Paternity leave

I have a new job in a govt hospital. My legal wife is about to give birth to our first baby. I notified our HR for the paternity leave and they informed me about the following conditions:

I need to schedule the days of my leave because of lack of manpower in the hospital and subject for their approval

I can only use it within 30 days starting the date of delivery of my wife

Isnt it that Paternity leave is the same as emergency leave where I can use it anytime that I want regardless of the lack of manpower?

I have read in the IRR of the Paternity leave that I can use it within the period of 60 days, can govt hospital formulate their own rules regarding this?

I need your answers first before I talk again to our HR, help pls, thanks!

Up

SECTION 4. Application for leave. — The married male employees
shall apply for paternity leave with his employer within a reasonable
period of time from the expected date of delivery by the pregnant
spouse, or within such period as may be provided by company rules
and regulations or by collective bargaining agreement, provided that
prior application for leave shall not be required in case of miscarriage.

- Law is vague but i think the hospital is referring to this

pero eto po yung sabi ng civil service:

Republic Act No. 8187, also known as the Paternity Leave Act of 1996, grants paternity leave of seven days with full pay to all married male employees in the private and public sectors to enable the married male employee to effectively lend support and assistance to his wife in her period of recovery and in the nursing of their newly born child.

As the central human resource institution of the government, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) is mandated to formulate rules and regulations on the entitlement to leave of absence of officers and employees in the civil service.

The civil service omnibus rules on leave, which contain the implementing rules and regulations of RA 8187 for the public sector, provide the conditions for the grant of paternity leave. However, the rules originally did not specify the period within which the leave may be availed of.

The CSC deemed it necessary to harmonize the public sector policy on availing paternity leave with that of the private sector through the issuance of CSC Resolution No. 1501531 promulgated on Dec. 21, 2015.

Section 20 of the rules now reads as: “Paternity leave of seven days shall be non-cumulative and strictly non-convertible to cash. The same may be enjoyed either in a continuous or in an intermittent manner by the employee on the days immediately, before, during, and after the childbirth or miscarriage of his legitimate spouse. Said leave shall be availed of not later than 60 days after the date of the child’s delivery.”

All rules, regulations, and issuances that are inconsistent with the resolution are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

-From the Civil Service Commission

yes, yung ni cite ko is yung IRR nyan