The Army's new paternity leave policy gives fathers additional time to be with their Families when a child is born. The policy, signed into law under President George W. Bush on Oct. 14, 2008 grants married Soldiers up to 10 consecutive days of non-chargeable administrative leave after the birth of a child.
The policy allows Soldiers who have taken annual leave in connection with the birth of a child since October 2008 to request up to 10 days of leave be restored/re-credited to their leave account. Soldiers must provide documentation to support their claim (e.g., DA Form 31 or LES) and submit it through the unit S1 or Personnel Administrative Center.
Paternity leave must be taken within 45 days of the child's birth; deployed Soldiers must take the leave within 60 days after returning from deployment. Leave not taken within the established timeframe will be lost.
Single Soldiers who father a child out-of-wedlock are not eligible for paternity leave. For those who adopt, the Army Adoption Program that has its own non-chargeable leave policy of three weeks.
Soldiers and officers are encouraged to take advantage of this valuable Family bonding opportunity and supervisors and commanders at all levels should approve paternity leave whenever it is feasible.
Paternity Leave provides greater stability and predictability to Soldiers and their Families. By providing a benefit that is increasingly more common in the civilian sector, the Army is building on its reputation as an organization that takes care of its Families.
The parental leave provision was put in the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorization bill at the urging of the U.S. Navy and with the backing of Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Until then, none of the services had the authority to grant non-chargeable paternity leave.
For more information visit http://www.army.mil/ and enter Paternity Leave Authorized in the search field.
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