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When welcoming a new child into your home - be it through birth, adoption or foster care - it can be an exciting, stressful, happy and sleepless event. Not surprisingly, most new parents have little time to focus on anything unrelated to their child. With this in mind, many fathers like to take days off from work for several days, weeks or month after the birth or adoption of a child.
The United States has no federal laws requiring companies to grant paid paternity leave to new fathers. As of June 2008, only California had laws in place granting paid paternity leave (called family leave), though laws have been proposed in several other states. Additionally, some progressive companies offer paid leave to both mothers and fathers following the birth or adoption of a new child. But in most cases, new fathers will have to take unpaid paternity leave.
Unpaid Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that grants new parents the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for:
- A newborn child
- A newly adopted child
- A new foster child
- A child suffering from a serious health condition
Fathers are eligible for unpaid leave under the FMLA if:
- The father works for a local, state or federal government agency (with some exceptions), or a private company that employs more than 50 employees within a 75-mile radius of the father's workplace
- The father has worked for his employer for at least 12 months
- The father has worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months during the previous year
If a husband and wife work for the same company, the company may limit their combined FMLA leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or placement of a foster child, to a total of 12 weeks.
Some employers require that the father take all of his paid leave (such as vacation days, personal days and sick days) before granting a FMLA leave request. Employers also may require that the paid time off count toward the overall 12-week leave under FMLA. Some states and companies permit the father to take his paid time off first and then take an additional 12 weeks under FMLA leave.
Employment Benefits and the FMLA
If the father takes leave under FMLA, the employer is required to continuing paying its portion of the father's benefits while on leave. If employees typically share the cost of benefits (for example, the employee pays part of his or her health insurance premiums), then the father may be required to reimburse the employer for his portion of the benefits.
Under FMLA, the employee cannot lose any benefits that had been earned prior to the paternity leave, but the employee may not receive credit for additional benefits or time toward seniority while out on leave.
Request for Unpaid Family Leave under FMLA
Where possible, new fathers should request leave at least 30 days in advance so that his employer can prepare for his absence. If the new father is eligible for unpaid leave under the FMLA and the employer denies his request for paternity leave, then the father may file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor. The father may also file a civil action against the company if it violates the FMLA.
Request for Family Leave outside of the FMLA
New fathers who are not eligible for FMLA leave may still request time off anyway from their employer. Some employers are quite generous with their employees and will grant the father's request for paternity leave. But employers are entitled to deny the request if the company or the employee falls outside of the FMLA requirements.