By Ethan Kilham

Amendments to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (PPLA) and Fair Work Act 2009 (FWA) commenced on 1 July 2023, strengthening employee’s paid and unpaid entitlements respectively.

 Paid Parental Leave

In a previous article, we outlined changes to the PPLA.

In summary, the changes for employees are:

• Partnered employees may claim a maximum of 20 weeks’ pay between them, with each partner taking at least 2 weeks;

• Employees who are single at the time they claim are eligible for the complete 20-week parental leave pay;

• Expansion of eligibility by introducing a $350,000.00 family income test, under which claimants can qualify for parental leave pay should they not meet the prior individual income test of $156,647;

• Payments are now flexible, such that the payments can be made in multiple blocks until the child turns 2 (no requirement to take it all at once) and abolishment of the requirement not to return to work in order to be eligible.

 Unpaid Parental Leave

The ‘Protecting Worker Entitlements’ amendments that came into force on 22 June 2023 offer employees greater flexibility when accessing unpaid parental leave.

They provide for employees to access a 12-month unpaid period of leave at any stage within 24 months of their child’s birth (or placement in the case of adoption).

Employees may apply to extend their leave by up to 12 months. Whilst this application may be rejected by employers, the employer must provide reasons in writing.  

This 12-month period can be taken as a single continuous period, flexibly or as a combination of both. Employees are entitled to take up to 100 days of their unpaid leave flexibly, that is in single days or as multiple periods longer than one day. For example, an employee might elect to take a single period of leave, before flexibly taking say 2 days per week for the last 100 days of the 12-month entitlement

To be eligible for unpaid parental leave, employees must have, both:

• Worked for their employer for at least 12 months before either:

a.       The date of birth or adoption; or

b.       When the leave starts in the case of taking unpaid leave after another person cares for the child or takes parental leave.

and;

• Currently, or at some future date, the responsibility to care for a child.

It is worth noting that casual employees must show they have been working on a ‘regular and systematic’ basis for at least 12 months, with a reasonable expectation of continuing work with the employer, on such a basis, in the absence of the birth/adoption of a child.

If the employee has another child whilst with the same employer, they will not need to work another 12 months in order to take unpaid parental leave. If they change employers however, they will need to have worked for at least 12-months with that new employer.

 If you have any questions regarding parental leave rights, paid or unpaid, contact Eve Lynch.

Disclaimer

The above does not constitute legal advice, but is information which may be of general interest. Beswick Lynch Lawyers will not be held liable or responsible for any claim, which is made as a result of any person relying upon the information contained in this publication.