Paternity leave?

estellegetty · March 2016

My husband's company just passed a paternity leave that will give him...wait for it...EIGHT WEEKS PAID time off once the baby comes. That's more time off (paid) then I'll be getting! I am so happy right now I could cry...doesn't take much these days.

What is "normal"?

yellowrose314 · March 2016

That's awesome! I'm in Canada so our normal varies from province to province, but his private insurance through work gives him 8 weeks paid paternity at 85% of his wage, I get 17 weeks at 90% of my wage through work, plus you can apply for an additional year of paid parental leave at 65% your wage through the government of BC

schuberta · March 2016

That's super sweet! I think normal is no paternity leave in the US. Or maybe a week? US paternity (and maternity) leave is so sucky.

With my first, DH was working at a big tech company and he got 4 weeks--it was glorious! So helpful. With this baby, he just changed jobs so he'll have to use his vacation time. We are planning for two weeks. He works from home, though, so he'll still be around to help if I get overwhelmed after that.

But! His new company actually has a 3 month paternity leave program, he just can't use it until he's been there a full year. So when baby is around 6 months or so, DH should be getting 3 months off, lol. Weird, but I'm sure I'll appreciate it when the time comes!

PSUBecky23 · March 2016

My husband gets 12 weeks under FMLA. He can use any vacation days/holidays towards it. He'll likely take two.

kosmo86 · March 2016

Technically in the U.S. Paternity can follow the same rules as maternity leave. Of course that is 12 weeks unpaid leave. Since DH and I work for the same company though we only get 12 weeks combined, so of course I will be taking that!

KimmySchmidt · March 2016

My husband gets 1 week paid. He'll have two weeks of vacation, so he'll be off for three weeks.

As a part time worker I do not qualify for FMLA and will have to quit my job.

eboyd83 · March 2016

Wow. That is awesome. My husband doesn't get any time off.

hey_clever_girl · March 2016

That's fantastic! My husband's company doesn't offer any. He's saving his vacation and is hoping to take 2 weeks.

kcl219 · March 2016

My husband doesn't get any, but will most likely take a week and a half off. You're really lucky! I would love to have him home. But he also needs to be there to make money we live mostly off his commission haha.

CRich15 · March 2016

My husband will have 2 weeks paternity leave and he will take an extra 2 weeks leave.

beachmama14 · March 2016

My husband gets two weeks.. This is an improvement from the 10 days he got last time!

mom2adoodle · March 2016

DH gets 3 months off paid leave. It doesn't have to be taken all at once either which is nice. Just in the first year of baby's birth.

RedMar · March 2016

Wow 8 weeks paid is amazing for the US. So jealous!!! Last time DH took 2 weeks unpaid paternity but through in some vacay days so we wouldn't be strapped. Take all the help you can get from them!!

618mom22boys · March 2016

My husband can take a week vacation if he wants. But odd man out here and I told him not to take it. He gets two weeks vaca and one he has to use to go to a 2 week owners class (one of those weeks will be unpaid). I told him with his other week we are going on vacation with the boys

Pepper6 · March 2016

Dh gets 6 weeks of paternity leave at 100% pay, which is what he got with DD1 (same company) and it was so great having him home that long.

KimmySchmidt · March 2016

This thread is depressing me.

blondie080300 · March 2016

Me too @KimmySchmidt. My husband works for a company that is contracted by the government and he doesn't get paternity leave.

He plans on using 2 weeks of his vacation time to be off with us.

Anya Lynn · March 2016

That's amazing! And I'm seriously jealous! Mine gets no time off. So it's been saving up his vacation days. He will hopefully take a week off. But we will see. Last baby he was only home for three days before he was back to work.

Caroline7703 · March 2016

That's amazing! My husband can use up to 6 weeks out of his sick leave. I'm lucky that he is never sick and has 18 weeks saved up! He's thinking of taking 4 after the birth and then he can use the other days throughout the year when I go back to work in January.

FYI, as a teacher, my male collegues are entitle to absolutly nothing. They can take three personal days if they haven't had to take any earlier in the school year. They're very strict with our sick leave and it's only used for one's own illness. It's really a shame how we treat paternity and maternity leave in this country.

estellegetty · March 2016

@caroline7703 I'm a teacher and my school JUST passed a six week paternity leave so now the male teachers and get the same as the female teachers. About time!

Sorry @KimmySchmidt didn't mean to depress you!

star18star · March 2016

My husband will have 2 weeks paid paternity plus his company has an unlimited vacation policy (so jealous) so he'll probably take another week or two off for vacation. He can work from home so the plan is to work at home 1-2 days per week after he goes back to work while I'm still on maternity leave. It's great having a lot of flexibility in his schedule!

camichael84 · March 2016

My husband doesn't get any paid paternity leave, but he should have enough time off saved up to take off three weeks. That is the same amount he took off with DD. However, with her somehow, between paid off holidays and him flexing time, it worked out that he didn't work a full week until she was about 3 months old. It was nice, but having him home for 8 weeks sounds much nicer.

missshanab · March 2016

You are a very lucky couple! My hubby doesn't get any paid leave but he also can't take unpaid leave. His company is so small they don't fall under FMLA.

but he may have enough PTO to take off a week or two.

