Paternity Leave?

[THE POINTY END]

New joiner here. Looking through the Cathay Conditions Of Service (1999) and I can't find anything mentioning paternity leave. Maternity leave yes, but nothing for would be Dads. Do Cathay recognise this or is it simply a case of applying for A/L around the due dates? Haven't found anyone to answer this, so I'm throwing it out to cyber world.

[Harbour Dweller]

There is no paternity leave in CX yet so unless you come up with a miracle conception yourself best you apply for some A/L.

[THE POINTY END]

A/L it is then. Best keep it in the trousers next time. We'll probably have the baby in Hong Kong now. I suppose the health care as far better anyway.

[spannersatcx]

There is no paternity leave in CX yet
There is in countries that have a legal requirement to provide it though, so if you were based in most if not all countries in the EU you would be entitled to it, although it is unpaid I believe.

[wannagetout]

HAve your kid anywhere except HK. We had 2 there and both deliveries at 2 seperate Hospitals were absolute disasters. Unless you want your wife scarred for life, get to a place where they practise real medicine. Don't expect any help from Cathay either. Remember they hired you , not your family.........

[BusyB]

I recall an article by two expats detailing the facts of having a baby in HKG but can't remember where I saw it. If no-one here remembers you could try contacting the HKAOA and see if they have a copy of it.:)

[sizematters]

Ignore Wanntageout, he's the Fragrant Harbour equivalent of Gollum in Lord of the rings (Mind you I thought that was a gay porn movie when it first came out)...........................Medical standards in Hong kong are very good, and If wanntageout really had two kids, one can only feel sorry for them !!!!

[THE POINTY END]

Bit of a mixed bag of opinions, but I guess that's to be expected. Each persons experience is going to be very different as each birth/circumstances will be different to that particular individual/couple. My Wife will remain in the UK for the first few months for training. I think she'd prefere to have a child in the UK with family and friends close by. The downside is that I won't be there for important times such as 20 week scan to sex the baby and check for problems. These are things I'd obviously like to be a part of. I also heard of occasions during my final interview of S/o's given temporary basings at their home country after the delivery so they can spend as much time with the new family as possible. Any substance to this rumour, or just false info passed down the line?

[CMOTDibler]

Pointy,
we've had 2 babies in HK and there were no probs at all, everything went smoothly (first one was private at Matilda, the second one public so we have seen both ends of the spectrum).Many of my friends have also had thier children in HK, again no concerns. I think a lot of the concern is not based on fact but more upon personal feelings of who you feel comfortable with. remember you can always have your baby delivered by a western doctor if that is the concern.
If you do have it in Hong Kong it is a good idea to get the family up to help after the birth and lend support. Having family present would be a good reason to have it in your home country.
If you look at wannagetouts history on this forum you may well find he has very few nice things to say about Hong Kong, but as he points out we don't have the details of his problems.
Personally I found that I was quite stressed/tired and in no condition to fly for at least 7 days after the birth of my children;).
Luckily as a second Officer you have a good spread of days off to be at home after the births.
Good luck and enjoy being a dad:ok:

[Numero Crunchero]

pointy,
I and many others have had lots of experience with childbirths in hkg. The standards are very high. A major criticism I have is that hospital staff here are quite impersonal.

wannagetout,
WHy are you still on this site? If you hate this place, leave it alone. If you apply this logic to life, should you ever get divorced I can see you sitting in your ex-wifes house constantly reminding her how much you hate her. Or are you trying to 'protect' the new joiners from making a big mistake? So I guess if you ever do get divorced, you will be standing outside your ex wifes house with placards warning away possible suitors!

Get some 'closure' man!