TheCable

The federal government has commenced the 14-day paternity leave for civil servants.

This was disclosed in a circular issued by Folasade Yemi-Esan, head of the civil service of the federation (HoCSF).

In September 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) approved paternity leave for men in the federal civil service, to enable them to properly bond with their newborn.

Yemi-Esan said the implementation began on November 25, 2022.

“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 a for maximum of four children,” the statement reads.

“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.”

“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.”