Re: Parental Leave

Give me a break with the "holier than thou" talk. You act as if someone owes you something because you are young, and by the way, what exactly is the age when you are considered young? Also, what does being young have to do with being more efficient and quicker? That's as silly as saying a drug addict would make a great pharmacist.

Re: Parental Leave

So you really think single parents are "faster at work?" Maybe you're an exception, but my observation is that single parents are exhausted at work from all their child-rearing duties, and also a lot more distracted. Look, I feel sorry for you (assuming that the child's or children's other parent died or deserted you, and you didn't just foolishly decide to raise kids on your own for the fun of it), but their your kids, not mine. "Tough dog" indeed!

Re: Parental Leave

Get real. I seriously doubt that "single parents generally are faster at work" if the single parents who work in my organization are any indication. The one sitting behind me seems to spend at least half of her day on the phone shouting at her kids.

There are outstanding workers who are single parents and there are older employees who are outstanding workers. In fact, there are outstanding workers in any category you'd care to name and slackers, too. Being a single parent doesn't make you any better than any other worker.

At any rate, why should you have extra leave to take care of the kids you chose to have. Use your annual or sick leave. You already get a tax break for those kids. The taxpayers don't need to foot any more expenses for you.

Re: Parental Leave

I’m one of those “older” employees that you referred to. I have no bitter feelings about not having had this benefit. I’d have been against it then too. I do feel bitterness toward being forced to pay for the choices made by others. You chose to have children, not me. Therefore, it isn’t fair to expect me or any other taxpayer to pay for your decision.

You’ve got to be kidding - single parents work faster. The mom’s (single or not) that I’ve worked with were less productive, not faster. They did the best they could, but their response level/concentration was slower due to exhaustion. We all know that once you have a family, it’s like taking on a second job.

If an employee plans ahead by saving their leave and saving money so they can take LWOP if necessary, they should be able to take an extended maternity leave.

The difference between this proposed benefit and Clinton’s Family Friendly Leave Act, is that the first benefits a select few and the second benefited everyone. An alternative would be to extend the leave donor program to maternity leave. People have the choice to donate or not.
Bottom Line - People need to take personal responsibility for the choices they make.

Re: Parental Leave

i would love to meet this person. if she is so great, then maybe they did to let us older folks go and just retain her. i hope that she gets the help that she needs for her arm. i know that it has to be bent out of shape from of the patting on the back she is doing.

Re: Parental Leave

Well aren’t you just full of yourself Ms Engineer, so young and have to work harder then the old folks and no spouse to help. Keep whining, that usually works, you know what they say, “ the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. No one owes you anything you made your choices so you need to suck it up and except the responsibility yourself and not expect to yet again burden the tax payer, who by the way can be just as young as you with no spouse and no children, with your choices. As a Federal employee you already have a nice fat benefits package. “Tough dog”??? that’s real eloquent coming from an engineer, by the way, you spelled engineer wrong.

Re: So we stay in the Dark Ages?

Don't you mean "like all SOCIALIST" countries? As for parents being there for the kids, it has been my experience that a large number of parents place the second paycheck as a priority over raising and preparing their kids to be productive members of society. People not only seem to think they have to have everything, but it has to be the best there is. Nothing more than the Smith's keeping up with the Jones' and making the children and society pay the price.

Re: So we stay in the Dark Ages?

I agree completely that children today need more parental attention and guidance. Here's how to provide it: 1. Get a good education so you can get a good job. 2. Get married BEFORE having kids and STAY married. 3. When the kids arrive, one of you, preferably the mother, stop working at least until the youngest starts high school. To be able to afford this, you'll need to have that aforementioned good-paying job in place, and you'll also need to avoid buying huge houses and gas-guzzling SUVs you can't afford. Do these things, and you'll raise good kids without burdening the rest of us!

Re: Paid Parental leave

I agree that women use more leave, but still disagree with this new law. Most of the men I've spoken with have thousands of hours of leave. In general the reason is that it's the women who are taking off to take care of children, parents , and even in-laws. If you don't believe me, the next time you have the opportunity ask a man how many hours he has and then ask who takes time off for the kids and parents.

Having said all that, I still disagree with this proposed benefit. We women wanted to join the workforce and to be treated equally. Receiving more leave than men isn't equal treatment.

As for the countries that give this extra leave, they are mostly socialist countries. You may get extra time off for maternity leave, but it may be because you need it since you may require longer recouperation time due to the long waits to receive medical care..

Re: Paid Parental Leave is a great idea

Raising your families are not the taxpayers responsibility and imposing this new law would require the taxpayers to put out more money for you. Save your leave, save your money, and then, and only then, have children. It's called planned parenthood.

Re: paid parental leave

If we're doing more with less, how does giving employees more time off help accomplish the work? For those who won't be getting the benefit of this extra leave, there's real concern about the "benefit" of picking of their missing colleagues' workload. If Congress wants to help federal employees, they should push a benefit that helps everyone: offer a short term disability insurance program. It can be used for child-related absences, parental care issues, or by the employee who simply needs more time than he/she has banked (you don't have to be a leave abuser to need assistance every now and then).