Take a look at our new easy reference Parental Leave Chart.

The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 and its amendment in 2002/04 provides minimum parental leave entitlements for both men and women. It protects the rights of employees while on pregnancy and parental leave and for those employees who qualify it provides 14 weeks' paid leave.   To apply for paid leave both the employer and employee must complete an application form. 

Maternity Leave 

The mother is entitled to up to 14 weeks' leave, at the expected time of the birth or adoption. Maternity leave may begin up to 6 weeks prior to the expected date of birth or adoption but would be subtracted from any period of extended leave. 

Partner's/Paternity Leave

Two weeks' parental/paternity leave is available to employees who have worked for the same employer for at least the previous 12 months. One week's parental/partners leave is available to employees who have worked for the same employer for at least the previous six months. This can be taken from 21 days before the birth date to 21 days after it.

Both partners can take their leave at the same time or they can take it one after the other.  The total maternity leave and extended leave taken by both partners must not add up to more than 52 weeks. All the leave must be taken within the first year of the child’s life, or within 12 months of adopting a child.  Maternity leave may begin up to 6 weeks before the expected date of delivery or adoption but will then reduce the amount of leave available after the birth to 46 weeks if leave begins 6 weeks early.  The paternity leave taken by the male partner is additional to the 52 week period.

Teachers employed by school boards of trustees and eligible junior doctors will be entitled to count certain multiple employments as a single employment in determining eligibility.

Special Leave 

A pregnant woman can take up to 10 days' leave before maternity leave begins for things like antenatal classes and doctors appointments. This leave is additional to Parental Leave and is unpaid. 

Extended Leave

Up to 52 weeks' leave can be taken by either partner or shared by both. Maternity leave is subtracted from the entitlement of 52 weeks if taken.

Both parents (female employees who are having a baby and their male partners if they are also employees) can share the leave, up to an overall total of 52 weeks (1 year). 

Employees who are adopting a child under six can also apply. 

The male partner or de facto spouse does not have to be married to the mother of the child, but they must be living together and intending to share responsibility for looking after the child.

To apply for parental leave, employees must have worked for the company for at least 10 hours per week for 6 months before the expected date of birth or adoption.  Employees can take parental leave again if they have worked for at least 10 hours a week for a further 6 months for the company by the time the next child is due to be born or adopted. You can go back to work for a period between taking your maternity/paternity leave and taking your extended leave, however you cannot take your extended leave one year after the birth/adoption of your child.

Employee responsibilities

The employee must apply in writing to the company and must give notice of leave 3 months before the baby is due, unless the leave is for adoption or you agree otherwise.  The employee must attach a certificate from their doctor stating when the baby is due.  A male employee must also include a written declaration from his partner that he is her partner and is going to share the care of the baby.  Once the employee has started their leave, it can only be extended if the company agrees.  If the employee is adopting, they may not know in advance when they will take responsibility for the child. There are special provisions in the Act for giving notice in this situation.

Employer responsibilities

Once you have received an application for parental leave, you have 7 days in which you can ask for any information the employee has not provided. The employee must provide it within 14 days.  You must reply to the application within 21 days. Your reply should state: 

• Whether the employee is entitled to take parental leave, and if not the reasons why not.
• Whether the job can be kept open or not. If it can’t the letter should tell the employee that they will have preference for similar jobs for 26 weeks after the end of their parental leave.
• The main rights and obligation the employee has under the Act.

You must write to the employee to confirm the arrangements made within 21 days after the employee goes on leave. The letter should give the date on which the employee is due to return to work and remind them to write to you 21 days before returning to work.   

Keeping the Job Open

You must keep the employee's job open unless the first period of parental leave taken exceeds 4 weeks AND there is a justifiable case for redundancy or a  temporary replacement is not reasonably possible because of the employee’s key position in the company due to the size or training period and skills required in the role. 

If the job is a key position and cannot be kept open, you must give the employee preference for any available roles that are similar to that which they previously held for a period of six months from the time leave ends.

Start Dates

The maternity leave may start up to six weeks before the expected date of delivery.  Their doctor can advise the employee to start their maternity leave even earlier than this if they believe it is necessary for the health of the employee and their baby.  You can ask the employee to start maternity leave early if they cannot continue to do their job safely or perform their job adequately.  If their doctor or the Company advises the employee to take extra maternity leave, this leave is not counted as part of the total 52 weeks.  If the employee and the Company agree, the employee can start maternity leave at any time before the baby is due.  Paternity Leave can start up to 21 days before the expected date of birth or up to 21 days after the actual date of birth or adoption.  Extended leave can start any time after the end of your maternity or paternity leave. Each kind of leave must be taken in one continuous period.   

Temporary Replacement

You can hire a temporary employee to cover for an employee who is on parental leave. You must tell the replacement employee that they are employed on a temporary basis to replace someone on parental leave, and that the person may return from leave early.

Returning to work 

The employee must write to you 21 days before their leave ends, giving the date they want to return to work.  If the employee decides not to return to work, they must let the company know at least 21 days before their leave ends.  If the employee does not return to work at the end of their parental leave, their employment will be considered to have ended on the day they started the leave.  The employee may return to work early if the company agrees. The company may ask for a medical certificate if the employee wishes to return early from maternity leave.  The employee may also return to work early if the child is miscarried, stillborn, dies or is adopted or cared for by someone else. Once again, the employee should write to the company 21 days before their return. 

Paid Parental Leave

Paid parental leave is funded by the government and is currently paid for up to 14 weeks.  The payment can be taken by one parent or shared between two eligible partners.  For the birth of a child, the mother can claim a payment but can also choose to share this with an eligible partner.   Adoptive parents can choose who is eligible or may transfer part of all of this to the other parent.

If the employment agreement has more generous entitlement terms this does not override the qualifying requirements for tax payer funded payments.

The payment is a maximum of $407.36 per week before tax whether you are an employee or whether you are self-employed. If you are self-employed for 10 hours a week or more and earn less than minimum wage, you will receive $120.00 a week. 

Working during Leave

Unless you have a clause in your employment agreement stating otherwise, nothing in the Act precludes an employee from working for another company while on extended leave from your business.  You would still have to keep their job open and allow them to return at the end of the period. However if you return to work for your current employer your payments will cease.

Procedure and template documents can be downloaded. For more information contact info@hughesdirect.com