Parental leave

To turn on Parental leave in Smartly, follow the steps below.

1. Go to Settings > Payroll settings.

2. Click on Contract groups.

3. Select the employment contract group you want to apply the allowance to, e.g. salaried employees, waged employees. 

4. Scroll to Leave Entitlements and tick the box next to Parental Leave.

5. Click Save. Repeat for any other contract group that you want Parental Leave turned on for.

6. Go to People, then select the employee that is going on parental leave.

7. Click on Payments.

8. Scroll to Leave Entitlements tick the box next to Parental Leave.

9. Enter the dates the employee will be on parental leave and save.

10. The system will then automatically create a parental leave entry for your employee when you enter the pays each pay period. 

If you're terminating an employee who is not coming back from parental leave, it's best to contact our Customer Support team to ensure the employee's annual leave entitlement is correct before terminating.

Call us on 0800 10 10 38 or email helpdesk@smartly.co.nz

While on parental leave, an employee can choose (if you agree) to perform work from time to time, for example, to attend a team day or change announcement as long as:

• they only do a total of 64 hours or less of paid work for an employer during their parental leave payment period; and
• this work is not within the first 28 days after their child was born.

For more information, we suggest heading to: 

Keeping in touch days — Employment New Zealand 

To enter this in Smartly, you'll need to set up a Keeping in Touch allowance and apply it to the relevant employee.

Please see our Setting up an allowance article for instructions on how to set it up. 

Impact of parental leave on the annual leave rate

If an employee has unused annual holidays that they were already entitled to before going on parental leave, then the normal calculation for annual holidays will apply to those holidays regardless of when they are taken, they are paid at the greater of ordinary weekly pay or average weekly earnings at the time they take the annual holidays.

If the employee becomes entitled to annual holidays:

• during parental leave; or
• in the next 12 months after their return from parental leave;

the pay for those annual holidays is calculated at the rate of the employee’s average weekly earnings over the 12 months just before the end of the last pay period before the annual holiday is taken (with no comparison to ordinary weekly pay).

Note: An employer can always choose to pay these annual holidays using the greater of ordinary weekly pay or average weekly earnings.

It’s important that the employer and employee discuss parental leave plans as early as possible to make sure they have a shared understanding of their rights and responsibilities to each other, including where to find further information or assistance. Their discussion should include the employee’s current entitled annual holidays balance, their anniversary date for annual holiday, and the effect of parental leave on payment for annual holidays.

You can find this information here. 

For more information please visit the MBIE website.

If an employee or their partner is having a baby or taking permanent responsibility for the care of a child under six, they might be entitled to parental leave.

Employees who’ve worked for you for at least an average of 10 hours a week for 12 months or more just before the expected birth of the child, or the date they’ll take over the care of the child, are entitled to:

• 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave.
• 26 weeks of government-funded parental leave payments if they will be the 'primary carer' of a child born (or coming into their care) on or after 1 July 2018.

Employees who’ve worked for you for at least an average 10 hours a week for six months or more just before the expected birth of the child, or date they’ll take over the care of the child, are entitled to:

• 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave.
• 26 weeks of government-funded parental leave payments if they will be the 'primary carer' of a child born (or coming into their care) on or after 1 July 2018.

Employees able to get parental leave payments can choose to first use other types of paid leave they're entitled to, eg:

• annual leave;
• alternative days;
• special leave; or
• time off in lieu.

They can choose to start their parental leave payment period after they have taken other types of paid leave — even if this is after the child's arrival.

If the birth mother is eligible for primary carer leave, then she will remain eligible regardless of whether the baby unfortunately dies before or after birth.

Parental leave can be taken by one parent or split between them, as long as they’re both eligible. Primary carer leave can start up to six weeks before the expected date of the child's arrival — or earlier if:

• agreed by the employee and employer; 
• directed by a doctor or midwife; or
• it becomes too hard for a pregnant employee to do their job safely or adequately and no other suitable work is available at an earlier date specified by the employer.

Workers who aren't eligible

Employees who don’t meet the criteria for parental leave; e.g. they’ve worked for you for less than six months or haven’t done an average of 10 hours a week; are not entitled to any parental leave. But if they meet the parental leave payment threshold test and will be the primary carer of the child, they might apply for negotiated carer leave so they can receive parental leave payments.
You don’t have to agree, but you must reply as soon as possible and within one month. If you say no, you must tell them on what grounds you refused and why those grounds apply.


Special leave for pregnant employees

In addition to any parental leave taken, females who are pregnant can also take up to 10 days’ unpaid special leave for pregnancy-related reasons such as antenatal classes, scans or midwife appointments.
 

Partners leave

Partners are entitled to: 

• one week of unpaid leave if they’ve worked for you for six months for at least an average of 10 hours a week, or
• two weeks of unpaid leave if they’ve worked for you for 12 months for at least an average of 10 hours a week.

They can take this leave between 21 days before the expected birth, or the date their partner intends to become the primary carer, and 21 days after, unless you agree otherwise. This leave is in addition to any other parental leave they’re sharing with their partner.

 

Returning to work

Your employee needs to let you know at least 21 days before the end of their leave whether or not they’re going to return to work.
If an employee isn’t sure about coming back to work, you could:

• consider a flexible work arrangement, e.g. job sharing, to help keep valuable experience within your company; or
• offer an incentive to encourage them to return, e.g. a cash bonus after they’ve been back at work for a set period of time.