Archive for August, 2009

Maternity Leave Rights

by Julie Xillion

Maternity leave rights are governed by the family leave act of 1992 with defines the basic understanding and rights for maternity leave Even though this legislation typically requires a minimum of 12 weeks of time off, your real amount of maternity leave will be based on the size of the organization that you work for and their human resources policies.

Essentially, you will take a blend of short-term disability, private days, and any accrued vacation or holiday pay as part of your not paid family leave during your time away from the office.

The family leave act specifically applies to corporations that have at least 50 workers. If the organization that you work for is smaller, then there are limitations on what is covered for maternity leave. Indeed, for individuals who are working in small businesses, short term disability may be an alternative if the employer is too small to accommodate the pregnancy leave

During pregnancy, it is essential to understand that you employer can only modify your position and post responsibilities if your pregnancy makes you unable to do your requisite duties.

During the actual pregnancy leave, your employer is required to pay you the equivalent amount of what you would receive on short term disability. Upon completion of the twelve weeks, your employer is required to restore you to the same pay and the same or equivalent position as your old job.

Which Where you live will determine what benefits will be available to your during your maternity leave. In 2002, California led the way in enacting paid family leave, and other states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey are taking into consideration following suit. And not all states allow women to take short-term disability leave to cover maternity, birth, and postpartum recovery.

Your employer may have practices that dictate the order in which you can take different kinds of leave. In any case, you'll want to start looking into your options as early as you can during your pregnancy and make sure you have all your paperwork sorted out before the baby arrives.

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Pregnancy Signs

by Julie Xallion

Symptoms of pregnancy may differ from woman to woman. It may even vary from pregnancy to pregnancy. Even though that may be the case, the most reliable symptom of pregnancy is a missing period or menstrual cycle. Having a good understanding of the symptoms of pregnancy is important simply because some symptoms may be unrelated to the pregnancy. These symptoms may indicate a different medical condition exists.

Many women begin feeling the symptoms of pregnancy within just a single week of conception. For other women, it may take two, or even five weeks before they begin to feel different. For some women, they may not feel symptoms at all.

Pregnancy Symptoms

If you have recently been sexually active, there is the possibility that you are pregnant. Pregnancy symptoms generally present very early on and the most common sign, aside from a missed menstrual cycle is fatigue. Tiredness is an early pregnancy symptom that can occur as early as a week after becoming pregnant. Generally, the symptoms are an overall feeling of being run down and just physically tired all the time.

Other symptoms of pregnancy include swollen and tender breasts which usually presents two or three weeks after becoming pregnant. For many women, their breasts feel tender and sore, and may also feel or appear swollen.

Early Signs of Pregnancy

Between two and eight weeks, for many women morning sickness sets in. This unpleasant symptom of pregnancy entails a relatively constant state of nausea. Although it is called morning sickness, the actual symptoms may be present at any time, or all of the time during this period of pregnancy.

Other pregnancy symptoms present at later stages during the pregnancy, and are to be expected. Depending on the woman, these symptoms may be severe or very light, but may include: backache, food cravings, headaches, frequent urination, and darkening of the aureoles.

Calendar for Pregnancy

Aside from the symptoms of pregnancy, a pregnancy calendar may be a useful way to track your pregnancy week by week. Your baby will grow on a daily basis, and a week by week approach may help to both manage the changes, as well as enhance the experience of pregnancy.

For many women, using a pregnancy calendar helps to keep the experience in perspective. Depending on your disposition, there are many types of pregnancy calendars to choose from. Instead of actual calendaring, many women also find it useful to reference a book such as what to expect when expecting and the week by week descriptions to help the monitor their pregnancy and how their body is changing.

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