Parental Leave In NZ: Employer Checklist

Yes, you need a clear process when an employee asks for parental leave. For most SMEs, the practical job is to check eligibility, respond on time, plan temporary cover, keep good records and make the return to work smooth.

The tricky part is that parental leave isn't just one type of leave. Your employee's entitlements can depend on how long they've worked for you, whether they're the primary carer or partner, whether they qualify for government-funded paid parental leave, and whether their role can be kept open.

This doesn't have to be complicated. A simple parental leave policy and employer checklist for SMEs can help you support your employee while keeping your roster, payroll and business operations under control.

What Parental Leave Is Your Employee Entitled To?

It depends on their role, length of service and caring arrangement, but New Zealand's parental leave rules sit mainly under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987.

For an employee, the main types of parental leave you may need to deal with are:

• Primary carer leave: usually up to 26 weeks for an eligible employee who will be the primary carer of a child.
• Extended leave: unpaid leave that can extend the total parental leave period, depending on whether the employee meets the 6-month or 12-month employment test.
• Partner's leave: unpaid leave for a spouse or partner. This is generally 1 week if they meet the 6-month test, or 2 weeks if they meet the 12-month test.
• Special leave: up to 10 days of unpaid leave for a pregnant employee for pregnancy-related appointments before primary carer leave begins.
• Negotiated carer leave: leave that may be requested where the employee doesn't qualify for statutory parental leave, but still wants time away to care for a child.

The 6-month and 12-month tests usually look at whether the employee has worked for you for at least an average of 10 hours a week, including at least 1 hour each week or 40 hours each month, over the relevant period before the expected date of birth or the date they become the child's primary carer.

Paid parental leave is a separate point. It's paid by Inland Revenue, not by you, although you may need to confirm employment details and your payroll team may need to coordinate any employer top-up payments if your business offers them.

What Notice Does An Employee Need To Give You?

Your employee normally needs to give written notice at least 3 months before the baby's expected due date if they're applying for parental leave because of pregnancy.

The notice should usually include:

• the type of leave they're applying for
• the date they want the leave to start
• how long they expect to be away
• a medical certificate confirming the expected due date, where relevant
• details of any partner's leave or sharing of extended leave, if that applies

Different timing can apply where a child comes into care through adoption or another permanent care arrangement, especially if the timing isn't fully known in advance. In those situations, it's sensible to check the exact notice requirements rather than relying on a standard pregnancy-based process.

For partner's leave, an employee should usually give you written notice at least 21 days before the leave starts.

If an employee wants to return earlier than planned, they usually need to give you at least 21 days' notice. If they want to change the length or timing of leave, get the change in writing so there's no confusion later.

What Should You Do When You Receive A Parental Leave Request?

You should acknowledge the request, check whether it's complete and respond within the correct timeframe. For an ordinary parental leave request, if information is missing, you should ask the employee for it within 7 days. The employee then has 14 days to provide it, and your 21-day response period runs once you have all the information you need.

Your response shouldn't be a vague email saying that the leave is approved. A proper response helps everyone understand what happens next and gives you a clean paper trail if your roster or staffing plan changes.

Your Employer Checklist

• Confirm the request is in writing: If the employee tells you verbally first, ask them to put the request in writing.
• Check whether the request is complete: If you need missing information for an ordinary parental leave request, ask for it within 7 days. The employee then has 14 days to provide it.
• Check eligibility: Look at start date, hours worked and whether the 6-month or 12-month test is met.
• Check the type of leave: Primary carer leave, partner's leave, extended leave, special leave or negotiated carer leave all work differently.
• Diary the response deadline: For ordinary parental leave, respond in writing within 21 days once you have all required information. Negotiated carer leave requests must be answered within 1 month of the request.
• Confirm whether the role will be kept open: Most roles should be kept open unless a limited exception applies.
• Record key dates: Due date, leave start date, expected return date, any paid parental leave period, and any planned keeping in touch hours.
• Update payroll: Make sure the leave is coded correctly, especially for annual leave and unpaid leave calculations under the Holidays Act 2003.
• Protect privacy: Pregnancy, medical and family details are personal information under the Privacy Act 2020, so follow your employee privacy processes and only share what your team genuinely needs to know.

Your written response should usually confirm whether the employee is entitled to parental leave, the approved dates, whether their job can be kept open, and who they should contact while they're away.

If something doesn't look straightforward, for example the employee has irregular hours, has changed roles, or is asking for negotiated carer leave, get tailored advice before responding. A rushed answer can create avoidable problems for both your business and your employee.

Can You Decline A Parental Leave Request?

No, not if your employee is legally entitled to the parental leave they're requesting.

If they meet the statutory requirements, you generally need to approve the leave. You can't refuse because the timing is inconvenient, the business is short-staffed, or the employee is hard to replace.

There are still a few areas where you may need to make a decision:

• Negotiated carer leave: If the employee doesn't qualify for statutory parental leave, they may ask you to agree to leave anyway. You need to consider the request properly and respond within the required timeframe.
• Keeping the role open: In limited situations, you may not have to keep the exact role open, such as where it's a key position and temporary cover isn't reasonably practicable, or where there's a genuine redundancy situation.
• Keeping in touch work: You and the employee both need to agree. You can't pressure them to work during parental leave.

