I live in Mississippi. My wife and I are both nurses at a county own hospital. We had our first child on Nov 30. When I applied for two weeks of FMLA, I was told that I could not take FMLA at the same time as my wife. They said that we could take a combined 12 weeks off (i.e. her take six weeks and me take six weeks). They said if I do take any of the time that I could not use my sick time. Our child was jaundice when he was born and had to be brought back to the hospital for 4 days for blood tests. My wife was instructed not to lift anything heavier than the baby for 2 weeks and not to drive, so I had to carry our kid each time. Am I not entitled to FMLA without combining it with my wife? If I do use any FMLA, should I be able to use my sick time for pay?

Under the federal FMLA, I believe that when a married couple works for the same employer, the husband and wife are not entitled to time off at the same time and that they are entitled to a total of twelve-weeks unpaid leave, not twelve-weeks each. If you were employed at different places, you would each then be able to take 12-weeks.

Because the FMLA provides for "unpaid" leave, the employer is not required to allow an employee to use sick-time, vacation-time or any other paid-leave during an FMLA absence. However, if an employer has a practice of allowing workers to use paid time off when out on FMLA, they should continue that practice.

To find out more about the FMLA, go to the U.S. Dept. of Labor website, www.dol.gov. Also, check with the Miss. Dept. of Labor to see if there is an FMLA in that state, http://www.mesc.state.ms.us/. Although I doubt that Miss. would have its own FMLA, it won't hurt to check.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I was affraid that would be the answer. Its a shame that you are penalized like that for working at the same place.

Thanks for the reply. I was affraid that would be the answer. Its a shame that you are penalized like that for working at the same place.

Happy holidays and enjoy your new baby.