Page 39 - May 2018 - December 2018 Issue

Dad’s

Special Leave

By Skyla Zafe, Legal Services

Pregnancy is a mind – bending and blissful time in a woman’s life. Becoming a parent is a new
chapter in everyone’s life. So soon-to-be moms, here are some tips on how to maximize your
maternity benefits:

Ang ama ay haligi ng tahanan. This is how Filipinos describe their fathers – the pillar of the home: upright,
strong and its prime supporter. Given this, the law enables dads to support their wives in child-rearing.
Republic Act 8187 or The Paternity Leave Act of 1996 recognizes that the presence of both parents is essential
in an infant’s formative stages. This law grants fathers time off work to help care for a newborn child or for a
wife who has suffered from a miscarriage. They are given seven working days with full pay, including basic
salary, allowances, and other monetary benefits. Here are a few things to bear in mind when filing for
paternity leave from work:

Make sure that you are eligible for the seven-day paternity leave. The paternity leave may be availed by
employees of the government and private companies who meets the following criteria:
1. He has to be legally married to his wife.
2. He and his wife are living under one roof.
3. His wife is giving birth or had suffered a miscarriage.
4. He and his wife are welcoming their first, second, third, or fourth child, or his wife has not had a miscarriage
more than four times. Similar to the maternity leave benefit, paternity leave is only provided for the first four
pregnancies or miscarriages.
5. He has notified his employers of his wife’s pregnancy, as soon as he learns that his spouse is pregnant or
within a reasonable period before she’s due to deliver the child. (This condition does not apply in cases of
miscarriage.)
It is best to notify your HR when your wife is due. The implementing rules and regulations require the
employer to provide a Paternity Notification Form, which must be accomplished with a copy of your marriage
contract or any proof of marriage before your wife’s due date. A copy of the birth certificate of your newborn
child, which should show the actual date of birth and signed by your attending physician or midwife must
likewise be submitted. Informing your HR and seeking their assistance will allow you to prepare the necessary
documents and will give them a heads-up of your impending absence in the office.
You may choose exactly when to avail of your paternity leave, given that it is within 60 days after the
child’s date of birth. It may be used as a continuous leave immediately before, during, and after the child’s
birth or the wife’s miscarriage, or in irregular intervals within 60 days after the child’s date of birth as long as
the total number of leaves days does not exceed seven days.

Further, the paternity leave cannot be converted into cash benefit. The leave credits are also noncumulative,
which means that seven days of paternity leave for the first child cannot be carried over when you welcome
your second baby.

Some might say that the seven-day paternity leave is too short for a dad to be able to fully extend support to
her wife as she recuperates and to take an active role in child-rearing. Lawmakers who feel the same way are
supporting House Bill 6500, which aims to extend the current seven days of paternity leave to 15 days with full
pay for all deliveries of his spouse. Although still pending in the Committee on Labor and Employment, we
hope that the pillars of our home will eventually be given more time to welcome their new babies and care for
their families.

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