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In general, FMLA is an unpaid leave. If your husband's company offers compensation while on FMLA, he'll need to look into the specifics of that and how it works and whether he's entitled to be covered the whole 12 weeks or something less.

I believe with FMLA, you can take it at any point within the first year for bonding, but I'm not sure how that works. I think when you set up your leave, you would just tell them when you'll be taking it and how long you will be out. His company will presumably have some sort of leave manager or HR who deals with this sort of thing. For my company, Cigna manages our FMLA leave, so when I took mine, I called them up and told them about when I was taking the leave and for how long and stuff. I had to give more medical information, but that was for the short term disability portion of my leave.

Good luck to you and your husband! He's definitely entitled to take FMLA, but my husband didn't end up using his, so I don't have a ton of advice on how it works!

My husband gets a 6-week leave paid at 75%, but he's going to take it after I go back to work.

Clarification: Think of FMLA as more of a job hold guarantee than a "leave" plan. Under current law, if your husband's employer is covered under FMLA, then they are required to allow him to be out for 12 weeks (does not have to be consecutive) every 12 months to care for an immediate family member. Because FMLA is just a job hold guarantee, there is no compensation associated with FMLA - which means that you can take leave that is covered by FMLA as unpaid leave *or* - depending on company policies - you can take sick or vacation time during your FMLA time to get paid.

If your husband's company offers paid paternity leave as a benefit, that is *separate* from FMLA, although - depending on his company's paternity leave policy - he may need to show paternity in order to take the leave. You would have to look at the company's policy to see whether the paternity leave has to be taken immediately after birth and whether it can be broken up.

If your husband's company offers paid paternity leave and he is eligible for FMLA, he technically can take the paternity leave *and* FMLA if there was an additional medical need.

@septca: I swear I’m not stalking you today , but again, you’re 100% spot on.

FMLA isn’t “generally” unpaid – it’s ALWAYS unpaid because it has absolutely nothing to do with pay. All FMLA does is offer job-protected, unpaid leave for a max of 12 weeks (26 in very specific circumstances for military service members). Receiving pay while you’re out on FMLA leave will vary depending on your company and your individual benefits package. Short-term disability provides pay while out of work, PTO/vacation/sick days provide pay while out of work, certain employers pay offer paid leave packages while you’re out of work, but FMLA offers zero pay.

Per the Dept. of Labor, FMLA bonding time needs to be taken as a continuous block of time, unless intermittent time use is specifically approved by your employer.

My husband had 12 weeks off paid after LO was born, but that was a function of when she was born (he’s a professor, she was born 2 days after summer break started). Had she been born during the academic year, he would have taken 12 weeks off under FMLA *and* it would have been 100% paid, but again, the pay portion is a function of his individual employer and benefits package.

I would direct specific questions to your HR department and/or your FMLA administrator.

@yoursilverlining:

@Cole: Yes, they definitely cannot deny him taking FMLA. But they may be able to deny paying for his leave - that will be company specific! Good luck to you!!