Should men get paternity leave from work?

They do. It's called FMLA, look it up.

I'm aware of that. It's not specifically "paternity" leave, though. Women have "maternity" leave. Should men have "paternity" leave?

Maternity or paternity leave are usually company-specific. The woman's medically-allowed time off is usually capped at 6 weeks (unless there are problems), which may or may not be covered under short-term disability/maternity leave policies. After that time, they switch to personal leave time, since FMLA allows them to be off up to 12 weeks, if they meet the criteria.

Paternity leave would not be covered under a sick-time/short-term disability, unless he somehow figured out a way to push that sweet baby out of his [censored]. It would just be covered under the Family portion of FMLA.

You are wise Thank you for wearing the HR hat.

Actually...I got 3 weeks as my son was born via C-Section...may want to check that resource.

The resource is the US Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. What your company allows, paid time, or if you don't apply for the FMLA (they don't always advertise that this is an option), is one thing. The FMLA law protects your position within the company if you take time off for a qualified family event (birth or adoption of a child, to take care of yourself if you are sick, or to care for a sick family member.

Now, someone else mentioned that if your company is small, this law doesn't apply (as it would adversely impact your business), which is true. You also have to have worked a minimum of 12 months AND 1250 hours (during that 12 month period) in order to be protected by the law.

A company (meeting the # of employee criteria) cannot legally override a federal law for their own purposes. If you meet the qualifications, you are able to get protected time. This, again, is an UNPAID leave, for both men and women. A company can choose to allow you to take vacation or sick time to be paid during this time, but it is not required. The point of the law is to allow people to take care of their medical business without worrying about not having a job when they get back.

Also - the job you come back to is not necessarily the one you left. It just has to be an "equivalant" position within the company.

Here in Canada, a couple (if there is a couple) is given 12 months leave from work (with 80-85% pay covered by the federal government).

How the heck did you get 80 - 85% covered by the government? Employment Insurance is not that high. The max you can get is just over $400 per week. That was not even 50% of my pay on mat leave

Ya, it's only a 55% coverage or the 1500-1600 a month, whatever is less. I certainly didn't get 55% of my pay - would like to know how you swung 80-85%!

Women get maternity leave for 3 months in Canada. After that they can take the remaining 9 months of maternity leave or the other parent can take paternity leave. Or any conbination of the months. TOTALLY fair! Sometimes the woman makes way more!

Why not? They do in Canada and Germany with pay from the government if the company is not willing to pay for it. And we think Americans have it all........pffffttt!!!

Oh, Americans may have things but common sense is lost! I am American so I have full bloody right to say so. But, it is my opinion we're not the only ones without common sense though. We generally just pay people to sit on their *kitten* their entire life while the rest of us pay for them.

My 2 cents to the discussion is, yes, men should get paternity leave. Just because it's in the FMLA doesn't mean they get paid for it - depends on the company you're working for. And who knows, maybe I need to read the FMLA in greater detail. Anyway, my husband was given two weeks, paid paternity leave and I could not have done it without him. I had an emergency c-section and was not able to move easily and/or move with our son. Plus, it is a HUGE adjustment in life. Everyone needs some time to let the 'new-ness' settle.

They already have that option here in Canaduh. Mat leave is 52 weeks paid (capped percentage of your prior income and your job must be held for you while you're gone. Men can take paternity leave but however many weeks they take is deducted from the mother's 52 weeks.

That's because yer a pack damn dirty commies!

This is such an ignorant view of Canada. We are FAR from being commies, we just take better care of our people! We happen to value life, health, family, and education, and we all pay to have these supports. Jealous? You should be, because we have all this AND FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!!!

Hmmm, ask the business owners who have to pay for all this federal overreach how much freedom they have when they are required by law to give employees 52 weeks off AND hold their jobs because they chose to have a baby.

I think a modest amount of paternity leave is a reasonable benefit for a company that seeks to attract and retain quality employees. I am not at all in favor of the government requiring it. That should be solely the decision of the person(s) who put everything on the line to build the business.

The money comes from Employment Insurance ( Unemployment Insurance). Holding a job for a year does give way to have 1 year contract positions and people can make a good living at that.

