Legal Forum
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
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Posted: 2001-08-01 14:58
If a father wants to stay home with the new baby while the mother is still at home, and the baby and mother are otherwise healthy, can he exercise his FMLA rights? When is a baby no longer considered a "newborn"? Could he "care for the healthy newborn" after his wife goes back to work in six weeks" and be on FMLA?
nork2
Joined: Sep 13, 2001 Posts: 1037
Posted: 2001-08-01 15:04
Yes. The father is just as entitled to parental FMLA leave as the mother. If mother and father are both working for the same employer, then they can have a total combined FMLA leave of 12 weeks between the two of them.
JimCarabetta
Joined: Sep 13, 2001 Posts: 3335
Posted: 2001-08-02 05:51
Carl's correct. The child being otherwise healthy and having the mother at home to provide care notwithstanding, the regulations recognize the opportunity for the child to "bond" with either parent or both. Whether the newborn actually requires care from one parent or the other is academic.
As far as the definition of a newborn, the regs provide that any leave taken for the birth or adoption placement of a child be CONCLUDED one year from the birth or placement. In your employee's situation, the full 12 weeks would be available up to the time when the newborn is 40 weeks old. After that point, the entitlement for leave under the "care for a newborn" qualification would be reduced to whatever number of weeks are left between the start of the leave and the child's first birthday.
EpsteinBecker&Green,P.C.
Joined: Sep 13, 2001 Posts: 8461
Posted: 2001-08-02 06:28
Carl and Jim are on the money, assuming, of course, that your company is subject to FMLA and the father is eligible for FMLA leave. (If mom is your employee as well, she would also need to be eligible for FMLA leave in order to have a right to the leave under the statute. For both mom and dad, your company is free to give broader family and medical leave to your employees than the FMLA requires.)
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Posted: 2001-08-01 14:58 
