Hacker News Reader

Comment by scurvy | Hacker News Reader

Bummer. Move to a state with family leave laws. CA gives 6 weeks of paid leave to everyone:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/FAQ_PFL_Benefits.htm

Dunno if you've ever taken PFL, but I have twice. It's not all roses. Your first 1-2 weeks (depending on company policy) is unpaid, ie you have to take PTO/vacation. Then PFL pays 55% of your weekly salary, to a maximum of $1,104 -- essentially $52k. They dump it on some ghetto Bank of America debit card that you have to hook up to your bank account thru their 90s-fabulous website somehow...

Except for the 40 hours part, OP's was exactly my experience. BigCo contracts out to some awful 3rd party that can't get their paperwork straight.

I actually got notice that my leave was "approved" (as if they could disapprove?) AFTER I returned to work, that's how bad their process sucks.

Don't even get me started about straightening out the bill for health insurance -- yeah, you have to pay your employer's share while you're on leave! Surprise! (I guess this might vary from company to company).

Better than nothing I guess, but I think I'd rather have lower taxes and just take straight PTO.

Yes, that is a pragmatic answer to my issue...if I had different life circumstances. And I could -- my little niche of hypenated-corporation would love to send me to California on a permanent basis. Unfortunately, I have no desire to commute 2 hrs to/from Edwards AFB every day.

Good to know though.

Out of curiosity, would this apply if you were say a lead actor in a movie? 6 week multi-million dollar production stall would in my mind be fair ground for not hiring an actor, but I take it that's illegal.

This is getting nitpicky against your very valid point, but I think most actors are 1099 contractors so it doesn't apply

I imagine you have to be right. For the majority of employees a 6 week break is no big deal. But for some specialty industries you just can't hire people that plan on taking a 6 week break in the middle of production.

>Move to a state with family leave laws.

Just move! Great and completely realistic solution to the problem of what to do about paternity leave within my company when a kid is on the way. Brilliant! I wish I'd thought of that.

In a complete aside, I've also moved 4 times since 2011. I am tired of moving. "Just move" is not the most useful advice ever.

Lobby your state representatives to keep up with the other states?

A good idea. Hopefully hyphenated-corporation won't manage to avoid that law like they have several other laws I have been impacted by...

It's state run (part of the unemployment/disability system). The company really has no choice...

I'm not trying to patronize you, but it sounds like you should be looking for a new job!

Edit: Here's a HN thread where I asked "where should we move to?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10103373

Oh God I don't want to move again. If I did it would be 5 times since 2011. I like my job otherwise.

Hyphenated company manages to avoid our state laws on covering infertility treatment by funding its own health plan, thereby taking advantage of a loophole in the state law. I can only believe that such a large company, in the state where it is incorporated, would find ways to put loopholes in any new laws.

I've moved cross country almost every time I've moved and I've moved on average about every 18 months since 2005. Add in the sheer amount of stuff that tends to accumulate when you're married to someone obsessed with physical comforts like furniture, heirlooms, and kitsch and it's pretty much constant mental torture. It becomes extremely bothersome to move over time and constantly job-hopping looks pretty poor on one's resume over time as well. My life is a state where as I'm unpacking, I'm deciding what to unpack because I would have to move it again. Even if you're willing to move constantly though, what will your excuse be to your future employers over the next 30 years with such a peppered employment record? "I don't like the labor laws of any state I move to"? That'll be a pretty short interview.

I've had similar experiences. I've thought, "Oh, I know where to find such-and-such item", and gone to look for it in the garage, only to realize, "That's where I kept that item two houses ago" and have no idea where it is.

"Just move" isn't usually bad advice for a single person, but when you have a family, that's a whole different thing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com