Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

VIII. Paternity Leave ...continued...

Questions You’ll Want to Ask HR

• May I have a copy of the company’s family and medical leave policy?

• Am I eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid family leave under the FMLA?

• Am I eligible for paid or unpaid family leave under state law? How much and when can I take it?

• Does the company offer paternity leave? And if so, how many days?

• Is it paid or unpaid leave?

• If it is paid, but not at my full rate, how many weeks are covered and at what percentage?

• Can I take additional time if I need to care for my wife because of complications? Will I need a doctor’s certification? Will that be counted as FMLA leave? Can I use my own sick leave?

• How many vacation, personal, or sick days have I accrued?
• Can I use those days however I want to?

• Am I required to use accrued vacation, personal, or sick days before any other kind of leave?

• Can I take vacation days that I haven’t accrued yet – i.e. days that I will be eligible for by the end of the year?

• Will I have to wait longer to be eligible for a raise if I take unpaid leave?

• Will I have to wait longer to be eligible for more annual vacation time if I take unpaid leave?

• How will I pay my health insurance premiums while I’m on leave? Will the employer pay and then seek reimbursement or should I send a check directly to the insurer?

• Will I still be covered by my group life insurance while on leave, and (if you pay a premium for extra coverage) how do I pay those premiums?

• Are any other benefits affected by my paternity leave

Planning Paternity Leave if You Are Self-Employed
If you are self-employed, planning for paternity leave will be a bit like planning for any vacation. You’ll need to make sure that clients or customers are taken care of in your absence and that your employees or colleagues know how to get in touch with you when necessary.

You will obviously want to review your income and assets to determine how to cover business and personal expenses while you’re not working.
If you plan to utilize short term disability coverage (either public or private) for your wife’s maternity leave, you should make sure that it is researched and applied for before any pregnancy. Check the coverage for pregnancy and postpartum benefits. See the Short-term Disability chapter above for more information regarding short term disability payments

What Can I Do if I Can’t Afford to Take Unpaid Leave and Paid Leave is not an Option for Me?
If you have run all the traps and have ultimately determined that you will not be able to take paternity leave due to the financial burden of unpaid leave, you can still try to arrange your time so that you spend substantial quality time with your new baby.

You can try to arrange to work from home periodically. You can ask about working overtime before the baby is born and then trading the overtime for some extra time off after the baby arrives (some companies call this “comp time”). 

Schedule her pediatrician appointments so that you can attend during your lunch hour – even if you have to take an early or late lunch.

Work out a schedule with your wife so that you either take the baby to daycare or pick her up – allowing you some short but regular one-on-one time with her.

Regardless of which option you choose, your commitment to your baby is amply demonstrated by your efforts to spend time with her. Paternity leave is a wonderful opportunity for the two of you to get to know one another – and to help Mom out a little. But even if you can’t take paternity leave, every minute that you share with that little one will become a building block for your relationship

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