Eligible parents of children less than six years old can now take up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave. The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2017 provided for the phasing-in of a longer period of parental leave, beginning with 22 weeks in 2018 (up from 18 weeks under the former law) and has now increased to 26 weeks as of 1 Jul 2020. 

Eligible employees receive a parental leave payment of NZ$606.46 per week. Parents also are entitled to paid parental leave if they become the permanent caregiver of a child aged less than six years old. Permanent care is defined as adoption or ”home for life,” but does not include foster care.

Related resource

• Taking parental leave (Government, 12 Jun 2020)
• Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2017 (New Zealand Legislation, 4 Dec 2017)
• Announcement (Government, 30 Nov 2017)