Key Takeaways
- In 2026, proposed changes to paternity leave could significantly expand benefits to 105 days for Filipino dads, with 90 continuous days and 15 flexible days.
- The current law offers only 7 paid days of paternity leave under RA 8187 and has not changed yet. Employers need to prepare for upcoming legislation.
- The PAPA Leave Act would remove the marriage requirement and extend leave to non-marital fathers and caregivers, shifting funding responsibilities to the SSS.
- Fathers can currently claim up to 14 days of leave by combining statutory days with transferred maternity leave from the mother.
- Employers should stay informed about these changes as they can improve retention, attract talent, and promote inclusive policies.
Why 2026 Is the Year for Filipino Dads to Pay Attention
If you’re a Filipino professional expecting a child, or you run the HR desk that processes these requests, 2026 is the year to pay attention.
For nearly three decades, fathers in the Philippines have worked with the same seven days granted by the Paternity Leave Act of 1996. Seven days to witness a birth, help your partner recover, register the child, and be present for a genuinely disorienting week. Many dads use it all up before they’ve figured out how the car seat clicks in.
Lawmakers are now challenging that status quo directly. On June 18, 2026, Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno, along with Reps. Percival Cendaña, Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Kaka Bag-ao, filed House Bill 9891, the Paternity and Parental Leave Act (PAPA Leave Act). The proposal is large in scale: 90 continuous days of paid leave after a live childbirth, plus 15 days of flexible paid parental leave within the child’s first year, for a total of 105 days, the same length as maternity leave.
What this guide gives you is both timelines at once. You’ll know exactly what to file for today so you don’t leave paid days unclaimed, and you’ll understand the reform that could reshape your next child’s first months so you can plan ahead and, if you’re an employer, prepare for it. This guide covers the law as it stands today and the law as it may become.
What’s Actually Being Proposed (and What Isn’t Real Yet)
Precision helps here because the headlines have moved fast, and misinformation moves faster.
The current law has not changed. As of 2026, paternity leave is still 7 paid working days under RA 8187, plus up to 7 transferable days under RA 11210. Anyone telling you that you already have 105 days is mistaken.
The PAPA Leave Act is a bill Rep. Diokno has filed in the House of Representatives, and it still has to clear committee deliberations, votes in both chambers, and the President’s signature before any father can claim a single extra day under it. Measures like this can take months or years, and they can change shape along the way.
What the Bill Would Change
Still, Rep. Diokno’s proposal is worth understanding because of how far it reaches:
- 105 days total for a live childbirth (90 continuous days plus 15 flexible days within the first year).
- 60 continuous days of paid leave for a miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy.
- No marriage requirement. The bill extends the benefit to non-marital fathers and alternative caregivers.
- Wider coverage. It includes workers in the informal economy and voluntary SSS members, subject to specific contribution requirements.
- SSS funding instead of employer funding. Private-sector employers would advance the pay and then recover it in full from the SSS, a clear shift from today, where employers absorb the cost of the base leave.
- Job protection with real penalties. The measure bars employers from demoting, dismissing, or discriminating against employees who take the leave, and violators face fines, imprisonment, and possible revocation of business permits.
The Catch: An Accountability Clause
The bill also adds an accountability clause. A father who takes the expanded leave but fails to actively care for or support the child during that period can face liability for violence under Republic Act 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act. Lawmakers designed the leave for caregiving, not for an extended paid break.
The authors frame the measure around shared parenting: childcare is a shared parental duty that the state should actively support, rather than a responsibility left to women alone. Whether or not it passes in its current form, the direction is clear, and both professionals and employers can prepare for a future where paternity leave runs into months rather than days.
What You Can Claim Today: The Two-Law System
Until the PAPA Leave Act becomes law, your benefits run on two separate tracks.
Track 1: The Paternity Leave Act of 1996 (RA 8187)
This grants 7 working days of fully paid leave to a legally married male employee, for the first four deliveries of the spouse he lives with. “Delivery” includes miscarriage. The benefit applies whether you’re regular, probationary, contractual, project-based, or fixed-term.
