Since the birth of our first child is drawing near, I’ve started getting my paperwork together for paternity leave, which gives me occasion to complain about the sad state of the same, here in the good ole USA (“where at least I know I’m free,” as Mr. Greenwood is fond of saying, for whoever is willing to pay him). The Family Medial Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, guarantees certain rights to employees. It grants up to twelve weeks of leave (due to illness or family illness, birth of a child, or adoption of the same) in any twelve month period. The protection here is for the position itself. FMLA doesn’t require that your employer pay you while you’re out, just that he not give your job away.
I’m not sure what the national policies are (or if there are any), but, around here, you can use up to 80 hours of sick leave and, if you like, all of your vacation leave while you’re out on FMLA. This is the only way to stay out and still cash a pay check. After that, you’re on your own. And, if you stay out long enough to be in unpaid status, you’re required to pay both your own and your employer’s contribution of your health insurance. No body can afford that, so I’ll be taking the 80 hours of sick and whatever vacation time I’m willing to spend (knowing we’ll need to fly home this fall and show off the baby to our friends and family back in Arkansas).
I don’t want to look a gift horse in the teeth. It’s a step in the right direction that our government protects employees against employers who might be tempted to simply fire anyone needing time off. But keeping a position open is fairly meager protection. I would like to spend more time with my new son. And, as much as Americans pride themselves on being supportive of the concept of family, we are, collectively, rather less interested in providing the economic underpinnings of them. God forbid I were to work for a company with fewer than fifty employees; such companies are not required to provide leave under FMLA at all.
Paternity leave varies by country, and many (including the good ole USA) offer no paid paternity leave at all. Among those who offer any, the range is from one day (Saudi Arabia) to 480 days (Sweeden). A surprising number offer at least a few days. Rwanda, Argentina, Guatemala, Paraguay, Indonesia, and the Netherlands all offer two. Algeria, Uruguay, and Turkey provide three. These are not necessarily a better deal, as I’d rather take unpaid leave and still have a job to come back to, if it came to that, than have a few paid days off without such assurances. But it does, as with most things of this sort, give me pause.
