In the US, how does this work for most companies? Do husbands get paternity leave if their wives are taking maternity leave?
I plan on taking 3-4 months with my standard maternity + supplemental disability. DH will probably only take of couple weeks tops, but will he have to use his vacation days?
What did you and your husband?
honeydew / 7968 posts
i don't think my husband has paternity leave. if any, it would probably be at most a week. he'll have to use his vacation days.
pea / 18 posts
My husband gets 4 wks paternity leave - 100% paid. But I think we are the exception,, I don't think most workplaces offer anything near that much.
cherry / 135 posts
My husband also gets 4 weeks paternity leave - 100% paid. I think it depends on the company, etc. My husband is an attorney at a large law firm, so I always joke that they accommodate wives by offering paternity leave since it is the only time he will get to see the baby (he regularly works 10-12+ hour days).
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
My husband gets to use his vacation time for "paternity" leave. I don't think his company even has FMLA (they are under a certain amount of employees) so he couldn't take extended time off unpaid w/o fearing he would lose his job.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I'm a SAHM, I quit my job before I got preggo due to health reasons, so I didn't have to worry about maternity leave.
All of my hubby's vacation and sick days are all in one bank, so he just had to make sure he saved up enough days and he could take whatever he wanted. He took a week off, and then worked from home a week.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
I think it's company specific as to whether he would get leave and if so, if it's paid or not.
My husband is a surgery resident and actually gets 2 weeks paid paternity leave (@eupenmalmody, I think it's the same idea that he'll never get to see us after that, LOL!). He is in a VERY male dominated specialty though (orthopedics) and he doesn't think that the men typically take both weeks and instead they only take 1 week. He's going to find out what others do, though. Right now, the plan is for him to take at least 1 week off right when the baby is born (end of May-ish), then take 1 week's vacation in July and another week off in August (he gets 4 weeks paid vacation a year). I will be on maternity leave all summer so I think spreading out the weeks off will be good for us.
pear / 1723 posts
We were just talking about this last night, and hubby is planning to take 6 weeks off, and then take the remaining 6 weeks available through FMLA in the form of 1 day/week off for as long as possible. He doesn't have official paternity leave, but will use a combination of sick and vacation time so he will get full pay during that time.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
I'm not expecting yet, but my husband and I have already talked about this. His company does have FMLA but he is only going to take a week off and use his vacation to do it. At his company they look down on fathers taking a lot of time off after a baby is born. Luckily his mother is retired and will be coming to stay for a while when we do have a baby, so I will still have lots of help after he returns to work.
grapefruit / 4554 posts
At my husband's small office he's the only male (out of 4 workers) and will take one week off when the baby comes. It depends on how busy they will be.
kiwi / 623 posts
My husband gets 6 weeks for paternity leave with full pay. He can also take additional time off through FMLA but is unpaid. We're still trying to figure out whether he is able to split up the time vs. taking it all in one chunk.
nectarine / 2019 posts
DH will have to use vacation time. He'll probably take a week or so. Luckily for us he works 2nd shift from 3-midnight, so if I needed help all of the other people in our lives will be around at night.
honeydew / 7917 posts
My husband used vacation days to stay home with us for the first week. I wish more companies would offer paternity leave.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
The US has a long way to go as far as maternity/paternity in comparison to Canada!! :'[
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
My husband had 2 weeks paid, but that's what the company offered, not the country (Switzerland).
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
My husband gets paternity leave at his current company. I'm not sure how much it is but I think it's two weeks paid. His company actually calls it "secondary caregiver" leave, so if he was going to be the primary caregiver he would get two months paid, even though it's technically paternity leave. Since we're not TTC yet, he may not work for them when we do have a baby, and that will be something I'd want him to consider if/when he moves on.
nectarine / 2458 posts
It has nothing to do with the country you live in, just where you work. Even in other countries where Paternity leave is more common, a specific company could say no to it.
But, hubs gets 2 weeks off - all of the US military branches give 2 weeks paternity leave.
kiwi / 537 posts
My company offers paternity leave (I actually got it in my leave too because they can't discriminate)
My husband's company doesn't offer anything because they get so much vacation time over the course of the year - he had started there only 2 months before I delivered so he had barely anytime - and actually had to go back to work the day after we came home from the hospital. it sucked, I was really surprised that his boss wasn't a little more understanding 
| Member | Posts |
|---|---|
| winter_wonder | 2 |
| DesertDreams88 | 1 |
| Mrs. Pajamas | 1 |
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 0 | 1 |
| Posts | 1 | 3 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
18 comments