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Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987

Rights and obligations after commencement of parental leave

45: Early ending and extension of parental leave

You could also call this:

“Ending parental leave early or making it longer: what you can do”

You can end your parental leave early or extend it in certain situations. If you want to end your leave early, you need to follow some rules. You can do this if you or your partner have a miscarriage, if the child is stillborn or dies, or if you or your partner are no longer the main carer for the child. You can also end your leave early if your employer agrees.

If you end your leave early, you can either go back to work if your job is still open, or start your preference period if it’s not. If you’re a mother on primary carer leave, your employer might ask for a doctor’s note saying you’re fit to work before letting you end your leave early.

You can also ask your employer to extend your parental leave to a later date. However, there are limits to how long you can extend your leave. Primary carer leave can’t be longer than 26 weeks. Partner’s leave can’t be more than 1 week if you’ve worked for 6 months, or 2 weeks if you’ve worked for 12 months. Extended leave has a maximum length that depends on how much leave you and your partner have already taken.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM121007.

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Part 5 Rights and obligations after commencement of parental leave

45Early ending and extension of parental leave

  1. Subject to compliance with section 39(2), an employee who is on parental leave may,—

  2. if the employee or the employee's spouse or partner suffers a miscarriage; or
    1. if the child is stillborn or dies; or
      1. if the employee or the employee’s spouse or partner fails to become or ceases to be the primary carer in respect of the child; or
          1. if the employer consents,—
              1. choose—
            1. where the employee's position is being kept open by the employer, to end the parental leave by returning to work before the date on which the employee is required to return to work at the end of the parental leave; or
              1. in any other case, to end the parental leave and begin the period of preference.

                1. If a female employee is on primary carer leave under section 8 in relation to a child to whom she gave birth, her employer may, in giving consent under subsection (1)(e), make it conditional on the employee giving to the employer, before the employee ends her primary carer leave under subsection (1)(f) or (g), a certificate from a medical practitioner to the effect that she is fit to return to work.

                2. Subject to subsection (4), an employee who is on parental leave may, if the employer consents, extend the parental leave until a specified date which shall thereafter be the date on which the employee's parental leave will end.

                3. Without limiting any right of an employee to take a period of leave otherwise than by virtue of this Act, and subject to section 9(2), nothing in subsection (3) of this section shall entitle an employee to extend any period of parental leave with the result that,—

                4. in the case of a period of primary carer leave, the period of primary carer leave exceeds 26 weeks:
                  1. in the case of a period of partner’s leave, the duration of partner’s leave exceeds—
                    1. 1 week if the employee meets the 6-month employment test:
                      1. 2 weeks if the employee meets the 12-month employment test; or
                      2. in the case of a period of extended leave, the period of extended leave, when aggregated with all leave of the kinds specified in section 32(2) that is taken or proposed to be taken by the employee and the employee’s spouse or partner in respect of the child, exceeds the maximum combined entitlements of the employee and the employee’s spouse or partner set out in section 26(2).

                        Compare
                        • 1980 No 162 s 19
                        Notes
                        • Section 45(1)(a): amended, on , by section 8 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 18).
                        • Section 45(1)(c): replaced, on , by section 41(1) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
                        • Section 45(1)(d): repealed, on , by section 41(1) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
                        • Section 45(2): replaced, on , by section 41(2) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
                        • Section 45(4)(a): amended, on , by section 21 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 45).
                        • Section 45(4)(a): amended, on , by section 41(3) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
                        • Section 45(4)(b): replaced, on , by section 41(4) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
                        • Section 45(4)(c): replaced, on , by section 41(4) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).