Parental Leave 101

We've broken down the legislation and busted through the jargon so you have fewer parental leave surprises come your way.

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TL:DR

Money

  • Parental Leave Payments: to receive parental leave payments from the NZ government, you need to be a Primary Carer (defined below) who has worked for any of the 26 weeks in the 52 weeks for at least an average of 10 hours per week prior to your child’s arrival (can be across multiple employers with breaks in employment or as a self-employed person). The payment replaces your income up to a cap of $754.87 per week before tax for 26 weeks. 

    • Fortnightly payments in 1 continuous block

    • You can make a one-time, one-way transfer to your partner if they meet the eligibility requirements

  • Keeping-in-Touch (KIT) hours: in agreement with your employer, you can work up to 64 paid KIT hours while you’re receiving parental leave payments. 

    • If you work more than 64 hours, the IRD considers you to have returned to work and your parental leave payments stop.

    • Also, you can’t work KIT hours in the first 28 days after your child arrives.

  • Best Start: all families can receive $73/week for the first year regardless of family income. Best Start payments begin when government-paid parental leave finishes.

  • Other Sources: Working For Families Tax Credits (includes Best Start), WINZ (includes childcare subsidies), paid leave (e.g., annual leave, time-in-lieu), employer-paid parental leave

Time off

  • Parental Leave: to get 6 months of parental leave (i.e. time off work), you need to have worked for the same employer for at least 6 months for an average of at least 10 hours per week before your child arrives (and 12 months for 12 months of parental leave). This can be shared by both parents. In addition, partners may be entitled to up to 2 weeks of unpaid Partner leave. Use The Crayon Parental Leave Entitlements Tool to find out what you’re entitled to.

  • Next child: you need to have returned to work for at least 6 months before you’re eligible again to receive parental leave payments and to take parental leave for another child.

  • Special Leave: pregnant employees are entitled to 10 days of special leave for pregnancy-related reasons, e.g., medical appointments and scans.

In the workplace

  • Job protection: your employer cannot discriminate against you for being pregnant, applying for parental leave or being on parental leave.

  • Physical accommodations: if your pregnancy affects your ability to do your job, your employer can transfer you temporarily to another job. If it’s not possible, your employer can require you to start your parental leave early.

  • Right to return: your employer must keep your role job open unless you are deemed to hold a ‘key position’. If you’re unable to return to your role because it's a ‘key position’ that has been permanently filled or your role has been made redundant, then you have a 26-week period of preference for other roles that are similar to the one you previously held. 

  • Feeding: your employer must provide you with facilities and breaks to breastfeed or express in the workplace if reasonable and practical. 

  • Flex: you have the right to request flexible working arrangements at any point, and your employer has to provide you with a written response.

  • Annual leave: annual leave you become entitled to on parental leave or in the 12 months after you return is paid at your average weekly wage only. This can result in a negative surprise for returning parents. We break it down here.

    • If you resign on parental leave, then your last day of work is considered the day you started your parental leave -  not the day you put your resignation in or when your notice period ends. You’ll only receive holiday pay for leave you were due up to the date you started your parental leave.

Premature baby (legally defined as a baby born earlier than 37 weeks gestation)

  • Extra government parental leave payments: If you qualify for government-paid parental leave, then you can also receive preterm baby payments from the day your baby is born through to the end of what would have been your 36th week of pregnancy, up to a maximum of 13 weeks. Your regular paid parental leave payments will start after this, and you can go back to work in between (although any parental leave payment will stop). The preterm baby payment amount would be the same as the parental leave payment amount.

  • Extra KIT hours: you can work up to a total of 3 hours multiplied by the number of weeks that you receive the preterm baby payments. This won’t be counted as you having stopped your parental leave. 

  • Extra leave: if you are required to start Primary Carer leave early (because the baby arrives early or by medical or employer direction), then you can still take at least 20 weeks’ Primary Carer leave after the expected date of delivery birth, even if this means that you will have taken more than 26 weeks Primary Carer leave. In this situation, the additional weeks of Primary Carer leave are not included in the calculation of the amount of Extended leave available.

Jump Ahead

Roles

Types of Leave

Financial Support

Key Dates

Legislation

Helpful Resources

Roles

In today’s workplaces, a more equitable distribution of parenting responsibilities is a hotly discussed topic. However, as far as the legislation is concerned, there are two roles: Primary Carer and Partner.

Primary Carer

Primary Carer is one of the following:

  • The birth parent (by default)

  • The birth parent’s partner, if the birth parent has transferred all or some of their parental leave entitlements to their partner (or if they have succeeded it). The partner becomes the Primary Carer for the period of time in relation to which the entitlement is transferred

  • A person who takes on the permanent primary responsibility for the care, development and upbringing of a child under the age of 6 years who is not their biological child. 

    • This includes formal adoption, whāngai adoption, and Permanent Care for Oranga Tamariki. 

    • This does not include foster parents or respite carers.

Can both parents be Primary Carers at the same time?

No. There can only be one Primary Carer for a child at any given time during parental leave. 

Can each parent be the Primary Carer at different times? 

