How to Request for Your American Express Maternity Leave In 6 Easy Steps

Studies suggest that mothers who take paid maternity leave experience up to a 47% decrease in maternal and infant re-hospitalization chances. The US is among the countries without a mandatory federal maternity leave law. Luckily, if you work for American Express, you will benefit from their paid maternity leave and other benefits.

Welcoming a baby in the family is a joyous and fulfilling experience for a parent. Better still, having enough resources and time to take care of the baby makes your work a bit easier. A few years back, American express revamped their parental leave policy that increased their paid parental leave.

Getting these benefits isn't always a walk in the park. With motherhood taking center stage, you might lack the time and strength to put in the request and follow up. But no worries, DoNotPay has got you.

Who Is Eligible For the American Express Maternity Leave?

A recent Working Mother's annual list included American Express as one of the best companies for working moms and dads.

According to the policy, you are eligible for the American Express maternity leave if you are:

1. A new mother who gave birth and required medical leave
2. A mother who got a baby through surrogacy
3. A mother who got a baby through adoption

Furthermore, it doesn't matter whether you are working full-time or part-time at the company and are US-based; you are eligible as long as you fit the above criteria.

Becoming a mother is a beautiful experience, but it needs adequate time to rest, bond, and get used to the new routines and norms. Let DoNotPay be a part of this experience by putting in the leave and benefits request for you.

Understanding the American Express Maternity Leave Policy

After becoming a mother, whether through childbirth, surrogacy or adoption, you need all the support you can get. You require enough time to heal, rest enough, adjust, and create a completely new routine that'll work best for the whole family.

To show support for the new mother, the American Express maternity leave policy entails:

• 26 to 28 weeks of paid leave to birthing mothers
• Free 24 hours lactation support
• Free breast-milk shipping if the mother is traveling on company business
• Repayment of up to $35,000 in expenses in case the mother got a baby through adoption or surrogacy (available only twice per mother)
• Access to a parental concierge to assist the mothers with leave transition
• Enroll the mother in the company's health plans granting them access to a maximum of $35,000 as a lifetime benefit for reproductive and fertility therapies
• Flexible work environment
• The healthy babies program that provides numerous resources to expectant mothers

The policy further states these benefits are available to all regular part-time and full-time US-based American Express employees.

How to Request American Express Maternity Leave On Your Own

According to health experts, maternity leave is not a vacation but a necessity. It gives the new mothers time to find themselves as they adjust to their new routines. Fortunately, American Express accords new mothers maternity leave for this reason and more.

While there's no guarantee you'll succeed, you can DIY and put in your maternity leave request via:

• Letter: You can write a letter to the relevant body, mostly the Human Resources department asking for your maternity leave. You can mail the letter via US Mail or hand-deliver it to the department.

• Email: Send an email to the HR department requesting the leave. When sending in the request, ensure you have the exact recipient's email address, lest you risk your request not getting to the intended destination on time.

• In-person: You can drop by the HR department to make an in-person maternity leave request. In such cases, be ready to spend some time there as you might be required to fill some forms.

Regardless of the DIY methods, your request might not get to the relevant authority on time. Worse still, they might take even longer to respond to your request. Suppose the support you need comes from the benefits the company offers.

What will you do when they take their time to respond? Do you even know how to write a maternity leave request letter or email properly? Worse still, spending time filling forms in the HR department isn't as comfortable in your condition.

That's why you need plan B: DoNotPay. Let us request your maternity leave. We have the right measures and procedures in place to make it happen.

Request for Your American Express Maternity Leave with the Help of DoNotPay

If you want to request parental leave but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered in 6 easy steps:

1. Tell us which state you work in (if you work in CA, NY, NJ, MA, WA, or DC, your state has a paid family leave program).

2. Choose whether you want us to apply to the program for you or contact your employer with your leave request. If you want to apply for the program, we will walk you through the questions on the form and mail the application form for you.

3. If you want us to contact your employer, enter your leave details, including the starting date, number of weeks of leave, and how many weeks of paid leave you are requesting (for example, you may take a 12 week leave, but only request 8 weeks of paid leave to make the request reasonable).

4. Indicate whether you are the birth parent or not (birth parents have a few additional protections).

5. Enter the name of your company and the person to address this request to.

6. Select whether you want us to email the request to your employer on your behalf.

Why Use DoNotPay to Request for Your American Express Maternity Leave

You deserve to have all the resources available during bonding time with your baby. You need to focus your energy and strength to make the right steps during this time. That's why DoNotPay's focus is to request for your American express maternity leave.

We assure you our approach is:

• Fast — you'll cut the time you'll spend putting in the request yourself
• Easy — get rid of all the forms and long, tedious processes since we do everything online
• Successful — our extensive experience gives us an edge for unmatched success.

DoNotPay works across all companies/entities/groups with the click of a button.

As we mentioned before, America is among the few countries without a federal paid parental leave statute in place, leaving many businesses without clear parental leave policies. Luckily, the FMLA steps in to help.

Check your state’s specific policy here:

Claiming your FMLA leave is challenging, especially if you don't understand the law. There are numerous forms to fill, and you need an experienced lawyer such as DoNotPay to guide you through the application process.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

Congratulations! Your American Express maternity leave, among other benefits, has come through. You can now bond with your bundle of joy without worrying about resources. But, that's not the end of our importance to you. It's a sample of what we can help you achieve.

We can also help you:

• Request sick leave
• Lodge a complaint against any entity

Join us today to learn more!