How many employees are there at your museum? This impacts this decision slightly. I would also consult your local labor laws. I have worked in museums where it was 6 weeks, I have worked in museums where it is 8. My current employer was eight weeks until we expanded and added an IMAX. This gave us over 50 employees and made us eligible for leave as outlined in the Family Medical Leave Act. This now gives women up to 12 weeks. In all places where I worked, you were required to use your sick, vacation and personal time first before you could move to unpaid. In no job has this period been paid time off. As for the work at home, work part-time option...I was given some flexibility due to the nature of my position and the need for me to come in during the 12 week period. This was a special circumstance that was approved by the director and board. When FMLA came into the picture, I know personnel policies were all rewritten and lawyers had to be involved. In my case, my proposed plan was looked at by the lawyers and had to be approved. I would start by looking at your state laws and assessing if your museum meets FMLA requirements. From there you can begin to establish a policy. I will say that in my case, I got to be a guinea pig. No one had been pregnant in a long tiome in our institution. Some of the haggling and such and waiting for decisions was stressful during a time when most women try to lessen their stress. I think that all institutions should have a policy in place and that if needed or if laws change, it should be in place so that employees and employers know what to expect. That allows the policy setting to be impartial and not based on current circumstances. Christina M. Myatt Theatrical Programming Coordinator Putnam Museum 1717 West 12th Street Davenport IA 52804 563.324.1054 ext. 207 (phone) [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Cindy Ryman Yost <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2004 12:22:06 EDT Subject: Executive Director/President Question I am interested in the experience of female executive directors who have had children while serving as directors. We have two children but both were born when I worked in a different field and was the chief operating officer. This allowed me to take extended maternity leaves, returning part-time and doing a significant amount of work from home from the time the baby was born to returning to work. Now we have discovered, somewhat to our surprise, that we will be having another baby in early December. There is only one other person on our staff who has had a baby while working at our Museum and it was before I was hired. She took only 6 weeks. I am looking to learn from the experience of others in preparation for making a proposal to my board. Any advice, successes, challenges, etc. are welcome. Thanks. Cindy Ryman Yost Executive Director Lincoln Children's Museum ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).