Saturday, November 10, 2012

Parental Leave

With Monday right around the corner, a lot of people have been asking us if we are taking any time off from work.  As neither of us are pregnant, there isn't the automatic assumption that we need recovery time after a birth.  While we might feel like we need some recovery time following the entire adoption process, that isn't anything compared to actually giving birth to a baby  :)

When thinking about dads and paternity leave, I did some searching and found a really fun infographic online about paternity leave around the world.  As many people may know, the US has the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which requires employers to give employees up to 3 months of unpaid time off from work for a birth or adoption.  In comparison, many other countries provide paid leave for fathers.  For many dads in the US, paternity leave simply isn't an option because it's unpaid.

On our end, we want to take as much time off from work as possible to care for our first baby.  It'll cost a little bit, but we've also been saving up to prepare for the full range of adoption costs.  Between the two of us, only Andy's employer will offer paid leave (up to 1 month).  To help answer some questions on how we're handling our paternity leave, here is our current schedule:

Nov 12th to Dec 2nd - Both Andy and I are on leave!

Dec 3rd to Jan 1st - Andy is on leave.  I'll be on partial leave working from home off and on.

Jan 2nd to Feb 3rd - Andy is on leave.  I'll be working full time.

Feb 4th to Feb 17th - Andy goes back to work full time.  I'll take 2 weeks of additional leave.

Feb 18th - Begin day care.

Overall, Andy is taking 3 full months which is fantastic.  My job is more demanding.  While a full 3 months of leave is legally allowed, it would likely be a bad career move on my part.  Being involved in high profile projects can be both really cool, but also really demanding at times.  However, I think Andy and I will really be able to take a lot of time off for the baby.  We'll be together at home for a while, and there will also be plenty of visits from family and friends which means we'll have one (hopefully!) happy little boy at home.

1 comment:

  1. It is so sad how this nation treats new fathers and new mothers. I almost didn't qualify for FMLA because I work 20 hours a week and basically you have to work 24 hours a week to qualify. Luckily I had picked up extra shifts and barely made my hours, but it made me sad that the U.S. thinks that if you're a full-time worker your baby needs you but if you're a part-time worker your baby doesn't need you. How in the world is that fair??? Congress is not family friendly like they say they are.

    ReplyDelete