The federal government has approved the commencement of 14 working-day paternity leave for federal civil servants.
This disclosure is contained in a circular with ref no: HCSF/SPSO/ODD/NCE/RR/650309/3, dated November 25, 2022, and issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan.
The circular titled, ‘Computation of Leave Based on Working Days and Approval of Paternity Leave in the Public Service’, is in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules, 2021 Edition.
Once in 2 years: Yemi Esan, in the circular said,
- “Government has also 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.’’
She said the request for such leave shall be accompanied by the expected date of delivery report of the officer’s wife or evidence of approval of the adoption of the child by the relevant government bodies. She also said that the effective date of the circular was 25th November 2022.
For catchup: Recall that on September 29, 2022, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at a meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, approved 14 days of paternity leave for civil servants.
Yemi-Esan, at the end of the meeting, explained that paternity leave will allow fathers to properly bond with their newborn babies or adopted children.
She said the bonding was important to help the newborn or adopted baby properly bond with the father in the early period.
- She said, “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.’’
