REPUBLIC ACT NO.

8187

AN ACT GRANTING PATERNITY LEAVE OF SEVEN (7) DAYS WITH FULL PAY
TO ALL MARRIED MALE EMPLOYEES IN THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS
FOR

THE FIRST FOUR (4) DELIVERIES OF THE LEGITIMATE SPOUSE WITH WHOM
HE IS COHABITING AND FOR OTHER

1. What is paternity leave law?

Under the law, male private and government employees in the Philippines are entitled to
seven days paternity leave with full pay. They should receive their basic pay, allowance
and other monetary benefits for those days.

2. What is the purpose of paternity leave?

The purpose of this leave is to give opportunity to the working male employee to give
support to his wife and help his wife in caring for their new born child.

An employer has no right to deny the male employee of his paternity leave because
doing so will make the employer liable for fine or imprisonment.

3. What are the requirements?

A male employee can avail of paternity benefits if he meets the following conditions:
a. Employed at the time of child birth,
b. Have a wife who is pregnant, have given birth or had miscarriage
c. Legally married to your pregnant wife
d. Living with your legitimate wife

4. How does a male employee file for paternity leave?

Here are the following steps:
a. Notify your HR Department about the pregnancy and expected due date
b. Fill out a Paternity Notification Form provided by your employer
c. Submit accomplished form along with the copy of your marriage certificate to HR

And after your paternity leave, you will need to submit a copy of your newborn’s birth
certificate. In case of miscarriage, you will need to submit a death certificate.
Here are some basic questions and Bar questions:

1. In October this year. Weto’s wife id expecting to give birth to her first child. He
accordingly filed his application for paternity leave, conformably with the provision
of the Paternity Leave Law which took effect in 1996. The HRD manager of the
assurance firm denied his application, on the ground that Weto had already used his
entitlement under the law. Weto argued that he has a new wife who will be giving
birth for the first time, therefore, his entitlement to paternity leave benefits would
begin to run anew.
Whose contention is correct, Weto or the HRD manager? (2005 bar)

Answer:
The contention of Weto is correct. The law provides that every married male is
entitled to a paternity leave of seven days for the first four deliveries of the legitimate
spouse with whom he is cohabiting (Section 2, R.A. No. 8187).

Jovy is Weto’s legitimate spouse and that Weto had 4 children with his first wife is
beside the point. The important fact is that this is the first child of Jovy with Weto.
The law did not distinguish and we should therefore not distinguish.

The paternity leave was intended to enable the husband to effectively lend support to
his wife in her period of recovery and/or nursing of the newly born child (Section 3,
R.A. No. 8187).

2. How many times may a male employee go on Paternity Leave? Can he avail himself
of this benefit for example, 50 days after the first delivery by his wife? (2002 bar)

Answer:
A male employee may go on Paternity Leave up to four children (Section 2, R.A.
No. 8187).
On the question whether or not he can avail himself of the benefit 50 days after the
delivery of his wife, the answer is:
Yes, he can because the Rules Implementing Paternity Leave Act says that the
availment should not be later than 60 days after the delivery.

3. Because of stress in caring for her four children, Tammy suffered miscarriage late in
her pregnancy and had to undergo an operation. In the course of the operation, her
obstetrician further discovered a suspicious- looking mass that required the
subsequent removal of her uterus, after surgery he physician advised Tammy to be on
 full bed rest for 6 weeks. Meanwhile, the biopsy of the sample tissue from the taken
mass in Tammy’s uterus showed s beginning malignancy that required an immediate
series of chemotherapy once a week for four weeks.
What can Roger-Tammy’s 2nd husband and father of 2 younger children claim as
benefits under the circumstances? ( 2013 bar)
Answer:
Under R.A. No. 8187, Roger can claim paternity leave of seven days with full pay if
he is lawfully married to Tammy and cohabiting with her at the time of the
miscarriage.

4. What if a male employee is newly hired ( 1 week), can he avail the paternity leave
and no SSS contribution was yet remitted by his employer?

Answer:
Yes, the law did not made any distinction between casual and regular employee. The
paternity leave act is different from SSS law. An employee is entitled ti this benefit
on the first days of employment

5. What if the male employee is not legally married to the woman who gave birth whom
he is currently cohabiting?

Answer:
The law is clear. The woman delivering the baby must be a legitimate wife and the
husband must be cohabiting with her. If the male employee is nit married, the law
does not apply, if you are legally married but legally separated and not cohabiting, the
paternity leave does not apply.

6. What if the male employee is currently working abroad, can he avail the paternity
benefit?

Answer:
No, only male private and government employees in the Philippines are entitled to
seven days paternity leave with full pay.

Additional information:

Bulacan Representative Jose Antonio Sy-Alvaro wants to extend the current seven
days of paternity leave to 15 days with full pay citing the importance of the presence
of birth parents in the formative stages of an infant’s development.