Have you ever had to take a medical leave from work? If you have, then you know it’s not as easy as one would think. The law states that covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for designated purposes, but is it really that simple?

Whether you are getting ready for adoption or a new baby, taking care of a family member or yourself with a serious medical condition, there will be a lot happening in your world. For me, taking family leave was definitely worth it, but it certainly wasn’t easy. The mental and financial preparation was quite an experience.

The first step is to pitch the leave to your HR dept and your boss. You need to prove to them that your job will be covered while you are out of the office and out of touch. This is not an easy task and can cause some serious mental anguish because, in reality, it is not 100% possible. Your ‘master plan’ involves coercing your team to help cover you while you are out, setting up adequate communication between the team and your manager, telling your business associates who to go to while you are out, and setting some reasonable goals for the team to achieve while you are gone.

However, a good plan may not be enough. What about all the day-to-day things that change? Everything might look good on paper but what happens when something unplanned comes up? Even if HR and management signed off on a great plan, flexibility is needed to deal with how the unexpected gets handled.

My advice: be ready for the plan to change and have some alternative scenarios set up. You know your team, your workplace and your manager, so consider the possible realities. Also, don’t say you’ll be available if something comes up right away because, in reality, you won’t be able to. You may think you can handle it, but you’ll have other priorities… You could be comforting a 1-week old baby, trying to breastfeed, or terrified that you are doing something wrong — a call from the office about any BS will not be welcome. Be real and let it go.

Things likely won’t go according to plan and the best you can hope for is that (1) your team will move forward in some aspect — they will because there are some great people on your team, right? and (2) you will still have the same job when you return. After a few weeks of being out, you may want to touch base with the office in case some damage control is needed.

Now the financial preparation for leave isn’t much easier. If you are eligible, you may have some vacation or sick days you can use for part of the leave. If you are lucky, you work for a company that provides a paid leave. (If you work for a company that does, please tell us so we can promote them!) Most likely you will try to work additional hours prior to your leave to help cover your missing salary while you are out. This will help pay for the bills that keep coming even though you aren’t working. The down side is that you are trying to work more when you have a lot of personal preparation to do. It may not be the best time to work more, but the additional funds will relieve some of the financial burden of taking time off.

As you plan your leave, create a budget immediately so you can see how you are – and will be – spending. Understanding your finances is important to reducing the stress of your situation. The impact of not bringing a paycheck, combined with additional costs related to the reason you are taking a leave, can be immense. Look for ways to cut costs now and in the future. Once again, face the reality and do the best you can. In the end, it usually works out somehow.

I don’t want this to a deterrent from people taking a leave, but consider it a reality check. In the end, it is worth it — life is about family and giving back. For me, being able to spend time with a newborn and getting to know each other was definitely worth the difficulties. We are lucky that we can take a family leave and still be guaranteed a job at the end, especially in today’s economy. We can only hope that our employer will work with us to helps make this life transition easier in some way.

In the recent OIWC Career Satisfaction survey, the highest ranking benefits relating to family are paid family and/or medical leave (76% said this was important) and allowing her to work flexible hours following family/medical leave (77% said this was important). If you are currently employed with a company that has these benefits, rejoice! Not all of them do. If you don’t, encourage your company to work towards these benefits so that employees can keep the jobs they love while caring for their families.

 It would be nice to hear about experiences people have had regarding medical leave. Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. Even better, let us know about the companies that offer great benefits to their employee so we can give them the kudos they deserve. What is your advice on how to make taking medical leave easier?  Please share!