Read more on statutory employee benefits in the Philippines: 30 Popular Employee Benefits: Philippines’ Complete Guide
Track 2: The Expanded Maternity Leave Law (RA 11210)
This is the track most fathers overlook. A new mother can transfer up to 7 days of her 105-day maternity leave to the child’s father, and she can do this regardless of whether the parents are married.
Stacked together, a married father can reach up to 14 days today.
Paternity Leave Philippines: Quick Summary (Current Law)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Base duration | 7 paid working days (RA 8187) |
| Extended option | Up to 14 days if mother transfers 7 days (RA 11210) |
| Paid? | Yes |
| Who funds the base 7 days? | Employer (no SSS reimbursement) |
| Who funds the transferred days? | Tied to the mother’s SSS maternity benefit |
| Eligibility (base 7 days) | Legally married male employees, living with spouse |
| Eligibility (transferred 7 days) | Any father, married or not |
| Coverage | First four deliveries |
| Filing window | Within 60 days of childbirth |
Can You Get Paternity Leave If You’re Not Married?
Yes, and it’s a benefit many Filipino fathers don’t realize they can claim, so it’s worth slowing down for.
A large share of Filipino fathers aren’t legally married to their child’s mother. Under RA 8187 alone, those fathers receive nothing, because the 1996 law assumes a narrower definition of family and requires a lawful marriage.
RA 11210 closed part of that gap. Because the mother can transfer up to 7 of her maternity days to the father regardless of marital status, an unmarried father has a fully legal route to paid leave. The mechanics are simple: the mother files the SSS Allocation of Maternity Leave Credits with her employer or the SSS and names the father as the recipient.
If you’re an unmarried dad-to-be, the move is straightforward. Talk to your partner early, and have her allocate those days when she files her maternity benefit. That is the difference between zero paid days and a full week of them.
This is also the gap the PAPA Leave Act would close permanently by removing the marriage requirement altogether.
Is Paternity Leave Paid by SSS?
Under current law, the answer depends on which days you mean, and getting it right protects your paycheck.
- The base 7 days (RA 8187): your employer pays these in full, with no SSS reimbursement. Your company absorbs this cost directly, which is why everything runs through HR and payroll.
- The transferred days (RA 11210): these draw from the mother’s SSS maternity benefit. The employer advances the pay and may recover it through the SSS mechanism, subject to SSS rules and caps.
The PAPA Leave Act would change the funding model for the expanded leave, shifting the ultimate cost to the SSS rather than the employer. That shift is part of why the proposal reads as workable for businesses, because it spreads the cost across the social insurance system instead of placing months of payroll on individual employers.
See how payroll works in the Philippines.
Paternity Leave vs. Other Leave Types (Current Law)
| Leave Type | Days | Paid | Covered By | Eligible For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paternity Leave | 7 (up to 14 if extended) | Yes | Employer | Married male employees (transferred days: any father) |
| Maternity Leave | 105 | Yes | SSS + Employer | Female employees |
| Solo Parent Leave | 7 | Yes | Employer | Certified solo parents |
For the other side of the equation, see our full guide to maternity leave in the Philippines.
How to File for Paternity Leave
Step 1: Tell HR early. As soon as you have a confirmed expected delivery date, notify your supervisor or HR. Early notice also gives them time to help process your partner’s SSS and PhilHealth maternity benefits, which you may be assisting with.
Step 2: Prepare your documents. You’ll typically need a PSA marriage certificate for the statutory leave, a medical certificate with the expected delivery date, and your company’s paternity leave form.
Step 3: Confirm your dates. You can take the leave before, during, or after the birth, and you can split it up. Use all of it within 60 days of delivery.
Step 4: Submit post-birth documents. Provide the child’s PSA birth certificate for final validation. For a miscarriage, your company may require a medical or fetal death certificate instead.
Step 5: Handle the transfer. If your partner is allocating part of her maternity leave to you under RA 11210, she files the SSS Allocation of Maternity Leave Credits and Maternity Notification forms through her employer or the SSS.
Common Mistakes That Cost Fathers Money
- Telling HR too late. Filing is what triggers payroll, so notify early.
- Missing documents. A delayed marriage or birth certificate can hold up your pay.
- Assuming the benefit is automatic. It is not; without a filing, there is no payout.
- Skipping the transferred days. If your partner agrees, have her formally allocate her unused days. Many fathers don’t ask, and they forfeit a free week of paid leave.
