The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

chapter 5 | leave for a new child | 79
Your professional experience likely confirms what studies show:
Providing parenting leave enhances employee loyalty, morale, and
productivity. Perhaps this is one reason why the parenting leave
provisions of the FMLA have generated so little controversy and opposition
and have resulted in relatively few complaints to the Department of Labor.
Employers and employees alike benefit when employees are able to take some
time off to care for a new child.
That nearly everyone agrees on the value of parenting leave doesn’t mean
that everyone understands exactly how the rules work, however. The basic
parenting leave provision of the FMLA provides that qualifying employees
of either sex are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave for the birth, adoption,
or foster placement of a child. As with other parts of the FMLA, however,
things get complicated when you take a closer look at the details.
Some of the confusion surrounds the definition of “parent” and “spouse,”
while some is a result of the interplay between parenting leaves and medical
leaves related to pregnancy or caring for ill children. For example, a female
employee may request leave for the birth of her child, as well as leave for a
pregnancy-related medical condition—two different categories under the
FMLA, which can affect when the female employee is entitled to take leave.
On top of these complications, if both parents work for the same company,
the FMLA treats married parents and unmarried parents differently.
This chapter explains the FMLA’s parental leave entitlement. It covers leave
for birth, adoption, and placement of a foster child; timing requirements for
parenting leave; and how to calculate leave rights when an employee needs
both parenting leave and leave for a serious health condition. This chapter also
describes the rules that apply when both parents work for your company.
Leave for Birth
Under the FMLA, biological mothers and fathers are entitled to leave for
the birth of a child. Parenting leave for the birth of a child isn’t limited to
the birth itself—it’s also for bonding with and caring for the newborn. And
in contrast with leave for a serious medical condition, employees requesting
parenting leave don’t have to show that the child is ill or requires care.