Hope you manage to swing something, because as you say, a few weeks with your new baby is really not enough. I suppose you might have to take turns taking leave, but that seems unfair as you also need to spend time together as new parents.

You're right, of course, I was thinking in terms of the online audience who would have access to this forum.

I agree that 3 days is a bit short for when your baby is born, keeping in mind that your wife will also need you a day or so before she gives birth?? ( As far as I know, the 3 days have been changed to 5 in the begining of the the year)

That said, keep the following in mind:

On a yearly basis your employer pays you your 12 monthly salaries + your bonus (this is also debatable as in most companies these days this is a given and not a performance bonus), thus receiving 13 paychecks a year.

Then you receive 21 days annual leave, 3/5 days family responsabilty leave, 36 days sick leave per 3 year cycle ( in effect giving you 12 days per year).

This means that the employer has to pay the employee for (21 + 3 + 12) = 36 days for which he is not at work!! That is more than a month and half of workdays!! So from an employers perspective it would be ludacris to add another 2/3/4 weeks pertinity leave to an employees leave cycle and still receive a 13 cheque!

I believe the solution lies with the sick leave as I can not remember when last I have been away from work for more than 2 days. 12 days per year/ 36 per 3 month cycle is to much, so if you could have less sickleave and more FRL, this could resolve the problem??????

I am all in favour of paternity leave AS LONG AS new dads don't use it as an excuse to park off at home and DO ACTUALLY help his wife with the baby. Sometimes having husbands at home is twice the amount of work as just having one little baby to look after eg What's with husbands staying at home on Women's Day?

Some years ago, Old Mutual was one of the first companies to introduce paternity leave. One of the workers at the Pinelands office requested that and left for his home in the old Transkei. Upon returning, the HR officer excitedly asked him if it was a boy or a girl, to which he replied: "I don't know. We'll have to wait nine months to see." Now there's a man who knows how to use his time wisely!

For what it's worth, I read something today about leave policies in the USA, and I was amazed that they do not even have legislated sick leave! I thought we were fairly backward, but it seems our labour laws and requirements are not that far off the mark.

so basically you are looking for more days off from work, so you can get paid for nothing

If your child birth is so important to you, why not sacrifice your annual leave, for this once in a lfe time event.

Revive and all the other new daddies/to be,
Who is giving birth to this child? You or your wife? You are just going to be in her way all the time. Or maybe not. Maybe you've got something else planned and just need a couple of days of! In my days there were no paternity leave. Anyway I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning to get away from dirty diaphers and bottles and that screaming! Wow, you dunno what you let yourself in for.

Between the idiots trolling for arguments, the old-school chauvinists stuck in the 50’s and the hard-core moms who don’t need a man to do anything (except maybe pay the bills), I’m not surprised that this has turned into such a debate.

Allow me to point out a few things that seem to be commonly misunderstood:

1. Most fathers asking for more progressive policies on paternity leave don’t want this to play golf and watch sport at home at their employer’s expense. They want to get to know their new son or daughter and they want to help their wife (who may be bedridden after serious surgery).

2. Right now, in 2009, most mothers welcome this kind of involvement. This confirms that the family is a tight unit that does everything together and supports each other.

3. If you are a clock-watching worker that offers little more than your 9-5 of minimum input, then I can understand why your employer would be loathe to grant you paid time off. But some of us add real value at work.

4. The fact that the amount of paternity leave seems to be directly proportionate to the level of a country’s development says something about the direction we should be heading. Those who wish to remain in the old days are welcome to their opinions too, of course.

5. Men who aren’t (or don’t plan to become) fathers don’t belong in this debate.