For Employers and HR: Why This Is a Strategic Moment
If you run people operations in the Philippines, the PAPA Leave Act belongs on your radar now, well before it reaches the President’s desk.
What You Still Owe Under RA 8187
Your current obligations under RA 8187 haven’t changed. You must grant the 7 paid days to qualified employees, fund them yourself, keep them separate from vacation and sick leave credits, process any transferred-leave reimbursement through the SSS, and protect the confidentiality of the documents.
Denying a valid request exposes you to complaints before the Department of Labor and Employment, with fines, sanctions, and reputational damage on the line.
The Upside of Getting Ahead
The benefits for forward-looking employers are real:
Talent and retention. Young Filipino professionals increasingly weigh parental benefits when they choose where to work. Companies that already offer leave beyond the statutory minimum, and that don’t condition it on marital status, tend to see better retention and morale among employees with young families.
Inclusive policy as a differentiator. A meaningful share of your male workforce may be unmarried fathers who fall outside the statutory 7 days. A company-provided parental leave benefit, labeled clearly as exceeding statutory requirements, closes that gap and signals a culture of care. A clean handbook clause keeps it flexible, for example, one noting that the benefit exceeds legal minimums and that management may modify it at its discretion.
Readiness for reform. If the PAPA Leave Act passes, much of the funding shifts to the SSS, but the operational work of advancing pay, tracking absences that run past 90 days, and backfilling roles lands on HR. Employers who pilot longer, more flexible parental leave now will adapt more smoothly later.
An HR Readiness Checklist
A practical checklist for HR teams:
- Grant and correctly fund the statutory 7 days, and keep them off vacation and sick leave balances.
- Tell every new father, married or not, about the RA 11210 transfer option, and make the paperwork easy.
- Keep request templates and document checklists ready.
- Train your team on both laws, or work with HR and compliance partners who track these changes.
- Monitor the PAPA Leave Act’s progress and model its potential payroll and staffing impact before it becomes law.
If you’re creating a team from scratch, our guide on how to build a compliant team in the Philippines walks through the leave, payroll, and statutory obligations in one place.
A Final Word for Fathers and Employers
Right now, the move is simple. File for your 7 days, ask your partner to transfer up to 7 more, and use all of it within 60 days, so none of your paid leave goes to waste.
Keep one eye on the horizon, too. The PAPA Leave Act is a far-reaching attempt to bring fathers closer to equal footing with mothers in those early months, with 105 days, no marriage requirement, SSS funding, and real protection against retaliation.
Whether you’re a father planning your family or an employer planning your workforce, it pays to understand both the law you have and the law that may be coming.
If you’re building or scaling a team in the Philippines and want your parental leave policies to stay compliant as the rules shift, talk to the Penbrothers team about setting them up the right way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Right now, a qualified married father gets 7 paid working days under RA 8187. If the mother transfers part of her maternity leave under RA 11210, the total can reach 14 days. The proposed PAPA Leave Act (House Bill 9891), filed in June 2026, would raise this to as many as 105 days, but it is not yet law.
There is no new law yet, only a bill. In June 2026, Rep. Chel Diokno filed the PAPA Leave Act (House Bill 9891), proposing 90 days of paid leave after a live birth plus 15 flexible days within the child’s first year, for 105 days total. It would also remove the marriage requirement and shift funding to the SSS. Until Congress passes it and the President signs it, the current 7-day rule still applies.
Paternity leave is fully paid at your regular salary, not a reduced rate. Your employer shoulders the base 7 days directly, with no SSS reimbursement. Any days transferred from the mother’s maternity leave are drawn from her SSS benefit, which the employer advances and may recover from the SSS.
You’ll typically submit a PSA marriage certificate (for the statutory 7 days), a medical certificate with the expected delivery date, and your company’s paternity leave form. After the birth, you provide the child’s PSA birth certificate. For a transferred-leave arrangement, the mother files the SSS Allocation of Maternity Leave Credits form.
Yes. Under RA 8187, “delivery” includes miscarriage, so a qualified father can claim the 7 days to support his partner and recover. The proposed PAPA Leave Act would go further, granting 60 continuous days of paid leave in cases of miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy.
