WASHINGTON — The U.S. military this week introduced new rights for military parents, doubling the amount of leave time for service members who give birth.
The Department of Defense policy also provides leave for new parents who don’t give birth, including those who adopt and foster long-term.
The change means that 12 weeks of parental leave will be granted to service members who give birth, and 12 weeks of leave will be granted to the non-birth parent.
The policy also provides 12 weeks of leave for those who adopt or have a long-term foster care placement. The 12 weeks of leave must be used in the first year of the child’s life.
The new policy is effective as of this past Wednesday, and will retroactively apply to service members who were on maternity convalescent leave or caregiver leave as of December 27.
"Importantly, service members who are the non-birth parent will also be authorized 12 weeks to care for the child as well," said Brigadier General Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman."This expansion builds on the DOD's support of military families ad service members by streamlining and enhancing the parental leave benefits across all the service branches."
Previously, only the parent who gave birth to the child was granted six weeks of leave.
