Is it possible to get paid during the supplemental leave* segment of your maternity leave (when there is no formal policy)?

Anything is possible. For example, over the years, I’ve occasionally heard from Part-time Proposal Package users who negotiated a four-day (32-hour) workweek without a reduction in their full-time pay.

This is an unusual outcome, but it shows what can happen when you ask. One pregnant woman, a hotel industry professional, told me she sealed such a deal four months prior to her maternity leave.

Likewise, getting paid during supplemental leave is unusual (outside of vacation, disability and sick pay), but anything may happen when you ask. Asking works!

Do You Meet These Three Conditions?

There are three certain conditions that foster a favorable outcome, besides your negotiating savvy:

1. Your work performance and reputation are so highly regarded that pleasing you is clearly in your employer’s best interest. They may even fear losing you if you don’t get what you ask for.

2. You work for a relatively small, private employer. Its small size allows for more flexibility in negotiated outcomes compared with larger employers, the government or a union shop. Everything is customized and off the books, because there are no policies! For example, one woman wrote me:

I work in a very small office. My Executive Director and the Executive Committee thought the written request was great. They approved my request for 12 weeks leave with 4 paid! An excellent outcome.

3. Your negotiations for the time element of leave (baseline maternity leave*) went smoothly. If you get a solid sense of your manager’s support during the first part of your request, you might segue into the pay issue with relative ease. But if discussions were tense and the time off segment hard-won, it’s probably better to take what you got and back off on the pay issue.

Your gut instinct is probably the best judge when deciding whether or not to make the request to be paid during supplemental leave. If you do, one to three weeks is a reasonable request—aim for that range.

Are There Other Options?

Yes. I mentioned this elsewhere, but it bears repeating as a possible bargaining area: application of “comp time” to your maternity leave. Is there a current pressing project requiring extra hours of work? Negotiate to apply those hours to your leave request. If your manager is agreeable, be sure get this—and other terms of your leave—in writing.

What if Paid Maternity Leave is Not Possible?

If you sense that you’re not in a favorable enough place for requesting paid supplemental leave, then go for the next-best options:

1. Phase-back to work on a part-time basis.

2. Get back on the payroll and do part of your work from home for several weeks.

Learn more about these two approaches.

* For explanations and applications of “supplemental leave” and “baseline maternity leave”, refer to your free copy of Max Maternity Leave.

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