July 23rd 2023.
Elena Andres of Austin, Texas was dealt a heartbreaking blow when she was denied maternity leave after giving birth to her stillborn daughter. After 15 hours of labor and a severe toll on her body, Andres notified her employer, Austin Public Health, that she would take leave early only to be told that her situation didn’t qualify for the city’s eight-week paid parental leave.
The devastating news left Andres feeling “so small” and like her daughter “didn’t count”. Under company policy and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, employees can take eight weeks of paid parental leave after “the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care”. Unfortunately, parents of stillbirths or babies who die soon after birth don’t qualify for paid parental leave.
Andres named her daughter Maxine, who was born on May 7 weighing 8 pounds and 13 ounces. She called the denial of paid maternity leave “a kick in the face” and felt as though the city only cared about the bonding with the newborn and not the physical toll that pregnancy takes on the body.
Andres had to use up all her sick and vacation time and received short-term disability coverage for six more weeks off. After her story broke, the HR department at her job offered her four more weeks of paid time off and urged a policy change from Austin city council members.
Vanessa Fuentes, a city council member, expressed her support for the new parents who have undergone the horrific loss and urged they be provided the full eight weeks of paid parental leave. Andres returned to work on July 18 and is hopeful that this policy will be changed in the future.
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