Hiring hot topics: what you need to know about Parental Leave

Parental leave gives your employees time away from work to welcome a new addition to their family. Employers should take steps to make sure they’re not only meeting their legal requirements, but also doing what they can to support their team member during this important and exciting time. This will make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone.  

What are your employees’ parental leave entitlements?  

In New Zealand, there are four main types of parental leave available to eligible employees: 

• Primary carer leave: This applies to the person taking primary responsibility for a child’s care (can be birth parent, surrogate, spouse or partner of birth parent, adopted parent, or a permanent caregiver under agreement with Oranga Tamariki) and allows up to 26 weeks off work for employees who've worked an average of 10 hours per week for the last 6 months. 

• Partner's leave: This is for someone who is married to, in a civil union with, or in a de facto relationship with the primary carer and offers 1-2 weeks of unpaid leave (depending on length of service). 

• Extended leave: Primary carers can take extra time off after their Primary Carer Leave ends. This ranges from 26-52 extra weeks, depending on their length of service. Your employee can share this with a partner, and it doesn’t need to be taken all at once. 

• Negotiated carer leave: If the employee isn’t eligible for primary carer leave, they can ask their employer for negotiated carer’s leave. 

• Pregnancy leave: Pregnant employees can also take up to 10 unpaid days off work for pregnancy-related matters like medical appointments and antenatal classes. 

These leave entitlements are generally unpaid by the employer, unless otherwise agreed in the employment agreement. However, eligible employees may still receive government-funded parental leave payments through the IRD. While you’re not legally required to offer additional paid leave, your business might choose to do so under a formal paid parental leave policy. 

Employees can also use their other paid leave entitlements during their time off work, such as: 

• Annual leave 

• Long service leave

• Sick leave 

Employer obligations before, during and after leave 

In New Zealand, employers need to keep the employee’s job open while they’re on parental leave, unless the leave exceeds four weeks and the employee is in a key role that cannot be filled short-term. In that case, you must offer them a "period of preference" - meaning, if a similar role opens up within 26 weeks of the employee returning to work, the role must be offered to the returning employee first. 

During this time, you can have someone cover the role on a fixed-term basis or split the work amongst the team. 

After receiving a request for parental leave, you must respond within 21 days. If the employee is eligible you can’t decline their request. You then need to: 

• Let the employee know their rights and obligations during parental leave 

• Confirm if their job can be kept open (and if not, then why) 

• Share details on Parental Leave Payments 

When it's time for them to come back, employees are entitled to ask for flexible working arrangements, such as reduced working hours or more work-from-home days, and employers must also provide breastfeeding facilities if needed. 

Redundancy and Parental Leave 

Redundancies can be complex when an employee is pregnant or on parental leave. Employees can’t be discriminated against because they are pregnant – including being fired, demoted or treated adversely – so if redundancy wasn't known about when leave was requested, a fair process must be followed. 

“There are circumstances in which genuine redundancies can take place during a parental leave period, for example, if a person works at a factory and that factory closes down,” says Jaenine Badenhorst, director at Empower Law.  

Best practices 

Some best practices for employers include: 

• Be flexible during pregnancy: Prior to taking leave, many pregnant employees may need to take time off to attend medical appointments, or might be impacted by other symptoms, which means they could benefit from having more flexible working arrangements. While they’re entitled to unpaid leave, think about what other ways you can be accommodating. 

• Consider physical accommodations: Towards the end of their pregnancy, employees in physical roles may need extra support or accommodations. For example, it could help retail workers who stand all day to have a chair or stool to sit on. 

• Keep a level of communication open: Even though it’s not obligatory, Badenhorst would always suggest employers keep a level of communication with employees. “Some want more contact than others and might want to know all the company announcements, while others will say ‘talk to me at the end of my leave’,” says Badenhorst. However, it’s always worth checking to help them feel in the loop. 

• Meet employees halfway: Flexible working requests can be tricky when it’s time for them to come back from leave, but think about how you can adapt – for example, if starting with two days isn’t enough, would three days, or alternatives like job sharing, work?  

Supporting employees through parental leave isn't just about meeting legal obligations – it's an investment in the well-being of real people and their families during a major time in their lives.  

For more information on parental entitlements, visit Employment NZ and Business NZ. You can also consult your HR team or an employment lawyer for more specific advice.  

Information provided in this article is general only and it does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. SEEK provides no warranty as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Before taking any course of action related to this article you should make your own inquiries and seek independent advice (including the appropriate legal advice) on whether it is suitable for your circumstances.