You’ll need to save up your vacation or personal days or make sure you have short-term disability coverage.

While you might be guaranteed to retain your job as you bond with your little one, thanks to the You’ll likely have to come up with some alternatives, like taking a paid vacation or unpaid leave, to make up for the lack of paid medical leave.The Best Investment Accounts For New InvestorsFirst of all, even though there’s no federal requirement to provide paid maternity leave, there are a few states that require certain employers to provide paid family leave — and this might include paternity leave as well. This kind of leave is rarely paid. It may be easier for you if others have successfully blazed the trail.You can use your unpaid leave in any way you want during the first year after your child is born or placed with you. Opinions are the author's alone, and this content has not been provided by, reviewed, approved or endorsed by any advertiser.We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. With parental leave in place, whether childbirth or adoption is a method of introduction, it’s possible for both parents — no matter their gender identity — to bond and participate in parenting activities. Similarly, both men and women support expansion of the FMLA.To determine how taking leave might play at your company, find out whether other men have done it and how they were treated by their co-workers and bosses. Highly recommended too is setting up a life insurance policy before you add a new member to your family. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour DivisionEven if you're not eligible under the FMLA, you may still be eligible for leave under your state's provisions, which are usually more generous than the FMLA, or under your company's policy.What if my employer denies my request for paternity leave? If you don't get immediate results, consider hiring a lawyer who is familiar with employees' rights to help you.Your company may require that any paid leave you take count toward the 12 weeks allowed under FMLA. In researching his book with Armin Brott, Your employer may even require you to pay back the money spent to maintain your health insurance while you were on leave. In the meantime, though, most fathers take vacation time or sick days when their children are born, and a growing number of new dads are taking unpaid family leave from their jobs to spend more time with their newborns.All pregnancy, parenting, and birth videos > But Parke believes societal factors are primarily to blame. There are companies in the United States that recognize the importance of providing paid maternity leave. We make every effort to maintain accurate information.

Statutory Paternity Pay. You can also check with your company’s paid family leave policies.
Discuss a flexible start date with your employer. Let your boss know your expecting — and the probable due date.Paid maternity and paternity leave isn’t the most common among U.S. companies.

Photo credit: Consider discussing paternity leave with your employer as soon as you're ready to announce the pregnancy – usually after your partner's first trimester, when the chances of How can I find out if I'm entitled to unpaid leave?National Partnership for Women & FamiliesTalking with other new dads about how they managed time away from work might give you more creative ideas about how to take time off to bond with your newborn child.If you're affiliated with a labor union, ask your union representative or your manager whether you qualify for leave under union rules.If reason doesn't work and you believe you're entitled to leave, contact your regional office of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division to file a complaint. You’ll just answer some questions and choose a policy from the quotes you’re presented.

SPP is the legal minimum your employer must give you. Open one of our recommended investment accounts with as little as $5 Once you start planning your parental leave, there are a few tips you can use to help you through the process: save up money as much as you can every monthBy breaking these items into manageable chunks, and preparing over the course of months, it should be possible to make the most of the time to do as much as possible to smooth the transition to parental leave — and transition back to work. A phone call from the Labor Department to your employer can often resolve problems.Start by talking to your company's human resources department. iStock.com / monkeybusinessimagesYou may take FMLA leave, vacation time, or possibly accrued sick leave if you're adopting or taking in a foster child. Statutory Paternity Pay. Comments may be held for moderation and will be published according to our When paternity leave is part of the equation, men are more likely to be engaged in parenting activities.