paternity leave for DH/DP?

[Adnil]

i was just wondering how much/ if any paternity leave your partners are entitled to?

my DH is a primary school teacher, and is only entitled to the day that i go to hospital and that is all. i am a bit surprised by this, especially as teachers are pretty well looked after most of the time with leave.

one day seems like not a lot to me, and i thought that things had changed more than this.

would love to hear how everyone else has gone with this one,

Linda

[BellyBelly]

I think most companies that offer paternity leave offer it as unpaid leave, with lots of varying amounts of time as to what you can take. With John, he had to use his annual and / or sick leave and they just classed it as paternity leave. Because he had heaps of annual leave owing to him, he took 5 weeks. Kinda unfair, as I would have loved to use leave for a holiday, but we used it for help at home with the baby instead.

[Adnil]

thanks kelly,

DH has weeks and weeks of sick leave owing to him, but apparantly he cant use it for this? doesnt really seem fair.

he can take long service leave, but he is not due for that for another 18 months, so that doesnt help... [-(

Linda

[Fenella]

My DH is not entitled to anything (he's not covered by an award or anything) but his work is great about unpaid leave and he can use annual leave as well. We are also hoping he'll be able to go part time or work from home once our baby is born (others at his work have done similar things so fingers crossed he can!).

The place I work for men can get 2 weeks' paid paternity leave as well as being able to take annual leave, but I don't believe this is especially common.

[Megan]

At DH's work they are currently in negotiations for 4 weeks paid materinity/paternity leave which would be wonderful. If not, he would just have to use his annual leave. Luckily he already has 6 weeks owing, so when it comes time I'll be able to have him home for at least a month even if they dont end up agreeing to paid paternity leave.

[Fee]

At my work, male staff members with 2 years continuous service are entitled to 5 working days leave on full pay. This leave has to be taken within 1 month of the birth of the child.

As for DH's work ... I'm not sure what the policy is there. He'll just have to save up his annual leave!

[Kelli D]

My DH was entitled to 3 days paid paternity leave.

At previous jobs, he had to take annual leave.

Hope this helps!

[Candice]

my DP is very lucky, his work (a government funded, Church based, child welfare orginisation) allow 6 weeks paternity leave,(currently in neg for 8 weeks) which needs to be taken within 12 months of the birth, He has also been allowed to accumulate his overtime through the pregnancy..

I beleive that the time given to him is not real common and this organisiation offer it as they are focussed on child welfare and so feel obligated to do these extra things and also because DH's job itself is VERY high stress and they really need that time off in the first year..

[Adnil]

wow candice, that is great that your DH gets that much time off.

i guess it sounds like most men have to take annual leave to be home after the birth. the problem with that for us is that while teachers do get quite a few holidays throughout the year, they do not get to choose when to take them. our bub is due 2 weeks after school holidays, so it will be 8 weeks before DH gets to be home with us, which i think is going to be a bit hard.

anyway, thanks all for letting me know about how it has gone for you.

Linda

[misty]

DH is entitled to 6 months paid paternity leave, if he is the primary caregiver. other wise I think he is entitled to a couple (3? i think?) of weeks paid paternity leave when bubs is first born. he works at a university.