I want to accept an offer of new employment with a competitor in a different city. How do I best be responsive to the needs of my new employer while treating my (soon to be) old employer fairly? A little over a month ago, I began speaking with a headhunter about an opportunity in a different city with a competitor. I interviewed and have an offer in hand. The competitor is in a bit of a bind and needs someone with a very particular skill set (i.e., mine), and would like me to start ASAP.

I love my current job. My immediate boss is the best boss I could ever hope for, but the opportunities for advancement with the new job are just too good to pass up. It is a small, specialized industry so I expect that I will continue to see (and perhaps collaborate with or compete against) people at my old group in the future. I definitely do not want to burn any bridges.

My current employer has an extremely enlightened parental leave policy -- 4 weeks of paid paternity leave. I always intended to take them up on taking the full amount of leave. Most of my matters have been transitioned to others in my group because of my paternity leave. There are a few items that need some ongoing attention, but it's not a huge deal.

I am an at-will employee. I just finished the first week out of my 4 weeks of leave. The offer from my "new" employer expires at the end of next week.

When should I give notice to my old employer? I want to be regarded as a "good guy" who treats my old employer fairly.

You can contact me at movingdad2008@gmail.com.

Leaving while on leave?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:48:09 -0800

How do I give notice at one job while I'm at the end of my maternity leave without burning bridges? So I'm nearing the end of my maternity leave, and being a mom has opened up some new priorities for me. Chief among these is the desire to NOT have a huge commute every day (and other considerations, like being closer to her daycare, having more flexible hours, things like that). Being a programmer means recruiters contact you all the time anyway, and while on maternity leave I decided to check out the market. I have a second interview tomorrow with a large company that will give me a five-digit raise as well as offer the option for full-time telecommute and very flexible hours (so long as the work gets completed, they don't care WHEN it's done, as long as you're available for meetings and such).

I love the company I'm with now, particularly the people, but this is an opportunity that doesn't come along every day. (And, my primary skills are atrophying as we spend too much time NOT focusing on our primary objectives.) So, if they make the offer and I accept (we're still in the negotiations phase), how do I give notice to my current job? I want to be professional and show my consideration to people who helped me out so much, but I have to consider my family first.

Throwaway email maternitynotice@gmail.com if you need to reply offline. Anon because several co-workers are part of the hive mind these days...

Should I say I'm on maternity leave when applying for jobs?

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:24:16 -0800

I'm applying for professional jobs after 6 months of maternity leave. How, if at all, should this be reflected (a) in my resume/cover letter and (b) in my interviews? Is it misleading to say that I am still employed by the employer that I am on leave from (they are paying me benefits and I have a job waiting for me when I come back if I want it)? I am concerned that employers will be reluctant to hire someone who has just had a child as they may feel I will be likely to have another soon.

I'm considering just not telling them that I have recently had a child, but then it looks like I have 6 months more experience than I actually do, even though I am technically still employed there. Thoughts?

maternity leave questions

Snoogylips — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:36:35 -0800

I am working as a home health aide in a private home and need some information about maternity leave. Details inside. I will be having a baby in the fall. I have worked in this for this great family since fall 2007. My paycheck comes from a company but the family of my client is considered my Supervisor. When I called the company to find out what the policy on maternity leave is they said to check with my supervisor. In the past with my supervisor I have scheduled regular sick or vacation days ahead of time, but they waited til the last minute to schedule backup. The supervisor is aware of the due date and has been for a long time now. I have verbally agreed that I would stay working for them as long as I could up to the very last minute if possible. I will return after maternity leave, but I might choose to extend it. My main concern is what if I decide a few days before birth that I am unable to work. I’m mainly worried that there will be no back up for me and might have to work. How do I go about discussing this further with the super visor? Do I need to get it all in writing? How do I find out how long of maternity leave I am entitled to here in Texas? Is there anything else I need to be concerned with? What about FMLA? Any other information that I might need to know?

Will my wife be eligible for Paid Family Leave?

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:47:19 -0800

My wife is pregnant and due in June. She works in health care and up until now has been working a few different part-time jobs, juggling shifts to get to more or less full-time equivalent. She is planning on taking paid family leave when the baby arrives. Of her three jobs, she pays into CA EDD through two, but she is leaving one of these at the end of the month. When she delivers, the plan is to stop working at all and take Paid Family Leave. Will the fact that she quit the job that pays the most into the fund affect her ability to claim in June? In other words, if she leaves a job that doesn't pay into the fund, is she still elegible to access the funds she did pay in over the period that determines the amount of the check?

As implied above, we are in California.

Should I buy fancy underwear? WHAT KIND?

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 04:24:45 -0800

Besides the glaringly obvious, what might a soldier home on leave like to do? My boyfriend (we're this couple, and he has graciously agreed to put that particular discussion on hold until he lives in this country again) is coming home on leave from an unpopular war, soonishly.

I live in LA. He will be flying in and spending a bit over a week with me before flying off to visit his parents and then going back.

I'm kind of freaking out about it. I like him very much, and I'm really excited to see him, but I also haven't seen him in quite a while now, and I feel weirdly shy.

Also, I don't know what the hell I should prepare for. Should I stock up on DVDs? What kinds? Would he want to catch up on Heroes? It's a really long trip: will he want to sleep as soon as he gets here? Should I not plan anything (even dinner) the first day? Should I buy a lot of meat and charcoal in case he wants to be manly and grill?

