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I had my fifth child in February. I had a TON of accrued time where I worked at a university, and also took advantage of a sick pool (you could put in up to a maximum of 10 days per year, depending on the percent time of your work week), and would get 3 sick days for every day you put in. So, needless to say, I had several WEEKS between the sick pool and my accrued time, which got used, in part, towards my maternity leave (a total of 11 weeks - 1 week prior to having the baby, and an extended post partum period of 10 weeks). According to univesity policy, and how they handle FMLA, I HAD to return to work for 30 days after my maternity leave - or, get this - if I didn't, I was told the University could technically require me to pay back my medical payments AND even my salary!!! THAT really got to me, because I was using EARNED, ACCRUED time!!! It seemed, and still seems, so wrong, but it's their policy, and probably nobody's challenged them on it (or if they have, it's not common knowledge). Anyhow, bchflwr, I know what you're talking about, and it makes sense. For part of your maternity leave, you had UNPAID time off (not paid, accrued time as you did in the beginning of it), and any benefits paid on your behalf , during that unpaid time off, need to be reimbursed to the company. I'd have had to do the same thing, if I had an unpaid leave of absence. That I could understand. It was having to do the same for accrued time, if I hadn't returned for 30 calendar days, which got to me. By the way, I stopped working at the university in mid-July. Up until then, I returned to work with reduced hours (still using remaining earned time to make up for the shortage!). It made time away from the baby minimal (I hated being away from him), and making nursing much easier to maintain. My youngest daughter (age 19), unselfishly watched him when I returned at the beginning of May until the time I resigned. Afterward, I trained for school bus driving, but ended up not getting work (despite initially being told there was a shortage of drivers, only to be told after getting my school bus certificate that routes wouldn't be available until the fall) so I began looking for work elsewhere. I did a full circle, as I'm returning to a different department at the university, and on a part-time basis. The schedule is also such that my husband can watch the baby after he gets home from work, thus we avoid interfering with our daughter's ability to do her own thing, as well as the astronomical cost of child care (which is something we don't believe in anyway). My husband, by the way, now carries health insurance, and you might want to check into the same, if you're married. If it's possible, you wouldn't have to go through the same thing again should you have another child (or some other type of medical incident requiring taking time off).
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