How Does Paternity Leave Work?

What Is Paternity Leave?

Everyone has heard of maternity leave. It is when a mother takes time off after her baby is born to bond with him and in most cases recover from the delivery. But paternity leave is not as popular or used as often. It is when the father takes time off to bond with the baby and help out at home while the mother is recovering. Unlike maternity leave that has a medical reason attached, paternity leave is rarely paid. Payment is entirely up to the company that the individual works for. Paternity leave itself can be anywhere from a few days to several weeks, but to date most men use vacation time or personal days to take time off for the new addition in the family.

FMLA

The Family Medical Leave Act helps some men be able to take paternity leave with their newborns. Federal law mandates that employers with 50 or more employees or government offices must allow employees to leave for family medical purposes. A newborn falls under this act and can be used by men as well as women. It guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for adoption or birth of a child. It also guarantees that the employer has to have a job for the employee when he returns to work. This applies only to employees that have worked for the employer for a year or more and more than 1,250 hours.

Under certain circumstances an employer can deny family leave if it can prove that the employee's absence would harm the company financially and that the individual is paid within the top 10 percent of overall salaries. When this is proven, the employer doesn't have to keep the job open for the employee.

The Downside

Even though it is illegal to discriminate against an employee that is out on leave, unfortunately it does happen to men who ask for paternity leave. This sometimes prevents men from asking for the leave. They do not want to be looked upon unfavorably and fear for their jobs. The best way for a man to broach paternity leave is to first check and see if anyone has requested it before and how that person was received. If no one has ever asked before, then the individual has to decide whether he wants to be the first to start a new trend within the company. If he decides to ask, he should give as much notice as possible so that the company can prepare for it. Usually as soon as the first trimester is over is best.