Parental leave

Pregnant female employees and adoptive parents and their partners are entitled to parental leave provisions under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987.

Some employees working in the education service have additional parental leave provisions under their employment agreement.

• Five types of leave make up parental leave by law
  • Unpaid leave
  • Paid leave
• Some employment agreements have extra parental leave provisions
  • Maternity grant
  • Ex-gratia payment
  • Unpaid leave

---

Five types of leave make up parental leave by law

Parental leave is made up of:

• four types of unpaid leave
• one type of paid leave.

Unpaid leave

Unpaid leave types	Timeframe
Maternity leave	14 continuous weeks
Special leave	up to 10 days
Paternity/partner's leave	up to 2 weeks
Extended leave	up to 52 weeks

Read more about unpaid parental leave
Record unpaid parental leave

Paid leave

Paid leave type	Funding
Paid parental leave	up to 14 weeks

The government funds up to 14 weeks' parental leave for eligible working mothers and adoptive parents who take parental leave from their jobs.

Your employee applies for paid parental leave using the Paid Parental Leave Application for an Employee IR880 available from Inland Revenue. After they have completed the applicant section, you:

• complete the employer section
• give the form back to your employee to send to the Inland Revenue.

If you need help filling in the employer section, contact your pay centre.

Read more about paid parental leave
Paid Parental Leave Application for an Employee IR880
Pay centre contact details

Some employment agreements have extra parental leave provisions

Some education sector employment agreements have parental leave provisions that are on top of what the law provides. Your employee's agreement might include:

• the maternity grant (or ex-gratia payment)
• extra unpaid parental leave.

Maternity grant

The maternity grant is a grant for female teachers, principals, special education assistants, and some therapists (employed before 1992) who:

• have been eligible to take maternity leave for the baby or adopted child
• produce their baby's birth certificate or evidence of an approved adoptive placement.

Apply for the maternity grant

Ex-gratia payment

The ex-gratia payment is a payment for female Blind and Low Vision Education Network New Zealand (BLENNZ) and special residential school employees who:

• have been eligible to take maternity leave for the baby or adopted child
• produce their baby's birth certificate or evidence of an approved adoptive placement.

Female employees may transfer this payment to their partner, if their partner is employed by the school or state sector.

Apply for the ex-gratia payment

Unpaid leave

Some collective agreements have unpaid parental leave provisions that are on top of what the law provides.

Record unpaid parental leave
Change leave end date