Consider this: A male officer asks a female chief about working revised hours and receiving some time off. He explains that his wife, who works for the town library, had a baby a few weeks ago and has been on family medical leave. She would like to go back to work part-time and have her husband stay home once in a while to help care for the couple’s baby boy. The officer wonders if there is any chance he can work nights and maybe take off a few days each week.

The chief knows without checking that the officer is eligible for some time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), since he has been employed by the municipality for at least 12 months and has worked for at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately preceding the beginning of the requested leave. She tells the officer that he is entitled to a total of 12 work weeks of leave during any 12-month period. This leave is granted to an employee by the FMLA because of the birth of a son or a daughter and in order to care for that son or daughter. Similar rules apply to parents who adopt a child or care for a foster child