Should Men Get Paternity Leave from Work - Essay Example

Memorandum of Law Paper: “Should men get paternity leave from work?" The parental leave is the unpaid or paid benefit that is always given to the employees off work to arrange for the welfare for their children or care for their new born children. In most cases, the parental leave usually include paternity, maternity, and adoption leave (Einarsdo?ttir 23). However, it should be noted that law often provide minimum benefits for employees who are guaranteed or allowed such leave. Naturally, it has been a norm for women to be offered maternity leave while fathers being disregarded or denied such leave with most employers regarding such leaves unnecessary. Nonetheless, the giving men paternity leave should be considered necessary and healthy for the growth of the child at his or her earlier stages of growth as well as for the wife. Different nations often have different laws and regulations managing the paternity leave. Most countries offer paid parental leave that is immensely considered maternity leave. However, this kind of leave is only for employees who have worked in their current job or with their current employers for a certain period of time that is either specified by different labour laws or different company policies and regulations. The national laws usually vary significantly depending on the politics governing each jurisdiction. Before analysing the benefits of paternity leave either to the mother or the father, it is vital to analyse the existing child care policies (Einarsdo?ttir 85). Constitutionally, there are three vital child care policies that include the parental leave policies, child care policies, and early childhood policies. The parental leave policies often assist the employed parents prior to giving birth. These policies require that the parents remain home for a period that they are able to take good care for the child once he or she is born. The main advantage of these policies is that they allow parents (who in most cases, is the mother) to prepare psychologically and materially for the coming of the child. Otherwise, they may be caught unaware, and such may lead to complications in many different ways. The child care policies targets at assisting parents in the non parental child care (Valdimarsdo?ttir 55). These policies are vital in subsidizing any type of care the parent may be will to select or rather public parenting programs. However, it should be noted that the child care programs serve the working and the non working parents. Finally, there are the early childhood benefits (English 23). These are new policies that have been initiated to support parents in all their day to day child care. In the United States, the government offers the early childhood benefits in the form of cash grants that aim at covering the costs for caring for infants and or toddlers. The United States among other countries including Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea are the only states in the entire globe that do not have national laws mandating paid time off for the parents expecting or having new born. However, in the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides up to twelve weeks of potentially unpaid but job protected leave. This kind of leave also engulfs the parental leave, and it is usually provided to all American workers (Einarsdo?ttir 57). Therefore, provided that the provides unpaid leaves, men should be allowed parental leave to help in early childhood caring since the employer is not bound to any liability of time wastage or paying an employee for the time he never worked. It should be noted that the state of California never mandates paid family leaves including parental leave for the same sex partners. Except of the above tensioned countries, many countries often offer more than ten paid weeks of maternity leave. Nearly 163 countries constitutionally give women paid maternity leave and the same leave should be given to men. It is necessary to note that parental leave is essential for both parents especially the paid leaves since they give parents enough time to provide postnatal but especially the prenatal care that often reduces or lowers accident rates thereby allowing strong sense of bonding within the family. The leave will allow the family an opportunity to relax and unite thereby creating the family spill over. The motherhood manifesto holds that, the paid family leaves often help companies by saving money that could otherwise have been used on recruitment and training new employees. Therefore, the companies may run at loses when they refuse parental leaves to men since it will mean or translate in hiring and training new employees (men), if the existing one leave on the ground that they are not given parental leaves to care for their families especially the new born (Valdimarsdo?ttir 128). Additionally, according to the motherhood manifesto, paying employees while on leave often translate to high job satisfaction that often translates to high productivity and high returns. It should me noted that the arrival of babies may create tension in families especially when they had no time to deliberate on the parenting issues and requirements. Therefore, to evade such stressful life among married couples, it is vital for employers to be restricted by law to allow or give paternity leave to men so that they may be as well as their partners may be prepared to receiving their new born child or children (Sweetman 47). Nonetheless, it is vital when such leaves are guaranteed to men as their female partners; they should make essential use of the same in the advantage of growth and development of the family in the wake of a new family member. It should be noted that despite giving men paternity leave, it is equally vital that there are structured institutional laws and regulations