I'm not sure I understand.

The federal law here only says that a workplace can't discriminate against a woman taking a leave of absence to have a baby, and that she has to have a job to come back to. But there are rules about how long one can take off, and the employer doesn't have to pay her salary.

The US Supreme Court is, in fact, hearing arguments in a maternity leave case today or tomorrow (it's about whether the time a mother took off to have her child should/should not be counted when considering seniority and pensions back when it wasn't illegal to discriminate against women taking time off to have a baby).

You need a comfy couch in your office, Gud. Please be safe.

I did finally make it home last night. The route I took was blocked off due to an accident so I had to find my way home via backroads. I got one wheel in a ditch after sliding on some ice, but not bad enough to get my little Honda stuck. It probably took about a half hour to get within a couple of miles of my house and then about an hour to navigate a way to actually get there.

Ugh, Gud. Glad you made it safe.

You need a comfy couch in your office, Gud.

Won't that be just as dangerous what with Gud trying to flip over the couch?

Congrats on the impending Sparkler or Sparklette!

Gud, glad you made it home OK!

the employer doesn't have to pay her salary.

The employer doesn't pay any salary here, too. It's the social security that's covering the 2/3rds of the regular salary for those 14 weeks.

(Each citizen pays a certain amount each month, deducted from the salary through the employer, or if unemployed, directly by the citizen, a smaller sum - that's our "social security". then, in cases such as maternity leave, loss of work possibilities through accidents or old age and the like, it's the social security who covers stuff back for the citizen).

Gud, what Sparky said.

You live in a more civilized country than ours, Nilly.

Also, it's so good to see you.

My boss just dropped me in the middle of a kerfuffle at work. Man, I just hate it when it's a problem with the humans and not with the computers.

Thanks for the well wishes, I'll be glad when some of the roads open up again. It's a real pain when the roads get all iced up.

Congratulations on the knocking up Sparky!

We have maternity and paternity leave as well, though I don't think it's paid once you've exhausted your annual and sick leave. Though you can ask for contributions from other employees.

And men around here do take paternity leave. In fact, it's how I got my most recent transfer -- this division needed an extra person temporarily because someone was taking paternity leave, with the possibility of the transfer becoming permanent after his return. And I jumped at the chance.