When Push Comes to Shove
When situations seem particularly unjust, I drop my pleasant, accommodating demeanor and get ready to rumble. This is what happened 2 years ago when I learned that, as a federally funded research fellow (i.e., I brought in my own salary via an award from the NIH), I was not considered eligible for the same maternity leave benefits (i.e., 8 paid weeks of leave) as other hospital staff members. When I first looked into the leave issue, I was told that yes, I would get 8 weeks leave (the NIH and the hospital each would cover 4 weeks). Later I was told that my original information was incorrect; that research fellows only receive 4 weeks paid leave (meaning, NIH paid 4 weeks, the hospital paid nothing).
This rule added insult to injury on several counts. First, in general, 4-8 weeks of paid leave seems pretty stingy compared to leave benefits in other countries (for examples click here). Second, research fellows are overworked and underpaid as is (believe me, it’s bad). Third, the hospital doesn’t even pay the salaries of federally funded fellows + they require an exorbitant 79% above a fellow's total award for overhead fees -- yet they appeared to be shirking out of contributing 4 measly weeks of pay in accordance with typical staff benefits?
For me, it was more the principle of the matter than the month's salary. So I kept needling my grant manager and HR contact for a better explanation. When there was none, I decided that the best I could do was send a letter to the higher ups. I didn’t expect the situation to be resolved by the time I went on leave but I felt that I needed to at least put future female fellows on the radar. I got my girl power mojo workin’, as it were.
I asked my HR contact for an address, explaining my intentions. A day later I received an email message indicating that at a recent meeting it was decided to allow research fellows to be paid for 8 weeks leave just as attending physicians were. Incorrect information or policy change? Either way, more evidence that it never hurts to push back.
