39w0d - HR is the worst offender

One thing I don’t understand is how people don’t realize that the arrival of a baby is, typically, somewhat of a random event. You have a ballpark date in mind based on your last menstrual cycle, but the specific date is really driven by biochemistry. It can’t be scheduled. Okay, a c-section or induction can be scheduled, but most births happen when they happen.

It’s okay that some of my peers don’t know this (or think about it). Especially when they are fresh-out-of college types who don’t have any married friends let alone friends with babies. So when they ask when the baby is coming, and I say, “well, she can come today, or she can come in 3 weeks” and they are surprised, well, I guess I can forgive it. Although, I do find it somewhat annoying when they look annoyed by my answer – as though I made it that way or something. Sorry if my impending baby messes up your work plans, but you knew this was coming for months now.

I have gotten some attitude from coworkers when I accept meetings tentatively, actually. Especially for meetings in June. They would say, “I thought you weren’t having your baby until July.” Well, I can have my baby any time from 37-42 weeks. So in that timeframe, I don’t want you to count on me to be there. This, again, is mostly from my non-children coworkers.

Then today the lady down at the coffee bar asked me if I’m having the baby next week. I said, ‘well, I’m due next week.’ She asked me if I knew what day I was having the baby – like, specifically. She seemed confused when I told her I didn’t know, but that she’s due on Thursday.

But HR is the WORST. Mostly because they have NO reason to be the worst. They have been handling maternity leave for way longer than I have been working for the company. You’d think they have a system in place. Once I knew I was having a baby, I set stuff up with them for my leave. I told them my due date, they asked me what date, specifically, I would be working until. I told them I planned to work until I went into labor. They asked me when that would be. I told them it would be sometime around July 8, but I couldn’t give them an exact date. They seemed exasperated by that. So I guess they told me they would set up my file with a ‘work until’ date of July 7, and if that were to change at any time I should let them know.

Fine. I will call HR when the baby comes. Because they are exactly who I want to talk to.

Well, the people who manage the leave called me earlier this week and asked me if I was still planning on working until July 7, or if that has changed. I told him that I was planning to work until I went into labor, and I did now know when, specifically, that would be. But I told him that I would call him. He then pointed out, with attitude might I add, that if I work past July 7 that my claim would be closed and I would need to re-fill the paperwork. Uhh… what? Why? I asked him why, and he said that’s just how it is. So I asked him if we could move the date back further, that way I was sure to have the baby before the claim expired. Evidently this is no problem. So why don’t they just do it that way? Or why have the claim expire at all? I mean, what if something complicated happens and you can’t get to the phone on that day? It’s strange!

But seriously, this is HR / benefits stuff. Like I said, they have been at this for a long time. How do they not have a system that makes sense?