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Fathers may avail paternity leave that allows them to be away from work and care for their families when they need it. Paternity leave policies are different in different companies. Below are a few questions that have been answered regarding paternity leave: Is a male employee working in a Non Profit Organization eligible for paternity leave and what are the responsibilities of an employer regarding this leave?
Any organization that employs 50 or more people is required to grant paternity leave as per the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), along with the state’s version of the law. One may contact an employment lawyer regarding specific information one may need regarding state laws. In order to avail paternity leave, as per FMLA, does one need to be married?
One does not need to be married to be eligible to take paternity leave, as per FMLA, after one’s child is born. However, one may not be able to avail leave to care for the mother in the event of a serious injury to her as the employee is not married to her. One may avail paternity leave only to care for the baby. Would a woman’s husband be eligible to take leave to take care of the child and its mother who has had a c-section?
State laws and the Family and Medical Leave Act have a bearing on the paternity leave. If the husband is employed in a company where there are at least 50 employees working, the husband would at least be able to get 12 weeks of leave as per the Family and Medical Leave Act. Consider a situation where an employee is working in a company with 14 people in it and is employed there for 5 years. This employee has worked for at least 40+ hours a week. Would this employee be eligible for paternity leave? If yes, for how long and would it be a paid or an unpaid leave?
As per the Family and Medical Leave Act, one may be eligible for paternity leave of up to 12 weeks for reasons such as adoption or birth of a child. The FMLA would apply to an organization that employs at least 50 people and to an employee who has worked for 1250 hours over 12 consecutive months. In the scenario mentioned above, FMLA would not apply as the number of employees in the organization is only 14. A person is employed in an organization for the past 13 years. This employee has 6 weeks of vacation time to his/her credit, but the company is forcing the employee to file FMLA paperwork for the birth of a second child. The employee does not want to use FMLA now and would wish to retain it for a more serious medical condition that may arise in the future. Is it possible for the company to force the employee to take FMLA?
In the event that there is a company policy in place regarding taking FMLA, then one may need to take the FMLA leave. The FMLA leave balance may not get affected to a great extent if the leave that is to be availed is only for a few days. The unpaid FMLA leave is for a period of 12 weeks in a calendar year and if any leave is availed, it will only lower one’s leave balance for that particular year. Laws regarding paternity leave may change from one state to the other. It is important for both the employee and the employer to comprehend the laws regarding paternity leave so that one may know what one’s rights are. Ask an employment lawyer any questions that you may have about paternity leave and other related issues.
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