...
HTML Wrap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Employer's responseYou must respond to a request within 21 days of receiving it. The response must be in writing and must approve or reject the request, and notify the employee whether their position can be kept open. A request for parental leave cannot be denied if the employee is entitled to that leave. If the employee’s request for leave is rejected, you must state the reason why the employee is not entitled to take leave. If the employee’s position cannot be kept open, then you must inform the employee that they can dispute that decision, and also that the you will give them preference for similar jobs for 26 weeks after the end of their parental leave. Your full obligations are set out in section 36 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987. Keeping the employee’s position open for themFor the first 4 weeks of parental leave you must keep the employee’s position open for them to return to, unless you can prove that the position was necessarily made redundant. After the first 4 weeks of leave the employee’s position must be kept open for them except in the case of redundancy, or because the nature of the positions makes hiring a temporary replacement not reasonably possible. Be careful when deciding whether or not it is possible to keep a position open. You must consider the size of the business, and the training period or skills required to do the job. If you decide that the position cannot be kept open, or must be made redundant, the employee can challenge your decision through the Employment Relations Authority, and you may face legal action. Employing a temporary replacementWhen you hire a temporary employee to replace an employee who is on parental leave, you have an obligation to inform them of their status as temporary. Before employing them you must inform them in writing that:
Employee returning to workEvery employee must inform you of whether or not they intend to return to work by giving you notice no later than 21 days before their parental leave ends. If an employee intends to return to work before their leave ends, they must inform you in writing 21 days before they intend to come back. Holiday pay before parental leaveIf a staff member asks to take their accrued annual leave before taking parental leave, pay them for their leave as a current employee . Do not pay this holiday pay as a termination payment. If an employee makes a claim against you later for unjustified dismissal, having paid them as if they were being terminated can be used as evidence of wrongdoing on your part. Holiday pay during and after parental leaveEmployees who are on parental leave are entitled to accrue annual leave during that time. If an employee becomes entitled to annual leave on pay during: a. a period of parental leave, or then the employee is only entitled to be paid for that holiday based on their average weekly earnings (calculated using their weekly pay for the previous 12 months). This is because section 42(2) of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 overrides section 21 of the Holidays Act 2003. In an extreme example, if an employee took 52 weeks of parental leave then they would be immediately entitled to 4 weeks of paid annual leave when they returned to work. Because they had been on leave without pay from their employer, their average weekly earnings for the 12 month period would be zero. They would therefore be entitled to four weeks of annual leave without pay. Employee records and parental leaveWhen the employee goes on parental leave, do not enter a finishing date on the employee record. If a finishing date is entered, it will be shown on the next schedule sent to Inland Revenue. If an employee makes a claim against you later for unjustified dismissal, a schedule sent to Inland Revenue that showed a finishing date can be used as evidence of wrongdoing on your part.
More informationEmployment New Zealand - Parental leave Inland Revenue - Paid parental leave business.gov.nz - Parental leave
|