that guard the dispensation of such leaves to employees. Form some recent studies, it has been evident that many male retail industry employees specifically 39 per cent have adequate time, but they never make good use of such time to seek for paternity leave (English 46). Moreover, the equity and human right commission conducted a study that reflected that about 45 per cent of male employees fail to take the already law provided two weeks of paternity leave when their wives give birth(Gelb, and Palley 54). From these studies and surveys, it is evident that there are lots of time that most employers may consider un-wasted; thus, it is such that should be converted to laws that compel men to take paternity leaves towards helping their wives with the early childhood care. Could men not be taking their paternity leave on the pretext that they are never informed or rather lack knowledge on the existence of such leaves. If this could be the case, there should be labour laws that enlighten both men and women on their rights to paternity leaves; however, the current standard measures and requirements for guarding persons who are qualified for paternity leaves must be put in play to ensure companies or employers do not engage into losses as they roll such programs. Some of the qualifications and requirement that numerous laws that require men to be given paternity laws include the requirements that a man may only be qualified for paternity leave when: He has worked for the same company for more than 26 weeks from the day they he is seeking such leave They must request for the paternity leave not less than 15 weeks before the date the baby is to born The man seeking for the paternity leave must be the biological father of the expected child; otherwise, The mother’s husband or the partner, this requirement often applies in cases the parents are in the same sex relationship or The child’s adopted partner or the father of the adopter In cases where the leave is guaranteed, they should be given the same day the baby is born or specific days or weeks after the birth of the child and this may be either days or weeks before birth or days or weeks after the date of birth. The duration of leave is also a vital factor in the paternity leave. In most cases, fathers are often allowed two weeks of paid paternity (English 58). The duration of the leave will only be vital only if it will help in the nurturing and helping the mother recover and accept the challenges that are usually associated with caring of the new born. Therefore, these two weeks paternity leave for men should be consecutive to facilitate constructive child and wife caring (Sweetman 76). Moreover, it should be noted that, in cases of twins, men are still allowed the same paternity leave. Hence, it is vital that male employees be advised on the same duration and duration similarities so that there may be reduced confusion but rather high degree of awareness of such periods of full time new born caring moments by the father or male partners. Significantly, it should be addressed with a lot of concerns with it comes to stillbirths. During these situations, men as well as their female counterparts should be given elaborate and extensive paternity since it is the same period that the involved parties will use to go through all necessary processes to healing and accepting the death of their unborn. Most law provisions often provide women 24 weeks. Notably, the same principles are often applied when the child dies at birth. Most of the maternity leaves are often paid, and the same should apply to the paternity leave to be given to men. It should be noted that the current statutory rates for the paternity leaves is usually approximately 123.06 pounds per week or an equivalent of 90 per cent of an employee’s weekly salary. It is vital to note that these rates are often applied in Europe specifically united kingdom; hence, if men in the United Kingdom enjoy such privileges, it is profound that the same be applied in the United States as other parts of the world economies (Carlsen 189). On the other hand, male employees may opt for unpaid leave. For instance, in the United Kingdom, male employees are often allowed unpaid leaves for up to twelve weeks and this often apply during the first five years if the child’s birth. Therefore, the united state may introduce laws that may allow unpaid fathers’ paternal leave. The varied nature of the paternity leaves often depend on the different companies’ policies and regulations. However, these differences can be synchronized and minimized by laws (English 47). Despite the in involvement of some specific laws for the paternity leaves, some employers often offer better paternity benefits; therefore, before the government and the health care institution lobby for the enactment of any law that permits fathers to be give paternity leaves, it is upon the same government through its identified programs a health sector to corporate the employers and check their policies in line with paternity leave (Gelb, and Palley 27). The most appropriate department to be consulted is the human resource representative since they are the sole custodians of the institutional information regarding each employee. Most nations are trying as much as they can flex their muscles to ensure that their citizens are as comfortable as possible especially in their families. In the administration of the president Obama, the United State enacted federal and state laws that allowed unpaid paternity leaves. Despite these initiatives, the current surveys that have been conducted over the same have revealed that most of the United States’ male worker assuredly take or ask for these leaves (Carlsen 241). Could it be that they love their jobs more than they love their kids? If the answer to this speculation could be no, then it would be appropriate