Maximizing maternity and paternity leave: How 5 Long Island couples take time with baby

Megan and George Holz have been so methodical in planning their maternity and paternity leaves that the East Meadow couple created a spreadsheet to show when each will be off from work to care of their newborn.

"We are such Type A planners that we actually used an Excel file," Megan says.

It can be complicated to juggle what’s available to mothers and fathers, which can be as many as 20 weeks of time off during a baby’s first year at varying levels of compensation, from no pay at all to full pay. There’s the mothers’ potential entitlement to New York State Short Term Disability after the birth, options for time off for both parents who may be eligible for federal Family Medical Leave rights and/or New York Paid Family Leave financial support, as well as an employee's own accumulated personal paid time off and additional individual company policies.

Here’s how the Holzes and four other Long Island families are coordinating time off during their babies’ first year:

The Holz family

'We're fortunate': Maximizing time together 

• 6-8 weeks disability for mom

• 12 weeks Paid Family Leave for mom

• 8 weeks Paid Family Leave for dad 

• Total time with baby before child care: 18-20 weeks 

• Pay: Partial

Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp

The first time Megan Holz gave birth two years ago, she took everything she was entitled to as soon as Hunter was born. "I piggybacked all the possible leave I could have all at once," says Holz, 34, a senior project architect for H2M architects + engineers in Melville. She’s planning to do that again — her due date for her second son is Jan. 17.

First, Megan will be entitled to six weeks of disability pay if she has a vaginal birth or eight weeks of disability pay if she has a Caesarean section, which pays her $170 a week.

Then she plans to take the 12 weeks she is entitled to under New York’s Paid Family Leave act, which gives eligible new parents — both men and women — each 67% of their pay up to a cap of $1,177.32 per week, or $14,127.84 total. Her husband, George, 34, an energy consultant, is taking eight weeks of his New York Paid Family Leave as soon as the baby is born.

Once Megan goes back to work — she’s been working part-time three days a week since Hunter’s birth — both children will be in day care on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. She says day care has been good for Hunter — "He learns so much," she says — so she’s confident the baby will benefit from it as well. The couple has decided that George will take off two days a week for the remaining four weeks of New York Paid Family Leave that he is entitled to — Mondays and Fridays, the same two days a week that Megan is off. "When I’m home with both of them I l have a little help those days," Megan says.

She and George are saving their regular annual paid time off days for other times of the year.

"I think Paid Family Leave is really great," Megan says. "It really helps families figure out how to raise their families." Knowing what they were entitled to receive, the couple was able to save and plan financially for the time off. "We’re fortunate ... I couldn’t imagine going back to work after six to eight weeks," Megan says.

The Connolly family 

'It's going to be tight': Making a sacrifice 

• 6-8 weeks disability for mom 

• 26 weeks off employer benefit for dad, 2 weeks with mom, 24 weeks when mom returns to work

• Total time with baby before child care: 30-32 weeks

• Pay: Mix of paid, supplemented by sick time, and partial 

Credit: Demi Jacqueline photography

Danna Connolly, 32, is a teacher due to give birth to her first child on Feb. 19 — and she says she will have to return to work six to eight weeks afterward. She is able to use her accrued sick time to have full pay during the postpartum period — she says she has enough for five weeks and one day. But as a teacher on Long Island, she's not eligible for New York Paid Family Leave, she says. 

She could take unpaid time off — even up to two years — and still have a job to come back to. But she says the couple can’t afford to take the financial hit of losing her full salary. "Especially buying a home in 2024," she says — she and her husband, Steven, 36, a data analyst, just purchased a house in Ridge.

Fortunately, Steven is able to take up to six months off from his job at 80% pay. So, the couple is planning for him to take the first two weeks off after the baby is born — they’re expecting a boy they plan to name Oscar. Then Steven will go back to work for the weeks Danna is off, and then take the remaining five and a half months of his paternity leave to be home with the baby full time after Danna goes back to work.

Sacrificing 20% of Steven’s pay is still less of a financial burden than having to put the baby in day care during that time period, Danna says. "It’s going to be tight, but we can afford that," she says.

