Is paternity leave paid with full salary?

The leave is paid at full pay

Section 2 is explicit that the leave is paid. It entitles a qualifying employee to a paternity leave of seven (7) days with full pay for the first four (4) deliveries of the legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabiting. "With full pay" means you are not asked to take the seven days as unpaid time off — your salary continues for that period. The benefit is available Notwithstanding any law, rules and regulations to the contrary, and it runs to both the private and public sectors, so the full-pay feature is not confined to government workers.

Seven days, first four deliveries

The paid benefit has clear limits in number. It is seven days per qualifying delivery, and it applies only to the first four deliveries of the legitimate spouse with whom the employee is cohabiting. There is no paid paternity leave under this Act for a fifth or later delivery. Because delivery shall include childbirth or any miscarriage, the seven days of full pay are available not only for a live birth but also where the pregnancy ends in miscarriage. The pay attaches to each qualifying delivery, up to the four-delivery ceiling the law fixes.

You must be married and qualify

Full pay is conditioned on meeting the law's requirements. The employee must be a married male, and the leave must relate to the delivery of his legitimate spouse with whom he is cohabiting. He must also notify his employer of the pregnancy of his legitimate spouse and the expected date of such delivery. Meeting these conditions is what entitles him to the seven days at full pay. A father who does not fall within these terms is not entitled to the paid benefit under this particular Act, though other leave laws may apply to his situation.

What 'full pay' does not decide

Section 2 fixes that the seven days are paid; it does not, by itself, resolve every downstream detail — such as an employer's internal payroll mechanics, or how the benefit interacts with company-granted leaves that may be more generous. Nor does it extend the paid period beyond seven days or beyond four deliveries. What it settles for your question is the core point: paternity leave under this law is not unpaid. A qualifying married male employee receives his full pay for the seven days, in both the private and public sectors.

Related provisions

• RA 8187, Section 2 — Seven Days Paternity Leave