Paternity leave policy in effect

[unhappycamper]

Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel Rey holds his newborn daughter, Brin Marie Jane Rey, on Wednesday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Even though the Air Force has not finalized its plan, Rey will be able to take advantage of a newly authorized policy that allows U.S. troops to take 10 days of paternity leave.


Paternity leave policy in effect
By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, November 22, 2008

Being a proud new papa has its perks, and now dads in uniform have another reason to smile — paternity leave.

Last month, a new paternity leave policy, giving military dads 10 days off for the birth of their child, went into effect with the passage of the Defense Authorization Act. The Defense Department is leaving it up to each service branch to determine how to handle the new policy.

"There certainly was support from all of the services, and Congress just started at the same time being interested in the same subject," said Stephanie Miller, director of the Women’s Policy and Task Force Life/Work with the Navy.

"It really joins us in the ranks with the corporate America folks (who get paternity leave)," Miller said. "This is another benefit to add to that package that allows us to compete with companies. One of the reasons we support it is it should help retain sailors."

So far, only the Navy and Marine Corps have developed a plan for new dads. The Army and Air Force policies are still being developed, spokesmen for those services said this week.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58984