- I had a horrible maternity leave experience. I had originally worked out my maternity leave with a company that was subsequently acquired by Appirio mid-pregnancy. By my due date, I still would not qualify for FMLA, however the original company had a maternity leave policy beyond FMLA. When we were acquired, it was briefly discussed and no mention was made of me doing anything else than originally planned (however, I unfortunately didn't get this in writing from Appirio HR staff). Fast forward to 1 month prior to due date, I submitted my paperwork for leave as instructed, and was sent an email from HR stating that I didn't qualify for FMLA (I already knew that) and that they would only offer me 1/2 of the time that I was planning to take (total of 6 weeks they offered). All said and done, I ended up taking a full 3 months (which is EXTREMELY low offering for a TECHNOLOGY COMPANY with a HQ in CALIFORNIA), but did so under the premise that since I was taking a 'sabbatical' that there was no guarantee that when I came back that I would have a job. Needless to say that was much added stress to a new mother that was really unnecessary. I did return and got my job back, and a few months later of hard work was actually promoted to a team lead role. So while it ended up working out in the end, I think their maternity leave policies and the way the treat these types of family leaves definitely needs a revamping.