Yes. The initial Primary Carer can transfer some or all their responsibility to their spouse or partner. This is a one-time, one-way transfer. Interesting fact: historically, fewer than 2% of men have become Primary Carers.

What if both parents meet the Primary Carer definition?

If both parents meet the Primary Carer definition (e.g., both parents are adopting a child), then they must jointly nominate which one of them is to be the Primary Carer.

Partner

The spouse or partner of the birth parent or nominated primary carer, male or female, same-sex or different sex

Types of Leave

Parental leave only applies to parents who are employees. Self-employed parents can take time off from self-employment.

We use the term “child’s expected arrival date” to refer to the due date of the baby or the date a person becomes the permanent carer of the child under the age of 6.

Parental Leave

Parental leave is leave from employment to care for a new child. In New Zealand, there are four types of parental leave: Primary Carer leave, Partner leave, Extended leave, and Negotiated Carer leave. 

An employee has to meet eligibility requirements to be entitled to take parental leave from their employer (i.e. to take the time away from work) and to receive parental leave payments from the government. It can be the case that an employee is entitled to 26 weeks of parental leave payments but not to the time off to receive the payments!

Not sure of your entitlements? The Crayon Parental Leave Entitlements Tool will give you an answer specific to your situation. 

Primary Carer Leave

A Primary Carer can take up to 26 weeks of Primary Carer leave if they meet the eligibility criteria. Primary Carer leave must be taken in one continuous period.

Partner Leave

A Partner can take up to 2 weeks of Partner leave if they meet the eligibility criteria. Partner leave is in addition to Extended Leave.

Extended Leave

Partners and Primary Carers can share up to 52 weeks of Extended leave if they both meet the eligibility criteria. Extended leave includes Primary Carer leave, i.e. the maximum leave a new parent can take is 52 weeks in total. Parents can take extended leave together, and they can return to work and then take extended leave later in agreement with their employer.

Negotiated Carer Leave

If an employee is eligible for government-paid parental leave but not parental leave, they can apply for negotiated carer leave to receive the payments.

Special Leave

A pregnant employee can take up to 10 days of unpaid special leave for pregnancy-related reasons such as antenatal classes, scans or midwife appointments. This leave is in addition to any parental leave taken.

Special leave is only available to pregnant employees and cannot be transferred to the pregnant employees’ spouse or partner.

Financial Support

We’ve listed the financial support available to new parents regardless of family income. Additional benefits based on family income are available, which you can find in SmartStart. 

Government-paid parental leave

The New Zealand government pays eligible Primary Carers parental leave payments equivalent to their average weekly income up to a maximum of $754.87 a week before tax. Both employees and self-employed people are eligible, as long as they have worked an average of 10 hours a week in at least 26 of the 52 weeks before their child’s expected arrival.

Keeping-in-touch (KIT) Hours

Employees receiving government-paid parental leave can choose to perform paid work from time to time if their employer agrees.

KIT hours cannot be worked within the first 28 days after giving birth. The maximum KIT hours employees can use are 64 hours over the 26-week paid parental leave period - any more than this, the IRD considers the employee to have returned to work, and they can no longer receive parental leave payments from the government.

Parents who experience premature birth can work extra KIT hours up to a total of 3 hours multiplied by the number of weeks that they receive the preterm baby payment.

Best Start payments

Best Start is a payment of $73 a week for families supporting a newborn baby. Primary Carers can receive the payment until their baby turns 1, no matter how much the family earns. Best Start payments start when government-paid parental leave ends.

Key Dates

Before your child’s expected arrival date

  • 3 months before: you must inform your employer of your intention to take parental leave (if you’re taking permanent responsibility for a child under the age of 6, you only need to give 14 days’ notice)

  • 6 weeks before: this is the earliest you can start Primary Carer leave unless you have a medical exception or your employer agrees

  • More than 3 weeks before: if your baby arrives before 37 weeks gestation, you may be eligible for pre-term baby payments.

  • 3 weeks before: this is the earliest you can start Partner leave.

Your child arrives! 

Government-paid parental leave begins when your child arrives unless you’re taking employer-paid leave first (e.g., annual leave), in which case, paid parental leave will begin immediately after that finishes.

After your child arrives

  • 21 days after: this is the latest you can finish Partner leave unless your child remains in hospital, in which case, Partner leave ends the day your child is discharged

  • 21 days before the end of parental leave: you must inform your employer in writing if you are returning to work

  • 6 months after: if you’re entitled to 6 months total of Extended leave, you must take it by this date

  • 12 months after: 

    • If you’re entitled to 12 months total of Extended leave, you must take it by this date

    • You must apply for paid parental leave before the earlier of your child's first birthday / first anniversary from the date of permanent care or before returning back to work (other than for keeping-in-touch days).

Legislation

Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 (PLEPA)

The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 is the legislation that governs parental leave in New Zealand.

Employment Relations Act 2000 

The Employment Relations Act 2000 (and subsequent amendments) provides the legal backdrop for all relationships between employees, employers and unions in New Zealand. This includes breastfeeding and expressing in the workplace and requests for flexible working.

Helpful Resources

  • SmartStart lists the full range of financial support from the government