FGN approves 14-working-day paternity leave for male civil servants

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has approved a 14-working-day paternity leave for male civil servants.

The approval was contained in a circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan.

Marked ref no: HCSF/SPSO/ODD/NCE/RR/650309/3, and dated 25th November 2022, the circular titled: “Computation of Leave Based on Working Days and Approval of Paternity Leave in the Public Service”, said the approval was in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules, 2021 Edition.

“Government has approved Paternity Leave for serving male officers whose spouse delivers a baby.

“The period of the leave shall be fourteen working days. The leave shall not be more than once in two years, and for a maximum of four children.

“Where the family of a male officer adopts a child under four months old, the officer will similarly enjoy Paternity Leave for a period of fourteen working days”, the circular stated.

It said the request for such leave shall be accompanied by the Expected Date of Delivery’s (EDD) report of the officer’s wife or evidence of approval of the adoption of the child by the relevant government bodies.

Recall that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in September, approved a 14-day paternity leave for male workers in the Federal Civil Service, to make men properly bond with their newborn baby or adopted one.

According to Yemi-Esan, bonding was important to help the newly-born or adopted baby properly bond with the father in the early period.

“We’ve also gotten approval to include paternity leave. This is something that is new. And this is something that the unions in the service asked that we include, and luckily, we’ve been able to include it.

“We’ve also been able to ensure that leave now is calculated based on working days, not on calendar days, that also has been approved.

“We also have introduced the transition from a paper service to a digital service. So these are some of the new things that are in the new PSR that has just been approved by the federal executive council”, she said.

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