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What is fed gov't policy for paterntiy leave?
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sybersus
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| Hi all, my husband just started work today with the federal government. I'm due in September, and I'm wondering what the policy is for paternity leave in the federal government. Are men allowed to take their vacation and sick time as paternity leave? I imagine he won't have much by the time the baby comes, but every bit will help. Also, I'm assuming that he will be allowed to take 12 weeks off total under FMLA, although a bunch would be LWOP. Can he work part-time for a while? Thanks for any info you can provide. I was shocked to find out that the feds don't provide any maternity leave benefits, as most employers I've worked for give women and spouses/partners anywhere from 2-6 weeks of maternity/paternity leave. |
Anonymous
sybersus
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| Thanks. It looks like from the DOL links he is probably not entitled to any FMLA time off, as he will not have been there a year. Sigh. I'm hoping his agency will be a little more lenient and at least let him take a small amount of LWOP. I don't know what I am going to do without his help!! |
Anonymous
| OP, can he do advanced leave? My DH took off 3 months with our first child and 1 month with our 2nd, but he had been was govt employee for quite a while by then. |
Anonymous
|
Unfortunately, I think FMLA only kicks in as an entitlement once you've been employed somewhere for 12 months (and the links the PP posted back that up).
That said, policies on leave/part time/etc can really vary between agencies (and even within agencies). By this I mean that even though they're not required to let him take LWOP under FMLA, they may very well allow him to. It's also standard at my Agency for men to use sick/vacation time for paternity leave. They may even allow him to take advance paid leave too. There are a lot of variables, so his best bet is probably to check in with his manager/hr rep/etc and get the lay of the land. |
Anonymous
| I killed most of my sick leave, but I'd been saving up for a long time. As far as agency leeway goes, good luck dealing with HR in a fed agency- there is a form for everything, but usually no one agrees on which form |
Anonymous
| He should be able to use some sick leave/advance sick leave. Agree a lot depends on his supervisor. |
Anonymous
| I'm 14:07 with the husband who took off 3 months and 1 month. His supervisor never asked him to designate his leave as FMLA...so they worked it out amongst themselves. I don't know if that is technically "legal" in terms of HR stuff though. |
sybersus
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| Thank you all so much for the info. I'm hoping he'll be able to work something out with his supervisor. Appreciate the info! |
Anonymous
I started working for the govt when I was in my 1st trimester. I agree that you should check with DH's office. My office was super flexible - let me take 3 months off LWOP, work part-time for another 3 months. They offered me the option of using advance leave, but I didn't take it. I encourage him to work his butt off between now and then, so his supervisors know he's a good worker and are willing to bend a little for him. |
Anonymous
| It depends where he works. Even within DOJ, for example, the different divisions had different rules. |
Anonymous
| I just wanted to ditto a previous poster in that you may not need to deal w/ HR and he may be able to take leave and not designate it FMLA leave. Different offices have different policies on how much LWOP a supervisor can approve, for example. He definitely should be allowed to use any accrued SL to take care of a family member, though by Sept. he will only have a few days accrued, though he can advance some leave-- same w/ annual. |
sybersus
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He's at DHS, office of policy. Keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some flexibility. Thanks! |