Paternity leave/Family Leave

jferrer1212 · June 2015

Happy Father's day to all dad's & dads-to-be! I know policies can vary per state, but hubby & I are discussing today!
My mom says new dads go right back to work, but am I missing something? I thought new dad's also get some time off (paid or not) available to them. I know everyone's details will be slightly different and depends on if you're an employee or self employed etc. What are you new dads/moms plans for papa to bond with baby?

MarleneG88 · June 2015

I live in California and with my first dh qualified for pfl, 6 weeks of paid time off at about 60% of his regular pay and 6 weeks unpaid. I'm not sure if that's available in every state or not

willashbaby · June 2015

Well most companies have no such thing as paternity leave. Thankfully our baby is due right after the year rolls over for DH for vacation time. He'll take a week if I deliver and come home right away and two if necessary or there are complications.

fragglemom · June 2015

Most businesses allow dad to take a week unpaid. Generous, right? Insert eye roll *here*. My husband has to use his vacation time and he only gets 2 weeks. I'd rather he take just 1 week because I still want to take a vacation next year. Did I mention he works for his brother? Not my favorite in-law.

Sahara26 · June 2015

DH doesn't get any paternity leave. He gets 3 weeks of vacation time per year that restarts on his hire date. So he will take a week off after I have the baby. Hopefully there are no complications where he would need to take off more time because he is allowed to sell back his unused time. The extra money with a new baby will be especially helpful.

raychelmarie33 · June 2015

3 weeks paid paternity leave.

aphilli8 · June 2015

My husband gets two weeks paid, which is actually pretty generous considering many get none.

GhanimaAtreides · June 2015

DH is military, they provide 10 days paid paternity leave. He'll also have 50+ vacation days on the books by January.

Honestly, after a 3-4 day weekend, I can't wait for him to go back to work. With the last LO, 10 days was more than adequate. I think I was dying for him to go back.

GhanimaAtreides · June 2015

Also... what kind of company only does 3 days a year that don't roll over? Don't most jobs do at least a week? DH was a Home Depot associate 2007-2009 and even he had 10-15 days.

fragglemom · June 2015

@Lizzie5831 I know I'm going to feel the same way when the time comes! Too funny! In all seriousness I think it's going to kill him to have to go back to work with us at home.

bananers · June 2015

Last time DH took two weeks of vacation time and he'll do the same this time. He doesn't get any specific paternity leave, but his company has a generous vacation time benefit.

kemerson531 · June 2015

I could be totally wrong here, and someone correct me if I'm full of it, but I believe the FMLA applies to "parents," not just mothers.

My husband and I were researching this last night, and he's checking with his office next week to make sure we're not totally crazy, but from what we read (in our state at least): if your SO works for a company of more than 50 employees and have worked there for over a year, they are entitled to 12 weeks unpaid time off. Some of that time may be covered by vacation pay if you choose.

Again, please correct me if I'm wrong, because if love to know all the facts too!

willashbaby · June 2015

Technically yes re FMLA but I assume most people here are inquiring as to paid paternity leave. Which in most cases involved fathers using their vacation time.

laurae110 · June 2015

Dads can get 12 weeks unpaid if they qualify for FMLA. In California, 6 weeks of that is paid at 55%.

bananers · June 2015

willashbaby said:
Technically yes re FMLA but I assume most people here are inquiring as to paid paternity leave. Which in most cases involved fathers using their vacation time.

Yep, this.

amyelise25 · June 2015

I believe you are correct about FMLA. 12 weeks unpaid for the qualifications you mentioned. I'm sure most will let you use accrued sick and/or personal leave during that time to keep a paycheck coming in. There aren't many companies that do traditional paid maternity or paternity. It's so sad. I work for the government and I won't get paid time off (it will all come out of my accrued leave). Luckily DH gets 4 weeks paid paternity leave.

I get angry about this topic because the U.S. is the only industrialized country that doesn't mandate paid parental leave.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2617284

khf221979 · June 2015

I think a lot of it depends on the company you work for. The company my husband works for only offers 1 week paid paternity leave. The company I work for offers 6 weeks 100% pay then 6 weeks of unpaid for all fathers. I really wish they offered more than that bc I would like DH home with me for more than a week.

thereisalight · June 2015

I'm honestly surprised to see multiple people on here that get offered paternity leave. I only know one person IRL that works for a company that offers that benefit. The U.S. makes me so mad concerning this topic. I get nothing, DH gets nothing. He'll take 2 weeks of vacation time. I will go on FMLA, all unpaid.

mamaksweez · June 2015

My hubby gets 2 weeks/ year for vacation/ sick time. He is planning to take one of those weeks when baby comes.

Monilee1017 · June 2015

DH gets a ton of vacation, he's never used all of it and some can roll over, so he will use that for the week the baby is born. My mom lives by us so she will take a week off and come to the house everyday, she does for every grandchild. My MIL will do someonthing similar but focus more on the older kids. DH also has a job where he can work from home when need be. So days of appointments before I can drive again DH will work from home so he can drive me to them.

arose3eb · June 2015

This topic annoys the poo out of me. I just found out two days ago that since I changed my employment status to per diem at the hospital to accommodate my nursing school schedule, I basically don't even qualify for a protected maternity leave. It's technically 1 hour of maternity leave per 40 hours worked as a per diem. And I've worked the requirement of 24 hours per month to keep my job while in nursing school....so I'm pretty much SOL. Plus my husband works in software sales at a start-up that has 7 employees. About to have to make some crappy decisions.

enkb · June 2015

My husband and I own our own business and are the only two employees, so I'm still really unsure what we will do right around the birth. I'm hoping we can get my mom and dad to cover the shop for the first week so we can both stay home, but they don't really know how to do much other than keep the doors open so we'll see how that goes.