Few people pay attention to their company’s parental leave policy until they’re about to become a mother or father. But once that happens, it’s critical to know how much time you can take off, and with what pay. Getting the leave you want is a matter of understanding your company’s policy and then appropriately advocating for your needs.

What the Experts Say
Joan Williams, a law professor and the founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, says that most large organizations have a policy on the books, but it’s rarely set in stone. “There are a lot of informal negotiations that go on with supervisors,” agrees Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the Wharton School and the author of Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty. For many parents-to-be, the company’s standard benefit is more of a starting point than a mandate. “Even when there is a policy, employees often negotiate a better situation for themselves,” says Denise Rousseau, the H.J. Heinz II Professor of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Tepper School of Business and author of I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Deals Workers Bargain for Themselves. So if you’re unhappy with what your company offers, consider following these steps to try for a more generous leave. (Note that while this advice is based on policies and norms in U.S. companies, the general advice can be used in any setting where you are hoping to negotiate a better situation for yourself):