The Off Topic Topic

[The Larch]

We had a work colleague. In her first pregnancy she had it all figured out. The ideal birth date - and time! - to min/max the insurance benefits and time constraint on her and her husband. She was completely certain that everything would go to plan. Well, the date came, went, and a week later the doctors finally urged to induce labor. It still took 50 hours of labor to squeeze out the little munchkin.

I took two weeks off around my 3rd son's expected due date so I could help out when the baby came.  The little bugger hung in there and we had to induce by the end of those two weeks.  Josh wound up being born on a Friday, the last day of my holidays, and I had to be back at work on the Monday.

8 years later and I'm still bitter they wouldn't give me any flexibility around those days.

Doesn't paternity leave kick on when the baby is born regardless of you being on holidays or not?

I didn't take paternity leave.  Paternity leave here is run through the EI (employment insurance) system, which has a cap on benefits.  Lots of employers will grant a "top-up" to make your salary complete, but GOA (Gov't of Alberta) does not.  And we couldn't afford the drop in income at the time.

I had to use holiday time instead.

And I thought that Canada was a decent country... 

Well really it just means I earn over $100k per year which puts me well above the cap.  It's fine for most people.

It shouldn't matter how much you make, paternity leave is/should be a right granted automatically, not part of some byzantine salary calculation. You have a kid, you get paternity leave, boom, don't come back in a month.

[Sheilbh]

More than a month. But yes

[The Larch]

More than a month. But yes

I went off the top of my head, I have no idea what's the going rate at the moment. 

[Oexmelin]

Quebec decided to go with byzantine salary calculations in exchange for much longer periods of leave. The mother gets 70% of her salary for 18 weeks off work; the father, 70% for 5 weeks off and both parents can split another 32 weeks between themselves at varying levels of compensation. 

[Admiral Yi]

It shouldn't matter how much you make, paternity leave is/should be a right granted automatically, not part of some byzantine salary calculation. You have a kid, you get paternity leave, boom, don't come back in a month.

That still leaves the issue of who, if anyone, should pay for it.  And the related issue of whether takers of paternity leave should get a "promotion subsidy" to compensate for the time away from climbing the ladder.

[Sheilbh]

That still leaves the issue of who, if anyone, should pay for it.  And the related issue of whether takers of paternity leave should get a "promotion subsidy" to compensate for the time away from climbing the ladder.

To be honest I think it should be the same as maternity leave. And actually it should just be a stock of parental leave that the parents can choose to take as they want.

[Barrister]

That still leaves the issue of who, if anyone, should pay for it.  And the related issue of whether takers of paternity leave should get a "promotion subsidy" to compensate for the time away from climbing the ladder.

To be honest I think it should be the same as maternity leave. And actually it should just be a stock of parental leave that the parents can choose to take as they want.

Here we have a certain amount of specific maternity leave that can only be taken by the mother - which is there really because of the physical burden of giving birth is solely on the mother.  Then the remainder is "parental leave" which can be taken by either.

And even though I'm done having babies I do firmly believe we should do more to make having babies easier - we're well below replacement level fertility in pretty much all of the western world.

[Tamas]

And now a bunch of earthquakes in New Zealand and tsunami warning following an 8.0 quake.

I think it's time to open a 2021 Earthquakes and Volcanoes thread.

[The Brain]

And the related issue of whether takers of paternity leave should get a "promotion subsidy" to compensate for the time away from climbing the ladder.

Why and how would a promotion subsidy exist?

[DGuller]

My only hope is 12/3/21
Not quite so destined for a career as an astronaut but maths skills are good to have.

If she can hang on for another month, you can fly to US and still have your 4/3/21 birth date.

[Grey Fox]

Anyway, the date is/was 2021/03/04.

[Admiral Yi]

Why and how would a promotion subsidy exist?

The why is to compensate child bearing women for the opportunities they forego in order to reproduce.

The how I suppose is like any other quota system.  A couple bonus points on an evaluation, a couple checked boxes on a promotion decision.

[Josquius]

And even though I'm done having babies I do firmly believe we should do more to make having babies easier - we're well below replacement level fertility in pretty much all of the western world.

Yes. This isn't even something like ubi where its all theoretical and unprovable either way without going all in.
Sweden clearly shows that enhanced paternity leave, help for parents, etc... Leads to a boosted birth rate.

Would be nice to see more child benefits linked to income. At the moment there are heavy caps in place. We should have encouraging higher earners to have more kids.

My only hope is 12/3/21
Not quite so destined for a career as an astronaut but maths skills are good to have.

If she can hang on for another month, you can fly to US and still have your 4/3/21 birth date.

And then his ship will end up like the Mars climate orbiter

[The Brain]

The how I suppose is like any other quota system.  A couple bonus points on an evaluation, a couple checked boxes on a promotion decision.

If you don't have the experience (for whatever reason) you don't have the experience. If you're not the best candidate for the more senior position (for whatever reason) you're not the best candidate for the more senior position. Seems to me that what you describe can only work in organizations that don't care about their mission (and indeed, in some industries, about regulatory requirements). Has it actually been put forward as desirable by anyone?

[Josquius]

"Best" is such an abstract concept.
It's rare there's one absolute unquestionably best person. More commonly there's a bunch who for various reasons could be a good fit.
Its in those cases that all the much derided wokey stuff comes in.