Paternity leave - how did your employer react?

Gigglepig

It would be interesting to hear other people's experiences, good or bad with dad taking more than the standard 2 weeks paternity leave.

We are expecting our first and have started to vaguely think about maternity/paternity leave arrangements. My OH may be interested in sharing some of the leave, but we are concerned about how his employer may react, and that this may impact negatively on prospects for promotion & pay review.

(I am concerned about how my employer will react as well, but since I am giving birth some leave is basically inevitable....!)

I am also wondering how flexible the system is. Say if the mother returns to work after 4 months and the dad goes on leave for say 2 months, is it possible to swap back again so that the mum goes back on leave for the last few months?

determined_new_ms

the company i used to work for was very good with its policies (most big companies can't afford the bad press) however once maternity ends that's it. So it would be best that you take off as much as you can and then the father has the remainder up to a year. hths

Gigglepig

Thank you. We have ok policies at work too - but it doesn't necessarily mean that taking leave goes down well with senior management. Even if the policies are in place, it doesn't seem to be that common for men to be on leave, so we are concerned that it may give negative impression.

rpc

I am currently in the middle of 5 weeks 'paternity' made up from paternity, parental and annual leave.

My boss's attitude was that my priorities are clear and there is no point him fighting over it, so he said to tell him what I wanted and he would make sure HR made it happen.

Bear in mind that the current arrangements to assign AML are very inflexible. You cannot simultaneously take leave using the transferrable weeks. The mum takes some time and goes back to work. The dad can then take a certain amount of the remainder. Apparently that is equality.

It will depend a lot on your employer and your OH's role.

Mad-Frog

Ask your OH to see the HR policy

My work has paternity leave until 12 months after baby is born, never looked on as a negative even when one person took a paternity day on new years eve.

pmlindyloo

Just in case you need an overview of it all here is a good guide:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_rights_at_work_e/parental_rights_at_work.htm

of course your work contracts may give you more entitlement than this.

Gigglepig

Thank you. It would be really interesting to hear what experience dads have had with taking several months off on paternity leave.

Gordon_Hose

I got 2 weeks paternity leave on full pay. All I had to do was complete a form and return it to HR, who then approved the leave. I then had to email them on the day I started PL, which was the day my son was born.

You would need to refer to the specific maternity/paternity leave policy of the company he works for.

Gigglepig

Thanks. We are aware of what the formal rights and policies are, but are keen to hear what sort of attitudes & reactions one may encounter.

Basically practical experiences dads have had with taking several months (more than just the typical two weeks) off on paternity leave.

Gordon_Hose

You shouldn't even take into consideration the attitudes and reactions of management. Take what you're entitled to, what they think is irrelevant.

How about speaking with ACAS to see what you could do if his employers do start playing silly !!!!!!s?

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461

Gigglepig

We are very interested in how management may react. Right or wrong, they are the ones who will make future decisions regarding promotions and pay rises so their attitudes will matter.

I don't know anyone who went on extended paternity leave, perhaps people only get positive feedback and no impact on their career prospects at all... one can hope.