Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987

Primary carer leave

7: Meaning of primary carer

You could also call this:

“Who counts as a primary carer for a child”

The law explains who is considered a primary carer for a child. You are a primary carer if you are:

  • A woman who is pregnant or has given birth to a child.

  • The partner of the woman who gave birth, but only in certain situations. For example, if you have taken over the mother’s right to parental leave payments, or if the mother has given you some of her parental leave payments. You can also be the primary carer if the child is less than 1 year old and you have taken full responsibility for the child because the mother has died or for some other reason.

  • Someone else who takes full responsibility for a child under 6 years old. This could be someone who is not the birth mother or her partner.

If more than one person could be the primary carer (other than the birth mother or her partner), those people need to decide together who will be named as the primary carer. Only the person they choose can get primary carer leave and parental leave payments.

The law also mentions that there are ways for a partner to get some of the parental leave payments, even if they are not the main primary carer.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM120458.

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“How your job time is counted after returning from parental leave”

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8: Entitlement to primary carer leave, or

“When you can take time off work to care for a new baby or child”

Part 1 Primary carer leave

7Meaning of primary carer

  1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, primary carer means—

  2. a female (the biological mother) who is pregnant or has given birth to a child:
    1. the spouse or partner of the biological mother, only if—
      1. the spouse or partner has succeeded under section 72B to all or part of the biological mother’s entitlement to a parental leave payment; or
        1. the biological mother has transferred all or part of her entitlement to a parental leave payment to that spouse or partner under section 71E (in which case the spouse or partner is the primary carer for the period of time in relation to which the entitlement is transferred); or
          1. neither subparagraph (i) nor (ii) applies and all of the following are true:
            1. the child is under 1 year of age; and
              1. the spouse or partner, because of the death of the biological mother or for any other reason, has taken permanent primary responsibility for the care, development, and upbringing of the child to the exclusion of the biological mother; and
                1. at the time the spouse or partner took that permanent primary responsibility, the biological mother either had not applied for, or did not qualify to apply for, a parental leave payment:
              2. a person, other than the biological mother or her spouse or partner, who takes permanent primary responsibility for the care, development, and upbringing of a child who is under the age of 6 years (and if there is more than 1 such person, the person nominated in accordance with subsection (2)).

                1. If 2 or more persons meet the criterion in subsection (1)(c),—

                2. those persons must jointly nominate which one of them is to be the primary carer; and
                  1. only the nominated person is entitled to primary carer leave and parental leave payments under this Act.

                    1. Subsection (2)(b) does not limit sections 71E and 71EA (both of which relate to the transfer of entitlements to parental leave payments to a spouse or partner) or section 72B (which relates to succession to entitlements by a spouse or partner).

                    Notes
                    • Section 7: replaced, on , by section 16 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
                    • Section 7(1)(b)(iii): inserted, on , by section 14 of the Regulatory Systems (Workforce) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 63).