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To: Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo: Make all currently pregnant employees eligible for new paid parental leave policy

Wells Fargo's new paid parental leave policy is scheduled to go into effect on June 1st. Those of us who are currently pregnant and due before June 1st would like the same access to the new paid parental leave policy.

Why is this important?

As hard working employees of Wells Fargo and expecting parents, we were thrilled to learn that the company has announced a new paid maternity and paternity leave policy which will guarantee employees 16 weeks of fully paid leave for mothers and 4 weeks paid for fathers.

However, we were shocked and saddened to learn that the policy would not apply to a large portion of us, because currently pregnant women as of April 6, 2016 are not eligible unless they give birth on or after June 1st.

For those who give birth prior to June 1st, we must file for short term disability with a max of 6-8 weeks (6 weeks for natural birth and 8 weeks for C-section) at 65% pay. This announcement affects hundreds of families who will not get the much needed bonding time with families. We are hoping those currently pregnant can be grandfathered into the new wonderful benefits. Women should not be risking their health or their children's health trying to stay pregnant longer. This is only adding more stress to these expecting mothers. We urge the company entities in charge to consider making some changes to the policy.

While it is possible for some of the expecting mothers to deliver late, this is not the case for all of us. Some must deliver early or schedule C-sections in order to keep their baby and themselves safe and healthy. We as parents do not always call the shots when it comes to when our children enter this world. And healing time for some can extend pass the 8 week mark when they are expected to go back to work. Not only are they then sitting at their desk trying to concentrate on work, but they could be suffering from the pain of unhealed incisions on top of constantly thinking of their babies at home or in daycare.

It is very disappointing to hear we will not get this much needed time to heal or bond with our new babies just because we are due earlier than this pre-released change date. Our health is more important and for a company that claims to be ‘One Wells Fargo’ and ‘Together we’ll go far’ is making us seem like we are not part of their mission of unity. Some of us are single parents and the partial disability pay will not support us during this time when we should be most concerned of the care of our new babies. Since this announcement, we have been told a number of different things and not one of those things is that the company wants to figure out a way to help us.

This situation is very disappointing and stressful and during a time when we should be excited for our new arrivals. We feel the successful company that Wells Fargo is has the ability to implement this in a different manner so more employees can not only bond with their new babies and heal, but to also have peace of mind.

All employees matter.

Category

Updates

2016-05-03 20:26:07 -0400

5,000 signatures reached