How to Figure Out If a Potential Employer Offers Paid Leave

How to Figure Out If a Potential Employer Offers Paid LeaveHow to Figure Out If a Potential Employer Offers Paid LeaveIts one of those questions that youre dying to ask during your job interview Does this company offer paid leave to employees? Find out if your potential employer offers paid leave- without running the risk of asking too soon and losing your chances of being offered the job- with these tips.How to Figure Out If a Potential Employer Offers Paid LeaveAdd it up. You can easily find out if your prospective boss offers paid leave by seeing if the company qualifies under the Family Medical Leave Act. The U.S. Department of Labor requires certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they work for a company with more than 50 employees. The catch while you might be guaranteed those precious three months of time off, theres no guarantee that your company will actually pay for it.Unfortunately, paid leave depends on each individual company- theres no law requiring any company to offer paid leave in the U.S. (such as paid maternity or paternity leave, or paid medical leave). But the good nachrichten is that if the company does have over 50 employees (you can find this out by contacting the HR department if youre unsure of the companys actual size), youll fruchtwein likely be offered some sort of unpaid leave without running the risk of losing your job.Do some digging.Companies know that todays savvy job seekers contemplate the entire package being offered to them (such as salary, 401K benefits, medical and dental benefits, telecommuting options, etc.) before accepting a position. So most organizations will proudly promote their paid leave optionsif they offer them. Youll most likely find this employee benefit info on the careers section of their website. In addition to paid leave, you might also uncover information on short-term and long-term disability options, employee assistance programs, and other paid benefits to assist you in times of crisi s.Go to Google.If you searched the companys website and didnt find anything, that doesnt necessarily mean that they dont offer paid leave. You can try Googling the name of the company youre interested in, and add in keywords such as employee benefits or maternity or paternity leave. You might discover that the company does offer these benefits. Google might also direct you to Glassdoor.com, which offers company reviews and often has this information. Just keep in mind that your most accurate source of information would come from the company itself, but you can at least get a general idea if the company in question does offer paid benefits.Ask directly. During your first round of job interviews, you need to keep mum about salary and benefits. As you go further along in the job interview process- and its starting to feel like the job could be yours- you can ask about paid benefits when your prospective boss asks you if you have any questions. Once youve reached the offer stage, youre in a much better position to request details about their paid or unpaid leave options, as part of your overall compensation package.While you definitely want to know if a company offers paid leave, its best to try to find out the info for yourself first before asking. So put on your research cap to determine if the company has paid leave options or not.Readers, how important is paid medical leave to you? Have you turned down a job offer because a company didnt offer paid leave? Let us know in the comments