AMT1107 · March 2016

DH and I both work in NJ, so he will take 6 weeks of FMLA with NJ FLI once the baby arrives, so he will be paid by the state for a % of his pay. It's not much but it's something to help keep us afloat while he's home for the 6 weeks. I will also use the NJ FLI once my disability runs out.

Not sure how many NJ people we have on here but here's the link: https://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/fli/websvcs/fli_web_services.html

Tippy05 · March 2016

My husband gets 4 weeks plus whatever time off he has saved. He doesn't have to use the full 4 weeks right away or all at once but he only has 1 year to use it.

I think he'll probably take the 4 weeks and save his vacation. We haven't really talked about it too much.

LeahKnits · March 2016

My husband's company doesn't offer any paid paternity leave. He can take several weeks off, not sure how many, but they'll be unpaid unless he has vacation time to use. Which he probably won't. So most likely he's going back to work as soon as possible. If I end up with a c-section he'll for sure take 2 weeks off, but other wise it might only be 1 week. His work is pretty flexible though and he can mostly work whatever hours he needs to. So if I need him to be here during the day he can work overnight.

ssimon621 · March 2016

My hubby qualifies for FMLA, but in order to get paid he has to use his vacation time. He only has 3 weeks worth of time. He will likely take a few days after I have the baby depending on the day and since my mom will be in town he will go to work since I will have help. Then he will take a week two weeks after my due date and a week when I will go back to work intermittently for a week I don't want to miss at work.

Thscary · March 2016

DH's boss told him he wants him to take a few weeks off. His company is very lenient, so I imagine he may get two to three weeks off with full pay which will be nice

TNgoldengirl · March 2016

My husband gets 8 paid weeks too, not counting his already amazing 35 days vacation/sick. (Hard to leave that job!) Anyway, he took 3 of those weeks last time, and I was about ready for him to go back. He may take 2 or 3 this time. My BIL took the whole 8 weeks..And SIL loved it and needed the help with her recovery. However, I couldn't imagine though either of us being happy with that, nor his boss and coworkers!

Mommato4blessings · March 2016

My husband qualifies for FMLA and gets up to 6 weeks full pay and then his boss said he can take 2 weeks at half pay if needed...having 4 other children at home with one going to be in 1st grade and delivering the week school starts I will be needing him to drive for 2 weeks and get our son to and from school til I can get a schedule down for bf the baby.

diagonalley · March 2016

Caroline7703 said:

That's amazing! My husband can use up to 6 weeks out of his sick leave. I'm lucky that he is never sick and has 18 weeks saved up! He's thinking of taking 4 after the birth and then he can use the other days throughout the year when I go back to work in January.

FYI, as a teacher, my male collegues are entitle to absolutly nothing. They can take three personal days if they haven't had to take any earlier in the school year. They're very strict with our sick leave and it's only used for one's own illness. It's really a shame how we treat paternity and maternity leave in this country.

That seems wrong...my husband worked for a school district when I had my son and was given time off via FMLA. I would think the male teachers in your district would also qualify.

SuperFudge00 · March 2016

In California, qualifying fathers receive 6 weeks paid.

LeahKnits · March 2016

Mommato4blessings said:

My husband qualifies for FMLA and gets up to 6 weeks full pay and then his boss said he can take 2 weeks at half pay if needed...having 4 other children at home with one going to be in 1st grade and delivering the week school starts I will be needing him to drive for 2 weeks and get our son to and from school til I can get a schedule down for bf the baby.

Oh, I didn't even think of this. My oldest will be going to kindergarten. We'll be moving and it's possible that we'll have to drive her to school. If I end up with a c-section, I'm not supposed to drive for quite a few weeks. I asked DH yesterday how much time he's going to take off. He said probably a week. Ugh. That doesn't seem like nearly enough. But it won't be paid, so it makes sense. I hope my mom will be able to take my toddlers for a few days after he goes back to work.

sulncrmnal · April 2016

We were thrilled with the 12 weeks paternity leave that my husband was getting. A week and a half ago his company released a statement that they're bumping paternity leave up to 16 weeks. FOUR MONTHS, PAID! I don't think my husband could have emailed me that forward any quicker...lol. Considering that our first son will be three when our second child is born, I will take ALL of the help I can get for as long as possible.

vampirina · April 2016

DH gets like 6 weeks of PTO per year (that lucky rat!) He will likely only use 2 weeks post baby since his work culture would frown upon him taking more than that. He would probably qualify for FMLA's unpaid leave, but I don't think we could afford to lose his paycheck, even if it's for a short while. DH makes all the money in the family!

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