The Federal Executive Council (FEC) Wednesday approved a 14-day paternity leave to allow working class fathers bond with their newborn babies or adopted ones.
Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
She said the paternity leave was approved for male workers when their wives deliver new babies, stressing that bonding was important for newly born or adopted babies and their fathers.
“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 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.
“Paternity leave is the leave that is approved for men, when their spouses or wives have given birth to a newborn baby, or if the husband and wife have just adopted a baby of less than four months, then the man is entitled to paternity leave of about 14 days.
“So, that is what has been approved for men so that the men and their babies also can bond well together. It’s important because we want the young children and the youth really to bond properly with their fathers, just as they bond well with their mothers.
“So, this is the first time, that has been approved now, for men to bond at the early stages, especially at the early stages of a child’s life, that is when it’s very important for this bonding to take place,” she said.
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