Monday, August 17, 2009

Wondering... paternity leave?

I'm curious whether the dads out there have been offered and taken paid paternity leave. Was it considered sick leave? Vacation? How much time of different kids was used/offered? Did it differ if baby was born via c-section (longer recovery period for mom/ more help needed from dad)? Did dad get just the time off while mom and baby were in the hospital? Or a few days after she was home? A week/two weeks home?

In looking around online, it seems like 5-10 days off is 'average' for the work force... and it seems 2-4 (or sometimes 8 and 12!) weeks is more the theme for churches across several denominations.

So... will you share? Even if you aren't in a situation where you've needed/used it, what is offered for dads to spend time with their newborn, help out with baby and be at home?

15 comments:

  1. I took the 12 weeks of no pay leave that I was entitled to by law when with the FD. I believe the law also says fathers can take up to 12 weeks unpaid, as well, with no penalty or fear of losing their job. My husband took about 2 weeks for each of my boys. I opted to only be out 8 weeks with my second, as it was a part time job and I could go in and work whatever hours I wanted so did so when my hubby was home. He was FD shift work at the time. The hard part for any leave for maternity for both men and women is that it is unpaid.

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  2. Well, you're not gonna like hearing how things are done here! ;0)

    We get 1 year mat leave here. Paid even! (not 100%, but still, it's something. I think it's like 67% of your normal pay, to a max). And that leave can be split with mom and dad. So if mom wants to take only one month off, Dad can take the other 11. You can also both take leave at the same time I beleive, but then it cuts into the one year time and knocks it down quicker.

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  3. meant to add before I too quickly hit the reply button that I know my advice is of absolutely no help to you. But I thought I'd share my input anyways! LOL.

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  4. My husband works for JP Morgan Chase. They offer a significant leave for both moms and/or dads, as long as that parent is the primary caregiver. The secondary caregiver parent gets a week of paid leave, I think. At least that is what my husband is getting for our adoption. Of course, that is in addition to any vacation, sick, or personal time off and FMLA leave, which is up to 12 weeks of unpaid during which you cannot lose your position.

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  5. My husband is a resident MD and I think his coworkers who's wives had a baby recently each got a week off. Not sure if it was paid or unpaid though.

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  6. the military is now offering 1 wk (9 days if you weekends on each end) as paternity leave. The women get 6wks off regardless of type of delivery.

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  7. My husband took 12 weeks (no pay) leave after our twins were born. Ok he actually went in like one day a week but that was just to cover our insurance so we didnt have to pay that out of pocket!

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  8. My husband took time off AFTER I was out of the hospital to help and it was a week the first time and two weeks the second time. It's pointless to have my husband take time off while I was being cared for in the hospital. We hired a sitter for those four days each time then he took his time off.

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  9. I live in Norway. Over here we can chose maternity leave for 46 weeks with full pay, or 56 weeks with 80 % pay. Dads get 10 of these weeks, I belive.
    No, I am not kidding! :)

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  10. My husband took vacation time. Don't know if they even give paternity leave where he works. However, he does work from home many days a week so that helps.

    You can use the rolling 12 weeks provided for in FMLA http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/html/12week.asp

    But they don't have to pay for it. But you can combine it with vacation and they'll pay the vacation part.

    Good luck.

    Jan

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  11. Moot point since I'm not married, but I work for a small company which is NOT covered by FMLA since we have less than 50 employees. When I brought my two children home, I went back to work after 3 weeks (we don't even really have maternity leave) so dad could take what he had in sick leave as long as the company was tolerant of it. So, count your blessings. It was hard going back so soon, but it worked out.

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  12. Where I work ( public school system) they offer 12 weeks unpaid family leave for both moms and dads. And you can tack any sick time you have accummilated on top of it.

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  13. My husband works for Target. They get 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave. It's the same for either type of delivery and also applies to adoptions.

    ...hope you guys can figure something out =).

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  14. It all varies by employer. At a minimum both spouses, if employed, are entitled to a 12 week, unpaid FMLA (family medical leave). If you have vacation/sick time-many companies require that you use the paid time first-as part of the FMLA time. If your doctor works with you, you can also take the FMLA as in 'intermittent'/spacing out the time-but the reason would have to be clearly stated. Hope this helps-Pam

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  15. None officially for "paternity leave" but we have liberal leave when it comes to sickness/personal time and vacation. Not to mention, pretty flexible schedules.

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