Male Employee Requesting FMLA for Birth of Child

hrnewbie · May 2008

Good Afternoon All,

I have just recieved a request for a male employee for FMLA for the birth of a child. On his form he has requested FMLA for a serious health condition of a spouse. He also asked to use sick leave for his 2 weeks of FMLA. I am about to contact him and let him know that he will only be allowed to use 6 days (48 hours) of sick leave and must use either comp time or vacation time to finish out the 2 weeks. My question is this....Is a male employee allowed to request FMLA with the reason of Birth of a Child and is he then allowed to use all accrued sick time to count for his two weeks he will be off?

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Susan in La · May 2008

He is entitled to 12 weeks off for the birth of the child and/or his wife's serious health condition. What is your policy on an employee using his sick leave for a family member's illness? Whatever you normally do would apply here. FMLA does not have to be paid leave, but usually if an employee has paid leave he could use under the circumstances your policies allow, he should be allowed to use it for FMLA. FMLA just protects his job. You have to hold his job for up to 12 weeks and reinstate him to the same or similar position with the same benefits.

FunHRBanker · May 2008

I could be completely off here, but I believe the father has the right for up to 12 weeks of FMLA. The regs don't specify that the employee must be female. Check your state law, but in WI he would be allowed to use sick leave for the first 6 weeks (WI FMLA birth/placement rules) then he would be subject to federal FMLA only.

Someone please let me know if I'm off my rocker here! I can't find anything that indicates gender specific rules.

Susan in La · May 2008

You aren't off your rocker, fathers are entitled to FMLA for the birth of a child.

Celeste Blackburn SPHR · May 2008

The right to take leave for the birth or placement of a child isn't gender-specific. A father has the same FMLA rights as a mother.

I believe your other question is dependent on your sick leave/vacation policy and if/how it addresses the situation.

If you would like to investigate this further, log in to our searchable database ([url]www.hrhero.com/lc[/url]) and search for "FMLA" and "sick leave." (If you have any questions about how to use the database, shoot me an e-mail at [email]cblackburn@mleesmith.com[/email])

Celeste Blackburn
Editor, M. Lee Smith Publishers

HRinVA · June 2008

If both the father and mother work for the same employer, the employer has the right to limit their FML to 12 weeks total.

juju · June 2008

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-10-08 AT 09:30AM (CST)[/font][br][br]As long as they are married. If not, I believe they each are entitled to 12 weeks.

System · June 2008

You also can find a past article from HR Hero Line about FMLA and the birth of a child at [url]http://www.hrhero.com/q&a/092206-birth.shtml[/url].

You also can find information about FMLA, employees who are expecting children, and sick leave in our topic pages

FMLA - [url]http://www.hrhero.com/topics/fmla.html?forum[/url]
Employees who are expecting children - [url]http://www.hrhero.com/topics/pregnant.html?forum[/url]
Sick leave - [url]http://www.hrhero.com/topics/sick.html?forum[/url]

Good luck,

Wendi

Male Employee Requesting FMLA for Birth of Child

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