Establishing any human resources policies should be part of an overall plan. Human talent management or human resources requires that you consider what is best for both the company as well as the employees.

The United States is the only Western country that does not mandate paid parental leave, although the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 mandates unpaid parental leave for the majority of American workers.

Legal requirements for parental leave benefits do not always reflect actual practice and in the case of your business it should be considered if it makes sound business sense.

You can create a plan which allows the employees to accumulate a specific number of paid leave days for the length of time worked which can then be used for either paternity or maternity leave during child birth. It could also be used by others for other medical/personal leave if it was so written into the policy.

Parental leave is designed to provide either or both parents with time to spend with their newborns. For the mother, parental leave provisions commonly stipulate that the leave be taken immediately after maternity leave, thereby extending the total leave period. For the father, parental leave provisions allow time off to help with the care of the newborn.

Leave for personal reasons can also be provide employees with periods of time off, with or without pay, to deal with family obligations or other personal commitments.

Providing leave which is available to all employees can improve employee morale and may also reduce conflict between employees who have access to leave for family responsibilities and those who do not because they have no dependents.

As the business owner, you will need to consider any impact this may have on union agreements you have negotiated.

An employer with 50 or more employees is mandated to cover workers through Family Medical Leave Act. Employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave through FMLA to care for a newborn or adopted child. If a company offers short-term disability, and many employers do, parents can receive a percentage of or 100% of their usual paycheck.

Please follow the link for a sample leave policy which can be added to your human resources policy manual.
http://www.absolutehrsolutions.com/picts/FamilyandIllnessLeave.pdf