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Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987

Primary carer leave - Provisions applicable to pregnant employees only

13: Right of medical practitioner or midwife to determine date of commencement of primary carer leave

You could also call this:

“Doctor or midwife can choose when your parental leave starts”

If you’re pregnant and working, a doctor or midwife can decide when you should start your primary carer leave. They might think you need to start your leave before your baby is due. If this happens, they will give you a special note that says when you should begin your leave.

When you get this note, you should give it to your employer. Your primary carer leave will then start on the date the doctor or midwife wrote on the note. However, if your baby comes before that date, your leave will start when your baby is born instead.

This rule is different from other rules about when primary carer leave usually starts. It’s a special case for when a doctor or midwife thinks it’s best for you to start your leave early.

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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=DLM120478.

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12: Right of employer and employee to determine date of commencement of primary carer leave by agreement, or

“You and your boss can decide together when your time off to look after your new baby starts”

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14: Right of employer to appoint date of commencement of primary carer leave, or

“Employer can start your leave early if pregnancy makes work unsafe”

Part 1 Primary carer leave
Provisions applicable to pregnant employees only

13Right of medical practitioner or midwife to determine date of commencement of primary carer leave

  1. If a medical practitioner or midwife considers that the female employee, being pregnant, should begin her primary carer leave before the expected date of delivery, the medical practitioner or midwife may give to the female employee a certificate specifying the date on which, in the medical practitioner's or midwife's opinion, that female employee should begin her primary carer leave.

  2. If the female employee gives that certificate to her employer, her primary carer leave, despite section 10 or section 12 or section 14, begins on the earlier of—

  3. the date specified in the certificate; or
    1. the date of confinement.

      Notes
      • Section 13: substituted, on , by section 10 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave) Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 7).
      • Section 13 heading: amended, on , by section 22(1) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
      • Section 13(1): amended, on , by section 22(2) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
      • Section 13(1): amended, on , by section 175(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).
      • Section 13(2): amended, on , by section 22(2) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).