Family Leave Policy

It is vital to recognise the long-term value fathers uptake of parental leave brings to children’s wellbeing, reduced gender stereotyping, family economic stability and women’s employment prospects. Researchers Duvander and Jans (2009) found a decrease in gender stereotypes within the family and an increased involvement with children, which last as the child ages. The research revealed that the longer the length of leave taken by fathers, including where parents had separated, the greater amount of contact fathers had with their children as well as the greater amount of time they spent on household chores compared to fathers who took little to no leave (Duvander & Jans, 2009; Hass & Hwang, 2008; Ray, Gornick & Schmitt, 2010). Research has shown the important impact of fostering a relationship between both a child’s mother and father has shown a positive long term for a childs cognitive development and social and emotional wellbeing (Cabrera, Tamis-Lemonda, Bradley, Hofferth & Lamb, 2005; Sarkadi, Kristiansson, Oberklaid & Bremberg.

The birth of a baby is a very important time in the lives two of parents. During this time all parents should be allowed special bonding time with their babies. Nearly 20 years after the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it is time to take stock of U.S. policy on parental leave, particularly as it affects infant care and child development (Time off with Baby). The problem with this Leave is that it is unpaid and sometimes parents can’t afford to not work and take care of their family.

Throughout time and history women are perceived as a housewife, mothers, and givers; while men are breadwinners, fathers, and receivers. Women have strived to change this stereotype for years, and while sometimes this stereotype disappears for a subtle moment, it always will resurface. Especially, when it comes to maternity leave. Men and women are given an equal amount of time to care for a newborn, but somehow the father returns to work in a matter of days. Why is that, you may ask? It is because America has generalized American into their known stereotype. And because of this, we see men returning to the workforce in a short amount of time. Men, along with women, should have a paid extension from the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for their child, create the bonding link between child and parent, while tearing down the stereotypical assumption wall between man and woman.

Prior to 1993, the United States did not have any legislation that gave employees leave time in case of family or medical emergencies. The only exception was the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1979 that required employers that offered temporary disability programs to cover pregnancy as a disability (“History of the FMLA Legislation,” n.d.) In early 1993, Congress passed the FMLA and President Bill Clinton signed it, putting into effect in August 1993.

The Family and Medical Leave Act was introduced by President Bill Clinton in January of 1993. This policy was implemented for Americans to be awarded the opportunity to take time off and care for their new child or sick relative. In order to qualify for this unpaid maternity leave however, an employee must have worked for a business for at least twelve consecutive months, accumulating at least 1,250 hours of work, and be employed by a business who has a minimum staff of fifty employees. Although this policy offered many newfound benefits for mothers to be, it however did not address the potential health or economical impacts endured by new parents.

As a person I personally do not mind paying more taxes as long as it actually went to people who are in need of assistance. I understand that there are people in our society struggling and I believe they should have access to programs that could help the better themselves. The system in which people are picked for the program is flawed because it can easily be tricked which is how people who do not need the assistance can get in the programs.

In addition, the effects of paid leave on labour market additionally widen past parents as well. For example, paid leave influences employees' wage rates and may be biased against females since employers make known that female workers may have children later on. There are incentives for unfairness on women if paid parental leave really expands the expenses to the employees. The absence of workers causes costs on employers, this may incorporate leave administration costs, enlisting and preparing replacement costs which will diminish the profitability level (Commonwealth of Australia, p. 24). Nonetheless, on the employee side, the incentives to remain inside labour force and to pick occupation and employer are dictated by the expenses and advantages

In today’s day and age it is hard for the average woman to completely breast feed. Most woman are pressured to get back to work as quickly as possible. I personally have never worked at a job that offers paid maternity leave. To me that right there is a pressure. Sure I can have maternity leave from my job which pretty much guarantees that I have a job waiting for me when I come back. However, by not receiving paid maternity leave I am unable to spend the time off stress free. I am constantly worried about money and so I would end up back at work before my time is actually up. Since woman are having to work to support their families it makes it hard for them to breast feed their children 100% of the time and it even causes emotional issues

Paid parental leave has been an issue of public and political debate since the early 1970s (Brennan, 2009), stemming from lobbying of the women’s movement and women’s liberation groups (Kramarae & Spender, 2000). The first development towards paid parental leave was made in the late 1970s. At this time the union movement, in particular, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, successfully pushed for a woman’s rights to access maternity leave by applying political pressure on the government of the day (Baird & Murray, 2014). As a result women were able to access 52 weeks of unpaid maternity leave with jobs protected, access to this leave was granted to adoptive parents and fathers from the mid 1980’s (McCarthy, Jenkin & Stewart, 2011). Throughout

Apart from maternity leave, there is inclusive paid parental leave or paid paternity leave which permits dads to take time off to take care and bond with their child. Research shows that conservative attitudes toward parental leaves are changing to a more inclusive approach where men want to be more involved and have as much time as the mother with their kid (Harrington 2013). HR policies that offer gender-inclusive leave provide significant benefits to everyone in the family. Child rearing, particularly at the beginning of the baby’s life, is important because during this bonding time families create emotional benefits that establish the building blocks for more involved parenting in the future (Allen and Daly 2007). Additionally, men taking more responsibility for child nurturing benefits women since it improves

The Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to have the stability between their family and work. The Family and Medical Leave Act enables the employee to have some reasonable unpaid 12 weeks off from work. FMLA applies to any public agencies and other employers that have 50 or more employees. Of course, there are some requirements to be eligible for the FMLA. According to Suriyasak and Kleiner the requirements are; first, “employees have worked that employer for at least 12 months;’ Second, ‘employees have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before starting the family and medical leave;’ Lastly, ‘The employers must have at least within 75 miles of the location where employees who want leave work.”

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) implemented in August 1993 grants job-protected leave to any employee satisfying the eligibility criteria (Cannonier, 2014). The FMLA defines a “serious health condition” as an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves—(A) inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility; or (B) continuing treatment by a health care provider (Lavin & DiMichele, 2014). The FMLA provided benefits only to eligible employees. Under the FMLA, an eligible employee is one who satisfied the following criteria:

Two of the parental leave policies that I find especially generous are offered by Netflix and Microsoft. I feel that Netflix’s offering of paid leave for new mothers or fathers for an entire year after the baby’s birth is especially generous because most companies only offer a few months of maternity leave and is not necessarily paid, and many companies offer a couple weeks of paternity leave paid if any at all. Microsoft was especially generous when they nearly doubled their paid leave to twenty weeks for women who had just given birth. I find this generous because on average many women only get up to 12 weeks unpaid leave.

Companies should offer paternity leave for expectant fathers. By offering paternity leave for fathers-to-be companies allow fathers to be a benefit of paid or unpaid time off work to care for their child, make arrangements for the child’s welfare, and preparation for the adoption of a child. Generally, offering paternity leave for fathers allows them to benefit the birth of a child. Companies that provide the option of paternity leave grant these fathers the privilege of being present for labor, delivery, and any other emergency procedures that may be necessary. Paternity leave provides the father with an advantage to be able to care for their

In time past, paternity leave has not been socially acceptable in the workplace. Men were to provide for the family, while woman were supposed to be the caretakers. As everything in our world is becoming more modern the idea of paternity leave is becoming more acceptable for men to take but it is not exactly what men always do.