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The Politics of Paternity Leave
By Rochelle Caviness
Maternity leave has become so ingrained into the work environment, that if a woman were to elect not to take it, she would be looked at oddly. However, when a man takes paternity leave, he often faces subtle prejudices. Everyone would agree that a male has just as much right as a female to have the time and the opportunity to bond with his newborn child. Yet, when it comes down to the actual practice of paternity leave, many men have found that their employer and co-workers are less than supportive.
- Despite all the social advances that have been made - babies are still viewed as woman's work, and not a man's.
Family Medical Leave Act
Whether or not your employer is supportive of your desire to take paternity leave, he may have no choice but to let you go. If you work for a company that employs more than fifty full time employees, you may be covered under the Family Medical Leave Act. This federally mandated law states that you are allowed to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave for such reasons as the adoption or birth of a child, or to care for an ill family member.
- Under some circumstances, your request can legally be denied. One such instance would be if allowing you to take leave would place an undue hardship upon the company.
- Except in a few unique situations, your employer is obligated to reemploy you when your leave is up. However, they do not have to reinstate you in the same job that you had when you left. If you cannot return to your old job, they must offer you an equivalent job that provides you with the same stature and pay as your old job.
Should You Take Paternity Leave?
Although you are legally entitled to take paternity leave, it is wise to think over you decision carefully. Talk to other men within your company that took paternity leave.
- How did the company treat them? Where they penalized for taking leave?
- Did it affect their promotion schedule?
- Was the company supportive?
While you cannot be overtly discriminated against, for taking paternity leave, you may still face certain long-term repercussion. This can happen if you work for a company or boss that sees your taking of leave as if you were using it as an excuse to take a 'vacation'. They may also see it as a form of disloyalty, and that you care more for your family than for your job. It is outrageous, but many companies have the mentality that work comes first, and family concerns should never interfere with work.
- If this is the attitude of your company, you may want to consider if you even want to work for them at all. If they give you difficulties over taking paternity leave, you are almost guaranteed that things will not get any easier when you need to go to a parent-teacher meeting or when you need to stay home because your child is ill.
Why Don't More Fathers take Paternity Leave?
Few American men in take advantage of paternity leave. Those who do take paternity leave usually take no more than a week off from work and more often than not, rather than taking actual paternity leave, they use their vacation time. Why?
- The biggest reason more men don't take paternity leave is money. Most cannot afford to take unpaid time off from work - especially when their wife is on maternity leave herself.
- The second reason is that many men fear that taking paternity leave will adversely affect their careers.
Paternity Leave Around the World
In America, paternity leave is an overlooked and underused benefit. In most countries, that offer paternity leave, it is seen as a blessing. For example,
- In 1998, Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland took all the paternity leave he was entitled to - six days, complete with a paternity 'allowance' in place of his salary. Rather than being looked upon as dereliction of duty, he was praised for his actions.
- In Trinidad and Tobago, when legislation was enacted to allow paternity leave for police officers, the move was heralded as a means of increases men's self-esteem and strengthening family life.
- In Denmark, fathers get four weeks of paid paternity leave.
- According to a report on the BBC, most European Union companies are family-friendly, with "…44% allowing paternity leave and 94% leave for family emergencies." Even more impressive is that 80% of the time this was paid leave!
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