The Gernavage family

'I'm grateful:' Budgeting time and money 

• 21 weeks for mom 

• 2 weeks vacation time for dad, simultaneously; 3 weeks Family Leave followed by 4 weeks time off when mom returned to work

• Total time with baby before child care: 28 weeks

• Pay: Partial, plus paid time off

Credit: Getty Images/Jacob Wackerhausen

Jacqueline Shine-Gernavage, of Holbrook, took 21 weeks off after her baby, Arthur, was born in May 2024. She took every leave she was entitled to — which came to 17 weeks — and then added four weeks of paid time off.

Shine-Gernavage, 32, was in the enviable position of working as an executive assistant for an investment firm that covered her full pay for the first 17 weeks, she says, supplementing whatever she received through disability and New York Paid Family Leave to bring her to full salary.

Her husband, Mark Gernavage, who works for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, took two weeks off after the baby was born using vacation time. Then he went back to work. He took those two weeks at the beginning, he says, "to get us to a point where we were standing on our own two feet. Two weeks was enough for us to get situated." They saved the rest of his time for later.

Then, when Shine-Gernavage went back to work in October, Mark took seven weeks off, three of them at 67% pay through New York Paid Family Leave and four weeks of paid time off. The couple also has a toddler, Elliot, who turns 3 later this month.

"That time I spend with both kids was incredible. Just getting that one-on-one time with them is irreplaceable," Mark says. "I wish I could take more time to bond with him." Financially, though, the couple decided they took as much time as they could afford, and got Arthur to the point where he was 7 months old and had as many vaccines as possible before entering day care on Dec. 2.

"I’m very lucky that my company has such a generous policy," Shine-Gernavage says. "I’m grateful for that, but at the same time, I know many countries are able to work things out so parents have a much longer time home with their child. I wish I had that."

The Butts family

'Simple for us to transition': Self-employed decisions

• 8 weeks off for mom  

• Total time with baby before child care: The family tag-teams working hours

• Pay: Unpaid

Credit: Live Grow Photography

Faneca and Elijah Butts, of Amityville, are both self-employed, which was a double-edged sword when it came to maternity and paternity leave. On the one hand, they weren’t eligible for state programs that would have given them some financial support. On the other hand, they were in control of their own schedules and didn’t have to ask permission to take time off to bond with August, who was born in October.

"When it comes to paternity leave, it was very simple for us to transition. We didn’t have to put in for anything," says Elijah, 34, who works in the field of finance and can work from home.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t have to plan ahead, however, they say.

"Prior to even getting pregnant we planned out how to make sure we had savings for me to take three months off, where we didn’t need that money coming into the home," says Faneca, 35, who works as a nanny and a model. "That’s the only way we could do it because we had no other resources."

In the end, Faneca opted to take two months completely off and then resume her nanny job in December because she gets the children she cares for ready for school in the morning, then goes home for the day while they are in school and comes back to take them to dance or piano. The couple is able to tag team their days, with Elijah on Daddy duty in the early morning and later afternoon, and Faneca on Mommy duty during the school day hours when she is off. "It’s very flexible," Elijah says.

The Kamitsis family

'We're never going to get this time back': Spending it together

• 6-8 weeks disability for mom 

• 12 weeks Paid Family Leave for mom and dad, simultaneously

• Total time with baby before child care: 18-20 weeks

• Pay: Partial salary, to state weekly cap

Credit: Getty Images/Jacob Wackerhausen

Nicolette Kamitsis, an attorney who works in Garden City, just started her maternity leave after giving birth to a baby in January.  She plans to take her six weeks of disability at $170 per week and then the full 12 weeks of Paid Family Leave at 67% pay up to that state cap.

Her husband, Michael, 30, who works as a technician in the sports entertainment industry, is based in New Jersey, and so he is entitled to New Jersey Paid Family Leave. In addition, his employment subsidizes his pay so that he will receive full pay for the 12 weeks.

The couple could have split up Michael’s leave so that he used it after she went back to work, or used part of it just after the baby was born and the rest after she went back to work. But they ultimately decided they wanted to take the 12 weeks off together with the baby.

"I’d rather have him there than be struggling by myself," Nicolette says. And besides, she says, "It’s our first kid. We’re never going to get this time together back."

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.