Parental Leave

Purpose

This document has been designed to outline the entitlements to parental leave for permanent full-time and part-time employees, as well as the requirements for notification and application for parental leave.

[enter-your-company-name-here] is committed to meeting its legislative obligations in relation to the provision of parental leave.

This leave may be taken as maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

All permanent full-time and part-time employees who have completed at least 12 months continuous service with their employer are eligible to take 52 weeks unpaid parental leave.

Casual workers are ineligible for unpaid parental leave.

Policy

Parental leave is available to all permanent employees with at least 12 months continuous service at the commencement of any planned parental leave.
Employees are entitled to unpaid parental leave of up to 52 consecutive weeks, with a minimum period of 6 weeks. Typically the 6 weeks parental leave is commenced prior to the confinement date.
Absence due to parental leave will not break continuity of service, however annual leave, sick leave and long service leave will not accrue during this period.
Employees can choose to take any available annual leave or long service leave as part of the maximum 52 weeks absence.
Parental leave cannot be taken by an employee in conjunction with any parental leave taken by their spouse or partner, except for a one-week period at the time of the birth or adoption of the child.
The 52-week period of leave entitlement period will be reduced by any period of leave taken by the employee’s spouse or partner.
An employee on parental leave is entitled to return to the position they held prior to commencing the leave. Where the position no longer exists, a position of comparable status and compensation is to be made available.
With the approval of [enter-your-company-name-here], an employee may elect to return to work on part-time employment after the birth or adoption of a child.
An employee on parental leave may terminate their employment at any time in accordance with the resignation policy and procedure.

Definitions

Parental Leave:

leave taken to be the primary care giver for a newborn or adopted child. This leave may be taken as maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Primary Care Giver:

the person who assumes the principle role of providing care and attention to a child.

Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of Managers and Supervisors to:

ensure all applications for parental leave are processed for employees as soon as possible
manage absences of employee in their area

It is the responsibility of all Employees to:

initiate the application for parental leave and provide the required supporting documentation
submit an application for leave as soon the information required is known
meet the notification requirements as specified in this policy for the return from parental leave

Procedure

Applications for parental leave are to be submitted to an employee’s Manager at least 10 weeks prior to the commencement date.
Notification is required to be in writing and is to be accompanied by a doctor’s certificate stating the expected date of birth of the child (for parental leave) or similar documentation in the case of adoption.
At least four weeks prior to the commencement of parental leave, the employee is required to complete an application for leave which the employee’s Manager is to forward to the Human Resources Department.
Upon receiving notification of an application for parental leave, the Human Resources Department will provide the employee with a letter which outlines the dates of the parental leave and the conditions associated with parental leave.
The employee is to review and sign a copy of the letter and return this to the Human Resources Department.
In the case of maternity leave, some state legislation requires employees to commence leave 6 weeks prior to the date of confinement. If an employee requests to work within the 6-week period prior to the date of confinement, medical certification is required.
Where a pregnant employee suffers from a related illness, the employee is entitled to take any paid sick leave for which they are eligible, or they may be granted special unpaid maternity leave. Unpaid leave taken prior to the commencement of parental leave will be inclusive of the 52-week limit.
In the event that the employee’s pregnancy miscarries, the employee may return to work earlier than initially planned as agreed with the Organisation.
An employee is expected to confirm their intention to return from parental leave not less than 6 weeks prior to the expected return date. Such notification is to be made in writing to the Human Resources Department.