A paternal leave is a benefit given to employees within an organization. When people talk about paternal leaves, they usually include maternity, paternity, and also adoption leave. Other times, they also refer to it as a separate leave that exists for either parent to tend to their kids.

On the other hand, maternal leave is when the mother is given some time away from work to bond with their newborn baby.

When a parent, or both parents, file or request for leaves, they receive certain benefits that are set in place by the government for their welfare and safety.

Benefits

Although this largely depends on the state you are in, most states recognize the importance and deem both paternity leave and maternity leave to be necessary. But still, the benefits are subjective to the circumstances.

In the case of the woman, when she is pregnant she can take a year off from work. This is considered as her maternity leave.

The first obvious benefit of maternal leave is that the employee won’t suffer from pay cuts. This means, they will receive their full income because this is given to them by the government. On top of that, the pension of the employee is also protected. Just because they are not actively working does not mean that they will be exempted from receiving their pension for that amount of time.

Moreover, if let’s say the employee is made redundant while they are on their maternity leave, then still the employee will have some rights that they can use (extra rights).

For a woman who is pregnant, there can be several benefits. At first, after the baby’s first due date, the woman can receive and avail free prescriptions and NHS dental treatment. The child will also receive free prescriptions.

Statutory Maternity Leave

Let’s say a woman is employed by a company. She finds out that she is pregnant. To protect her health and to guarantee the safety of her baby, she chooses to take a leave. So, the woman is entitled to receive a full year’s maternity leave. A full year or 52 weeks, it’s the same thing. This does not rely on your work with the employer, no matter how long you have worked is unnecessary.

Even during antenatal classes, the employee reserves the right to ask for paid time off. This is necessary for the baby so the employer is required to approve it.

The reason why maternity leave is amazing is that women receive multiple flexibilities and their employer has to comply with them, considering the sensitivity of the situation. So, for instance, if the woman requests her employer to provide flexible work timings, even after her maternity leave ends and she decides to ask for work, then she can do that.

Statutory Paternity Pay

If the partner or the wife of the employee has recently birthed or adopted a child, then they can rightly claim Statutory Paternity Pay so that they can go away from work for a while and be there for their family.

Work and Pregnancy

In the start of their pregnancy, some women choose to work. This is totally normal, and yes it is the duty of the employer to guarantee the safety of the pregnant woman. Furthermore, the employee is protected from unfair treatment by the employer or perhaps other employees.

Coming Back to Work After Maternity Leave

For women, it can be quite tiring and exciting at the same time to finally come back to work after such a long time. In this situation, it is best for the employee to visit the human resource department and to take a briefing about their rights, responsibilities, and any other relevant work details. This will allow the employee to brush up on some new information while knowing what they are and what they can do.

The employee can also request and ask for flexible work timings. Since the baby must be small at this point, it is only natural for the mother to ask for flexible work timings. This facility is available to parents until their children turn 17, and the age is 19 for disabled children.

Paternity Leave

A paternity leave applies to the father-to-be. People argue that paternity leaves are unimportant because the woman has to go through the pain and the difficulty, but the kid needs both parents, especially at this time. Fathers can avail a paternity leave up to 26 weeks.

What Is a Shared Paternity Leave?

A paternal leave can be shared with a partner. This option or facility solely exists to grant flexibility to parents and to allow them some time to think things through and to spend additional time with their new children.

Shared Parental Leave or SPL grants and allows parents the eligibility to share their leave and pay when the child is in its first year. Of course though for the shared parental leave, both the mother and the father need to pass a specific eligibility criteria. Only then will they be approved.

Financial Assistance

Since the world and its circumstances are different for everyone out there, it is only common for people to not have all the finance to take care of the baby or even themselves, then other options can be utilized.

For instance, there are banks and even governmental authorities that provide income benefits and try to keep the family on the surface. Plus, if the person receives a low income from their workplace and some tax credits and benefits and there are no children under 16 in the family, then the Sure Start Maternity Grant can help their cause by granting a one-off payment to their family. This can constitute a big help for families who do not have a lot of savings either.

Takeaways

Getting paternity leave and maternity leave is quite important in any workplace environment. Since both the father and the mother are necessary for the newborn baby’s growth and development. When both of the parents are together, then the child can experience both fatherhood and motherhood, without it being affected by workflow.

This is why governments, even in third-world countries, recognize maternity and paternity leaves. While paternity leaves are still not that popular in the whole world, it may slowly happen with time as people realize that this will only help the economy in the future. When able and hard-working children are produced, then they go on to become helpful civilians. That’s exactly why companies grant so many options and facilities when it comes to maternity and paternity leaves.