Photo: Nataliya Vaitkevich / Pexels
"Should I risk my job or my wife next week?"
By Mary-Faith Martinez
Written on Mar 23, 2024
It seems like it’s never easy to take time off from work. There’s the difficulty of getting your time off approved, coupled with the guilt of wondering if taking time off is really the right thing to do. But, there are some times when it simply can’t be avoided.
One man thought he had one of those situations on his hands until he got an interesting response from his boss.
A man requested to have the day off when his wife was being induced, but his boss said he might still need to come into work.
A husband took to Reddit looking for advice after he got an unexpected reply from his boss in response to his request for time off.
“Found out today that my wife will have labor induced about two weeks earlier than the expected due date,” he said. “I told my boss about the situation and told him I can’t come in that day.”
Photo: Amina Filkins / Pexels
Most people would assume this was all that was necessary for the employee’s request to be approved and for his boss to send him on his way with well wishes. But, that’s not exactly what happened.
“He responded by saying he’ll try to find coverage but the expectation is that I’ll be in if nobody will cover,” the man said of his boss.
The man was unsure of how to respond. “Not sure if I’m being unreasonable, or if he’s completely insane,” he said.
Instead of showing compassion and even excitement for this employee’s upcoming life changes, this boss chose to make the situation even more difficult by demanding he be at work on the day his wife will likely be giving birth.
It seems like what this man’s boss is doing is not legal.
While these kinds of situations can be incredibly nuanced, it does appear that this boss’ request does not align with U.S. labor laws.
When asked about an employer’s right to deny paid time off, Axcet HR said, “Occasionally, denying PTO requests becomes an unavoidable decision. While legally, employers can deny vacation requests, compliance with laws like the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is non-negotiable. These scenarios require careful navigation to ensure legal obligations are met.”
According to this information, requests for paid time off for things like a simple vacation can be denied, but anything that falls under the umbrella of FMLA cannot.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “Any period before or after childbirth where an employee is not able to work for medical reasons may be considered FMLA leave for a serious health condition. An eligible employee may take leave for any period of their own or spouse, parent or child’s incapacity due to pregnancy.”
Therefore, a spouse’s “incapacity due to” and recovery from pregnancy is covered under FMLA.
Furthermore, the Department of Labor said, “An employee … may take leave to care for a spouse recovering from childbirth.”
As long as FMLA rules are followed and it is filed properly, it could be used to cover this man’s leave while his wife goes into and recovers from labor.
Other Reddit users agreed that the man should take the time off.
Redditors who commented on the man’s post were on the side of the law — and his family.
“That is insane,” one person said. “They will manage. Your child will only be born once.”
“I’d quit over that if I had to,” another person said.
Someone else stood by the laws protecting FMLA. “Fill out FMLA paperwork and take a week of PTO,” they said.
Clearly, this man has options to be able to take the time off needed to spend with his wife and new baby. Despite what his boss may think or want, he cannot deny him the right to take time off for something so important.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for idatingyou who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.
