Male employees entitled to paternity leave

Claris Ogangah

QUESTION: An employee took his annual leave, which happened to coincide with his wife giving birth. The employee has requested to be allowed to take paternity leave immediately after he completes his annual leave. Is this in order?

　

Annual leave and paternity or maternity leave, for that matter, are two totally different issues that should be treated as such.

Annual leave is an entitlement that an employer must allow the employee to go for and is not based on the discretion of the employer. Section 28 of the Employment Act deals with the issue and it is clear that the wording is couched in mandatory terms. The section reads: "An employee shall be entitled after every 12 months of service with his employer to not less than 21 working days of leave with full pay." (Emphasis is mine).

The section uses the word shall, meaning the employer is obligated to let the employee proceed for annual leave upon completion of the required period of employment.

Paternity leave is only applicable to a man whose recognised wife delivers a baby. What this means is that paternity leave is not open to any man, but only those who are married and whose wives are recognised by the employers.

Section 29 (8) deals with the issue of paternity leave and again the wording suggests that it is a mandatory provision. It states: "A male employer shall be entitled to two weeks paternity leave with full pay."

Cast in stone

This also means the male employee must be allowed to proceed on paternity leave as provided above. The section uses the word shall, similar to the wording in Section 28 on annual leave.

From your question the employee has been on annual leave and now wants to proceed on paternity leave. There is really nothing wrong with the employee proceeding on paternity leave immediately after his annual leave, as the law clearly states that he can do so. However, this is not to say that these provisions are cast in stone.

As the employer I think it is within your right to negotiate with the employee so he can proceed on paternity leave at a later date, especially if he has been away for long. If you as the employer feel there is a lot of work that needs to be done, you can talk to the employee and agree on when he can proceed on this leave noting, however, that it is mandatory that he be allowed to do so, whether immediately or at a later date.

As employers we need to put in place employment policies that will act as guidelines whenever such issues arise. This is to avoid having employees think that the employer is unfair or has some discriminatory practices. The Employment Act actually encourages employers to have policies that inform employees of their rights and duties.

It is important to allow the employee to proceed for the paternity leave as it is his right to do so.