The key position exception is narrow. It looks at things like the size of your business, the nature of the role and whether you can reasonably appoint a temporary replacement. For many SMEs, this is where the law and day-to-day reality collide, so it's worth getting advice before telling an employee their role can't be kept open.

You also need to be careful not to disadvantage an employee because they're pregnant, taking parental leave or returning from parental leave. That can create risk under employment and discrimination laws, including the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Human Rights Act 1993.

How Do You Arrange Temporary Cover Without Creating New Problems?

You can usually arrange temporary cover, but you need to document it carefully so your cover arrangement ends when you expect it to.

For many small businesses, a fixed-term employee is the cleanest option. Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, a fixed-term employment agreement needs a genuine reason for the fixed term, and the agreement must explain when and how the employment will end.

Covering another employee's parental leave is commonly a genuine reason, but the wording still matters. Your fixed-term agreement should clearly state:

• that the role is to cover an employee on parental leave
• the expected start and end dates
• whether the end date may change if the employee returns earlier or later than expected
• the duties, hours, pay and reporting lines
• any handover period before the returning employee comes back

Say you run a cafe in Wellington and your head barista is taking 26 weeks of primary carer leave. You bring in Maia on a fixed-term agreement to cover the role. If Maia's agreement simply says she is permanent, you may struggle to end the arrangement when your head barista returns. If it clearly says Maia is employed to cover parental leave and explains how the fixed term ends, the arrangement is much easier to manage.

You may also consider a casual employee, labour hire worker or contractor, depending on the role, but check employee or contractor status before relying on a contractor. Be careful with contractors. From 2026, changes to the Employment Relations Act include a contractor gateway test, which is designed to help assess whether a worker is genuinely a contractor rather than an employee. The safest option depends on the level of control you need, the hours, whether they can work for others, and how the work is actually done.

Templates often miss these details. A parental leave cover agreement works best when it's tailored to your business, your roster and the exact reason the role is temporary.

How Do Keeping In Touch Days Work?

Keeping in touch hours let an employee do limited paid work without ending their parental leave payments, but only if both of you agree.

In New Zealand, an employee can usually work up to 64 hours of keeping in touch work during the period when they're receiving or entitled to receive parental leave payments. This can be useful for training, planning meetings, handovers or staying across major business changes.

The timing matters. Keeping in touch work isn't a general right to work across the whole parental leave period. If the employee does paid work after their parental leave payment period has ended, that work may be treated as returning to work, which can affect their leave and payment position.

Different extra hours can also apply where preterm baby payments are involved, so check the rules carefully if the baby is born early. You shouldn't roster an employee, call them in at the last minute, or treat keeping in touch hours like ordinary casual shifts.

Good keeping in touch records should cover:

• the date worked
• the number of hours worked
• what work was done
• the employee's agreement to do the work
• the pay for those hours

Keep the tone supportive. A short planning meeting might be welcome, but frequent calls and pressure to help can feel like the employee isn't really on leave.

What Happens When Your Employee Returns To Work?

Your employee usually returns to the same role, or a substantially similar role if the original role genuinely can't be kept open.

A smooth return starts before the return date. Touch base respectfully, confirm the date, plan any handover and make sure payroll is ready. If the employee asks for a phased return or flexible working arrangement, you need to consider that request properly and respond within the timeframe required under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Your return-to-work checklist should include:

• Confirm the return date: Get it in writing, especially if it has changed.
• Plan the handover: Decide what the temporary cover worker will hand over and when.
• Check the role: Make sure duties, title, pay and reporting lines are consistent with the employee's entitlement to return.
• Review flexible work requests: If they ask for changed hours or working patterns, consider the request genuinely and respond in writing.
• Support breastfeeding where relevant: You need to provide appropriate facilities and breaks so far as it's reasonable and practicable.
• Check annual leave calculations: Annual leave affected by parental leave can be calculated differently under the Holidays Act 2003, especially for leave that becomes entitled during parental leave or in the 12 months after returning.
• Reset expectations: Confirm priorities, systems changes and any training they missed while away.

Be careful with comments about commitment, availability or career progression after parental leave. Even casual remarks can cause issues if they suggest the employee is being penalised for taking leave or caring for a child.

If the business has genuinely changed while the employee was away, don't make assumptions. Changes to role structure, hours or duties may trigger consultation obligations, and parental leave doesn't remove the need for a fair process.

Key Takeaways

• For ordinary parental leave requests, check whether the request is complete, ask for missing information within 7 days if needed, and respond in writing within 21 days once you have all required information.
• Negotiated carer leave requests must be answered within 1 month.
• Eligible employees are generally entitled to take parental leave, even if the timing is difficult for your business.
• Temporary cover should be documented carefully, especially if you use a fixed-term employee or contractor.
• Keeping in touch work is optional, paid and usually capped at 64 hours during the parental leave payment period, with different extra hours for preterm baby payments.
• Paid work after the parental leave payment period has ended may count as returning to work.

If you'd like help with your parental leave process, fixed-term cover agreements, employment policies or return-to-work documents, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.