The question was:

1. Mother – Employed in company A; de facto separated from husband

2. Husband – works in Company B

3. 3rd Party (Boyfriend of Mother): Sired a child with #1. 3rd party cohabits with Mother and works in same Company B as husband.

4. Mother allocated 7 days leave to her boyfriend, #3, who is the third party.

5. Husband also filed for Paternity Leave.

As the HR of Company B, how do you settle this situation?

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First, let me just say, this is truly a screwed up “Only in the Philippines” type of situation.

This situation is more common in the Philippines than you think. Wives cohabitating with people who they aren’t married to, and men getting women, who are married to someone else, pregnant.

But to answer this question:

The Philippines has a Paternity Leave Law:

The Paternity Leave Act of 1996 (RA 8187) allocates 7 days if these conditions are all met:

1. The claimant is the married husband at the time of the child’s birth

2. It is his legal spouse who has given birth or had a miscarriage

3. He and his wife was cohabitating during the birth/miscarriage

4. The claims can be made up to four (4) births of his legitimate children

5. He has given adequate notice to his employer

Somewhat a reward for being married and having legitimate kids.

The new Expanded Maternity Bill (Article II Section 6) does allow the woman to allocate her 7 days out of her 105 days to the father of her child or any alternate caregiver. Doesn’t matter if they are married or not.

So to answer this question, if the mother is covered by the EML:

She can allocate 7 out of her 105 days of leave to any alternate caregiver she wants, including her boyfriend. The official husband gets nothing since they are not cohabitating, and he’s not even the father of the child.

Is There a Deadline to Notification?

“SECTION 4. Notification. — As soon as the married male employee learns that his spouse is pregnant, he shall inform his employer of such pregnancy and the expected date of delivery within a reasonable period of time. The employee shall accomplish a Paternity Notification Form to be provided for by the employer and submit the same to the latter, together with a copy of his marriage contract, or where not applicable, any proof of marriage. Provided, That this notification requirement shall not apply in cases of miscarriage or abortion.

Any employee who has availed of the paternity benefits shall, within a reasonable period of time, submit a copy of the birth certificate of the newly born child, death or medical certificate in case of miscarriage or abortion, duly signed by the attending physician or midwife showing actual date of childbirth, miscarriage or abortion, as the case may be.”

The seven-day leave may be enjoyed by the qualified male employee before, during or after the delivery by his wife. However, this benefit can only be availed of not later than 60 days after the delivery date and the same is not convertible to cash (Sections 5 and 7, IRR of R. A. No. 8187).

Sorry for the confusion, but I have tried to answer this to my best understanding. Do correct me if this is wrong.