I'm trying not to freak out at him, of course, and he's said very polite things about how he'll just be happy to sleep in a nice bed with nice sheets, not get shot at, etc. But I'm sure there must be some things soldiers home on leave like to do. (Besides the obvious ones.)

Basically: I want to be supportive. I want him to leave my house relaxed and happy. I want him to go back feeling like he had a good leave, and like he's got his head right to face the next few months until he gets to come home.

Also, I want to learn the magic trick of not crying when I say goodbye, whatever that is.

I may be seriously overthinking this. Should I just buy a lot of milk and cereal and plan on not leaving the house for five days?

(Ack, see, now I'm overthinking that, becoming convinced that I'll be all over him and he'll go "You know... a man comes home from a war... he doesn't want to be pawed all the damn time like he's a piece of meat...")

SEE? I'm a wreck. Help!

PS: I hope I don't need to say this, but please don't be a jerk about the unpopular war part. I'm not excited he's there, either.

PS part II: The discussion being on hold doesn't mean that we don't like each other or anything. It's complicated. Someone has to give up a career for it to work out, so we're still figuring out the puzzle.

Back into the fray

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:41:34 -0800

Returning to the job market after a hiatus, what can I expect? In January, I had nearly exhausted my unpaid leave due to a severe bout of depression. Rather than run it out to the point where I might be tinged with the "fired" tag, I saved them the trouble and resigned and have been riding my savings ever since.

I feel like I'm ready to rejoin the ranks of the employed, but I'm apprehensive about the impression I'm going to give. As background: I'd only been at that job for six months, preceded by a three-month period of unemployment (looking for a good job that would relocate me to the big city), preceded by a two-and-a-half year job from which I was laid off (restructuring). That was my first job out of college.

How worried should I be about the holes in my résumé? How can I answer the questions they raise in ways that are basically honest but don't make me look like a deadbeat? What level of detail (or lack thereof) should I expect to give regarding my depression? I'm grateful for any general or specific advice you can provide.

Meal planning on a tight budget

mistsandrain — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:15:45 -0800

Anyone care to share their monthly grocery budget and list? Headed into maternity leave, down to one income, living in DC... Times are getting ready to be tight. Tight meaning I'd like to see how far I can get on @ $200/ month for groceries as a starting point. The way I buy groceries/ plan meals has been fairly haphazard so I don't have a general pattern of expenditures to plan from.

We prefer a low meat/ no meat diet. Fish okay.

Thanks for any suggestions....

Sell my house, quit work, travel?

killyb — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 09:13:23 -0800

Sell my house, quit work, travel? Is this something I should seriously consider? Who has done this, how did it go? Do you know others who have and it turned into a huge mistake? I'll try to keep this as simple as possible. I'm 25, never graduated from college, have been working in educational IT for over six years. I have, in my opinion, one of the best jobs I could imagine, however I want to throw it all away for a chance to travel around the country and eventually the world. I've traveled much more than my friends, but not nearly as much as I'd like, and when I come back from a trip, I'm always left with a feeling of, "Why did I return?". The idea I have is to sell my house, continue working here for six months, saving every dime while living with friends or parents(no house payment, electric bill, etc). I'd then like to drive out west, staying in the national parks or by using couchsurfing(which I've been a member of for many years and have made lots of friends). When I find a city/town I enjoy, I plan to find a place to stay and work if needed for a few weeks/months. Then move on to wherever I like next.

I'll soon be a licensed rigger so I may be able to get part time work at drop zones across the country. I'm a certified dive master with SSI and PADI, so I think I'd be able to find work at dive shops or other diving(and tourist) related fields. I've been in IT for most my life, linux and nt admin, hardware and software, mac and pc. I'm very confident in my abilities to use and fix any computer problem that may come at me. I'm learning French, and have taught myself ASL. I say this not to toot my horn, but to paint a picture of where I'm coming from and skills I could utilize

I wouldn't be able to, nor want to take time off. I've taken months off work for travel and I wouldn't be able to for longer periods of time. I'm not with anyone serious, I have two dogs. which would be hard for me to part with, but their mother has expressed interest in taking them. I've also considered taking one with me, but worried about the added expense as well his life enjoyment. I'm an only child whos parents would be understandably upset by my departure, though hopefully they'd understand. I estimate I'd be leaving with about 60,000 in cash if I sell my house. The other option I though of was to rent out my house, but I don't want to deal with renters or agencies and I don't think I'd be able to get enough in rent to make it worth it, though I'm open to discussion.

I really want to do this and think I'd be able to survive and be happy, but I'm also not completely insane and don't want to jump into something that could potentially ruin my life...however I'm pretty confident in my abilities to take care of myself. I need advice which sadly I can't get from friends. Please hope

can my employer delay my raise because i'm pregnant?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:15:31 -0800

my employer recently told me that a number of people in the company are underpaid relative to industry standards and will be getting salary adjustments. The good new: I am one of those people. The bad news: Everyone else who is getting a raise is scheduled to get theirs on january 1st; I, on the other hand, was told that mine would start on May 1st, when I return from my 3 month maternity leave (February to the end of march). Is this legal to treat me differently because I am pregnant? Note that I will continue to be paid during my maternity leave, as this is company policy. In effect, they are postponing my raise by 4 months. I do plan to return to work and have told them this. Any advice is appreciated!