The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a U.S. federal law that grants eligible employees the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. For paternity leave, FMLA allows new fathers to take up to 12 weeks of leave within a 12-month period to care for a newborn or a newly adopted child. Here's how it works:

Eligibility: To be eligible, an employee must work for a covered employer, have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, and have logged at least 1,250 hours of work in the 12 months prior to the start of the leave. Additionally, the employer must have at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.

Coverage: FMLA leave can be used for the birth and care of a newborn child, adoption, or foster care placement of a child with the employee. It also covers serious health conditions of the employee or immediate family members and certain exigencies arising from a family member's military service.

Leave Duration: Eligible fathers can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. The leave can be taken consecutively, intermittently, or on a reduced schedule, subject to employer approval in some cases.

Job Protection: During FMLA leave, the employee’s job is protected. Upon return, the employee must be reinstated to the same or an equivalent position with the same pay, benefits, and terms of employment.

Health Insurance: Employers must maintain the employee’s group health insurance coverage under the same terms as if the employee had not taken leave.