That being said... some employers are cautious about hiring women in their child bearing years.

Here in Canada, a couple (if there is a couple) is given 12 months leave from work (with 80-85% pay covered by the federal government).

How the heck did you get 80 - 85% covered by the government? Employment Insurance is not that high. The max you can get is just over $400 per week. That was not even 50% of my pay on mat leave

Ya, it's only a 55% coverage or the 1500-1600 a month, whatever is less. I certainly didn't get 55% of my pay - would like to know how you swung 80-85%!

My sister in law's employer paid the balance of what the government didn't....so she bascially got 90% of what she was making normally. Must be nice! I only got the $400.00.

They do....it is called the Family Medical Leave Act. It even applies to adoption as well as birth. It is 3 months of leave with no pay but the benefits and position stay intact. My husband took a week's vacation after we had our 2nd.

Yes. The organization that I had worked for full time had a policy to meet the requirements of the FMLA. The policy was similar to the above, except with pay. If the employee met the guidelines for extenuating circumstances, then leave was extended without pay, but benefits and position remained with the employee.

The FMLA covers an array of types of medical leaves including the care of elderly parents, children, or spouse/partner.

Oh... and while we are talking about time off and pay and what not, I would like to take this time for a little PSA.... Ladies, if you are not yet pregnant but are wanting children in the future... I highly suggest looking into Short Term Disablity.... especially if your employer does not pay for FMLA time off. The reason I say this is you could get a portion of your needed time off (I want to say up to 65% of your income) during the time you are out... depending on what company it is will determine the duration. I learned this the hard way after we had our first. :-/

I just looked it up, my STD insurance is 60% of income, up to a maximum benefit of $1250 a week.

I couldn't agree more! I work in HR with a school district and I don't know how many of our employees have ended up pregnant but didn't take the STD or didn't buy up to our best plan, starting at day 8 (district pays up to a base salary for coverage starting at day 31). They end up struggling by the end of it.

Also, the link below shows the maternity/paternity leave for many countries. Sadly, only 2 or 3 countries provide unpaid leave and the USA is one of them. I am completely for paternity leave - my husband was a huge help while I was on leave!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

I think men should get paternity leave.... And according to some of the post I read, I should basically move to Canada?

Meh. Are you suggesting that the man would ACTUALLY help out during that time?!

Mine did. I had a rough c-section recovery.

I had a rough one too, Jon helped alittle but it sucked all together

Oh... and while we are talking about time off and pay and what not, I would like to take this time for a little PSA.... Ladies, if you are not yet pregnant but are wanting children in the future... I highly suggest looking into Short Term Disablity.... especially if your employer does not pay for FMLA time off. The reason I say this is you could get a portion of your needed time off (I want to say up to 65% of your income) during the time you are out... depending on what company it is will determine the duration. I learned this the hard way after we had our first. :-/

I just looked it up, my STD insurance is 60% of income, up to a maximum benefit of $1250 a week.

I couldn't agree more! I work in HR with a school district and I don't know how many of our employees have ended up pregnant but didn't take the STD or didn't buy up to our best plan, starting at day 8 (district pays up to a base salary for coverage starting at day 31). They end up struggling by the end of it.

Also, the link below shows the maternity/paternity leave for many countries. Sadly, only 2 or 3 countries provide unpaid leave and the USA is one of them. I am completely for paternity leave - my husband was a huge help while I was on leave!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

Thankfully, where I work I am able to accrue sick and vacation time and bank them until I have like 30 days of vacation and over 1000 hours of sick time (we get about 4 hours of each each pay period)... So I had the 6 weeks paid... but it definitely would have been nice to been able to go an extra week or two with the STD insurance... because with the disability insurance my company provides, they will pay out even if you are being paid in full from sick/vaction time... As soon as open enrollment happened this time around I snatched that up like a frog to a fly... so I can have a bit extra time next time... Especially, since it will be our second.

I think men should get paternity leave.... And according to some of the post I read, I should basically move to Canada?

Amen! Right there with ya!

I think they should have leave. My son was in the nicu and I had to stop taking pain pills after my csection so I could drive to see him daily. My husband is a wonderful father and is 50/50 with raising our three children.

I'm just glad my company has good benefits.