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Senate proposes 3 weeks of paternity leave

In what would be a major leap forward in family-friendly benefits, the Senate Armed Services Committee proposes giving up to 21 days of postnatal leave to fathers.

The paternity leave would be in addition to other earned leave under the proposal approved by the committee as part of its version of the 2009 defense authorization bill.

Parental leave would be limited to a husband whose wife had given birth, which would exclude unmarried couples.

Like all other military leave, time off could be granted only with permission of superiors, who could refuse or set limits on how many days could be taken. Parental leave for a father could not be stored up for later use; it would be authorized to be taken only “in connection with the birth of a child,” although the proposal does not cite a specific timeframe.

Although parental leave for fathers, paid and unpaid, is common in the private sector and for federal, state and local government workers, most service members are limited to using annual leave to take time off after the birth of a child.

The Marine Corps is the only service that has a fixed policy granting up to 10 days of leave for fathers after the birth of a child.

The Air Force has considered paternity leave several times, but leaders rejected it. New fathers can take normal leave. Commanders, at their discretion, can award airmen three- or four-day passes.

The parental leave provision was put in the bill at the urging of the Navy and with the backing of Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

Granting up to 21 days of leave to new fathers is viewed as a matter of fairness, since Congress previously ordered 21 days of extra leave for service members after the adoption of a child.

The provision is not a sure thing. The House version of the defense bill has no similar language. An as-yet-unnamed panel of House and Senate negotiators will decide whether the measure will be included in the final compromise bill later this year.

The Defense Department has not weighed in on the proposal, but defense and service officials generally have been reluctant to endorse extra leave for specific purposes — they opposed the adoption leave enacted in 2006 — because of concerns about the effect on morale.

Some people could be allowed more time off than others, and commanders could be forced to make difficult decisions about which members of their units are most deserving of leave — for example, a single service member with a long-planned trip home or a married service member whose wife is about to give birth.

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