[Purrybonker]

Living in Canada and being responsible for a fairly large staff, I'm kinda used to managing workload coverage through maternity leave scenarios. In Canada women (and men on an unpaid basis I think) are entitled to benefit/job protected leave for up to 12 months with a part of their pre-leave earnings paid by the government. (there is a max based on pre-leave income and years worked).

So basically, women can take a year off with their employer guaranteeing them a job (not necessarily same job) upon return to work and picking up the tab for their benefit coverage during the absence. This is legislated. The gov't picks up the tab for the earnings compensation. Works slick as crap through a goose - allows women to manage career w kids. Happy employees are good employees.

I was suprised to catch this article on the wire yesterday:

With little public debate, the United States has chosen a radically different approach to maternity leave than the rest of the developed world. The United States and Australia are the only industrialized countries that don't provide paid leave for new mothers nationally, though there are exceptions in some U.S. states. Australian mothers have it better, however, with one year of job-protected leave. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act provides for 12 weeks of job-protected leave, but it covers only those who work for larger companies.

even more interesting...

To put it another way, out of 168 countries in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

Let us help you toss off those victorian, draconian shackles our dear American & Australian friends! Capitalism can co-exist with social values. No really, it can!