Paternity Leave in the Philippines: 7 Days or 14 Days?

Section 2 of RA 8187 gives paternity leave to "every married male employee in the private and public sectors." Four conditions come from the law:

1. Married. The leave is for the delivery of his "legitimate spouse."
2. Living together. The wife must be the spouse "with whom he is cohabiting."
3. First four deliveries. The leave covers only the first four deliveries of his wife.
4. Notice. He must notify his employer of the pregnancy and the expected date of delivery.

The law defines delivery to include "childbirth or any miscarriage." Section 3 explains the purpose: the father does not report for work for seven days but keeps earning, so he can support his wife while she recovers and help care for the newborn.

From the mother's maternity leave. Section 6 of RA 11210 lets a mother who is entitled to maternity leave allocate up to seven days of it to the child's father, "whether or not the same is married to the female worker." The law says this benefit is "over and above" the paternity leave under RA 8187.

So the two can add up:

The allocation is the mother's choice, not the father's. If the father is dead, absent or incapacitated, she may allocate the days to an alternate caregiver instead, such as a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity or her current partner sharing the same household.

The implementing rules of RA 11210 (Rule VIII) explain the steps:

• The mother notifies her employer of her choice to allocate, together with her maternity leave application.
• The father notifies his own employer that he will use the allocated leave, and of the dates.
• His employer grants a leave with pay of one to seven days.
• The days may be taken "either in a continuous or in an intermittent manner," but not later than the period of maternity leave the mother used.

When the mother works in government, the rules add a special case: if she was already given full pay, the father or alternate caregiver is only excused from work without pay, and this is not counted as a gap in service.

Under Section 5 of RA 8187, a violation is punished by a fine not exceeding ₱25,000 or imprisonment of not less than 30 days nor more than six months. If the violator is a company, the imprisonment is imposed on its responsible officers. Refusing leave allocated under RA 11210 falls under that law's own penalty clause, explained on the maternity leave page.

These are made-up examples to show how the rules work. They are not advice for any real case.

Jose. Jose is married to Maria and lives with her. Their first baby is born. He gets 7 days of paternity leave with full pay. Maria also allocates 7 of her maternity days to him, so he can be away for up to 14 days.

Mark. Mark is not married to his partner Ana. RA 8187 does not cover him, because it requires a legitimate spouse. Ana allocates 7 of her maternity leave days to him. He tells his employer the dates and takes the leave in two parts, as the rules allow.

Dan. Dan and his wife are expecting their fifth child. RA 8187 covers only the first four deliveries, so there is no paternity leave under that law. His wife can still allocate up to 7 days of her maternity leave to him.

RA 8187 asked DOLE, the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Health to issue implementing rules. Those rules were not reviewed for this page. So this page does not say how soon after the delivery the 7 days must be used, or whether unused days are paid in cash. The employer or DOLE can say which rules apply. Company policies or collective agreements that give more days still apply (Section 6 of RA 8187).

A worker usually gives the notice in writing and keeps a copy. If the employer still refuses, the issue can be brought to DOLE through the Single Entry Approach. See how to file a labor complaint. For other paid leaves, see the leave benefits table and solo parent leave.

Talk to a lawyer or the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) if you were penalized, demoted or dismissed after asking for paternity leave, or if your employer disputes your marriage or the allocation. These are fact-heavy questions.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, see Free legal help in the Philippines.