for the government and the health care provider to analyse and correct such measures. Additionally, it should be noted that more than fifty per cent workers in the United States often covered under the paternity leave laws since most of the employees cannot afford to take up the unpaid paternity leave. On the other hand, the other bunches of about fifty per cent employees who are never covered under the federal and state laws are never legible for the paternity leave. According to the director of The Fatherhood project, James Levine, at the Families and Work Institute of the New York City, many men are never interested in the paternity compared to other forms of leaves (Gelb, and Palley 70). Numerous research-works have indicated that men in the united states never take paternity leave and according to these researches, there is a powerful stigmatization against fathers who often work in part time to take care of their children. Other research works have also contributed by concluding that about forty per cent of fathers usually opt to stay in their offices rather than taking care of their newly born (English 146). However, a research in the year 2003 indicated that there are different ways through which men take their paternity leave depending on the relation between them with the child. For instance, according to the research of the forty per cent of the men that often taken paternity leave, most of them are those who relate to the kids through adoption; therefore, it is vital that the government and the ministry of health to sensitize the public on the profound benefits of the fathers’ being involved in the taking care of children (Gelb, and Palley 94). However, the disparity in the paternity leave may be due to flexibility in such leave. In other words, it is apparent that employers may be subjecting the employees to different benefits at a different point or in relation to the nature of the relationship between the father and the child. In cases where the father is the blood parent to the child, some employers usually lose the sense of providing both parents with a paternity leave to only care for a single child (Carlsen 64). However, all blood fathers’ to the new born are never given the same treatment, but in most cases, they are often unaware of the availability of such leaves. Addressing the issue of equal treatment pegged on the relationship, fathers’ to the adopted children are often considered for, the paternity leave, as opposed to the biological father. The main bond of contention in this case is the presence of the mother; therefore, distribution of paternity leave between these parents may be adverse to employers (Valdimarsdo?ttir 88). Therefore, it would be advisable that there should be a law or laws that provide equal consideration of the parents for especially fathers for the paternity leaves regardless of the nature of relationship between the father and the child. Additionally, men have been reluctant to take paternity leave since they are immensely pegged on their jobs rather than focusing on their families. To help reduce this problem, the law makers should introduce laws that will compel the employers to reduce the working hours so that men can get home in time. Early and frequent arrival home will make men strongly bond with their families that when the new born is yet or received, they will ever demand or need to stay close to them thereby seeing the sense of paternity leave. The bonding of the fathers with their families will make even the coming or future male negations have the sense of the significant of the family; therefore, regarding the paternity leave as an essential father in maturing a baby just before and weeks immediately after birth. It should be noted that the federal family and medical leave act (FMLA) require that all employees be eligible to not more that 12 weeks of unpaid leave; however, the job for those who are on leave must remain secured. Nonetheless, this act should be amended since it has weak points that may be making men uncomfortable to take up such leaves. More importantly, it would be out of order for someone or an employee to sign for a leave and not to expect payment when on leave. Twelve weeks are equivalent of three months, for persons who have little or no saving may find it too difficult to manage their lives during this period since they will not be having any cash inflow, but a lot will be used to in the daily up keep of the family and the new born child. Therefore, it is vital that act to be amended to allow or incorporate some numeration for men while they are on paternity leave since it is clear that such leaves are vital in boding and development of families. In addition, such leaves will remain health for those who take up the same. Therefore, it is vital to note that men should be giving paternity leave for the health growth and development of the society. Works Cited Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Carlsen, Soren. Men on Parental Leave: How Men Use Parental Leave in the Nordic Countries. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, 1998. Print. Einarsdo?ttir, ?orger?ur. Through Thick and Thin: Icelandic Men on Paternity Leave. Reykjavik: Committee on Gender Equality, 1998. Print. English, Holly. Gender on Trial: Sexual Stereotypes and Work/life Balance in the Legal Workplace. New York, N.Y: ALM Pub, 2003. Print. Gelb, Joyce, and Marian L. Palley. Women and Politics Around the World: A Comparative History and Survey. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print. Sweetman, Caroline. Men's Involvement in Gender and Development Policy and Practice: Beyond Rhetoric. Oxford: Oxfam, 2001. Print. Valdimarsdo?ttir, Fri??a R. Nordic Experiences with Parental Leave and Its Impact on Equality between Women and Men. Copehnagen, Danemark: TemaNord, 2006. Print. Bottom of Form Read More