Married employees

PAhr

I have a married couple who have a situation with their unborn child and the mother is out right now due to her own serious medical problems. If the child is born on the due date the mother will have six weeks and three days left under FMLA and I am assuming she will take the standard six weeks off. The problem is that the husband just asked for FMLA because the child needs surgery after birth and may require a considerable hospital stay. Should I give him the full twelve weeks? I'm thinking yes because the wife is out for her own serious illness and the father needs time of to care for his seriously ill child. Am I correct?

LindaS

It is my understanding that if the time off is for the serious health condition of the child, my understanding is that they EACH have a total of 12 weeks off - this includes any and all "bonding" time as part of each person's FMLA allotment. If the time off is specifically for "bonding", the employer can "split" the 12 weeks.

Whatever

The combined 12 weeks period is for "bonding". It does not apply for seriously ill child. We had a similar circumstance and the father got the full FMLA leave. It should be remembered that FMLA sets a minimum standard. The company can always be more generous as long as the company is consistent. In a case like this, if FMLA didn't cover it, the company would have changed it's policies so that the father could get the full 12 weeks to care for the child.

Don D

I agree with Linda and Whatever. It will be required, however, that a new and different certification process be undertaken for the serious illness of the newborn as the father's approved absence will be contingent on a wholly different set of circumstances from that of the mother's pregnancy and infirmity.