Parental Leave in New Zealand: Leave, Payments, and Job Protection

New Zealand parental leave gives an eligible primary carer up to 26 weeks of leave, and up to 52 weeks in total once extended leave is added. The leave itself comes from your employer, while parental leave payments are a separate government payment made by Inland Revenue, capped at $811.05 a week before tax from 1 July 2026.

This is general information about New Zealand employment law, not legal advice. For your own situation, consult a lawyer or your local Community Law centre.

Leave and payments are two different things

The most common mistake is treating parental leave and parental leave payments as one entitlement. Employment New Zealand puts it plainly: they are "separate entitlements with different requirements and processes."

Parental leave is time off work, protected under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 and managed between you and your employer. Parental leave payments are funded by the government and paid by Inland Revenue (IRD). You apply to each separately.

Because the tests differ, a person can be eligible for one and not the other. A self-employed contractor, for example, cannot take parental leave from an employer but may still be eligible for payments. A casual worker spread across two employers may meet the payment test without meeting the leave test with either employer.

The types of parental leave

In practice, an employee with 12 months' service can take 26 weeks of primary carer leave followed by up to 26 weeks of extended leave, for 52 weeks in total. An employee with 6 months' service has 26 weeks in total. Extended leave ends on the child's first birthday under the 12-month criterion, or when the child turns 6 months under the 6-month criterion.

Most of a 52-week leave is unpaid. The 26 weeks of IRD payments line up with primary carer leave, not with the full year off.

Who counts as a primary carer

Primary carer leave is for the primary carer of the child. Under Employment New Zealand's guidance, that is usually the person who is pregnant or gave birth, including a surrogate.

The birth mother's spouse or partner can be the primary carer in some situations, for example where the birth mother has transferred her payments to them or has died. A partner can be of any gender, and includes a spouse, civil union partner or de facto partner.

Someone other than the birth mother or her partner can also be a primary carer if they take permanent responsibility for the care of a child under 6. That covers adoption, a whāngai arrangement, or a Permanent Care agreement with Oranga Tamariki. IRD notes that permanent primary responsibility does not include part-time or temporary care, such as foster care or after-school childcare arrangements.

Partner's leave

A partner who is not the primary carer can take partner's leave: 1 week with 6 months' service, or 2 weeks with 12 months' service, at an average of at least 10 hours a week with the same employer.

Partner's leave can begin up to 21 days before the due date and must start no later than 21 days after the birth. If the baby stays in hospital longer, it can start on the day of discharge, and it can start at any other time the employer agrees. It is unpaid, and Employment New Zealand states that an employee "cannot get parental leave payments from Inland Revenue while they're on partner's leave." A partner who takes over as the primary carer takes primary carer leave instead.

Negotiated carer leave

Negotiated carer leave fills a gap. It is for a primary carer who does not meet the 6-month test for primary carer leave (for example, because they changed jobs recently) but who does meet the IRD payment test.

The employee asks for the leave, and the employer must reply within 1 month. The employer can refuse only on limited grounds, such as being unable to reorganise the employee's work, an effect on quality, performance or customer demand, or a planned restructuring.

Parental leave payments from Inland Revenue

To be eligible for payments, IRD says you "must have worked for an average of at least 10 hours a week for any 26 weeks over the 52-week period" immediately before the due date or the date you became the primary carer. Employees and self-employed people can both meet this test.

Hours across several jobs can be combined within one capacity, but IRD says "you cannot combine the hours worked in each capacity" (employee hours and self-employed hours are counted separately). You also need a sufficient connection to New Zealand, must be the primary carer, and must stop work.

Payments run for 26 weeks, are paid fortnightly, and are taxable. They stop if you return to work.

Payment rates

The payment replaces 100% of your earnings, up to a weekly cap. For employees, IRD works it out as the higher of your ordinary weekly pay and your average weekly income, up to a maximum. For applications received on or after 1 July 2027, the Employment Leave Act 2026 replaces ordinary weekly pay in this comparison with your average gross weekly earnings over your most recent regular pay periods. Average weekly income is your gross earnings in the best 26 weeks of the 52, divided by 26.

The maximum changes on 1 July each year. IRD's published maximums are:

From 1 July 2026, self-employed people receive at least $239.50 a week (up from $235). Employment New Zealand says this minimum is based on 10 hours at the adult minimum wage of $23.95 an hour. Self-employed applicants are paid the greater of their average weekly income or the minimum, up to the maximum, and work out their own average weekly income from net income.

Preterm babies, transfers and other payments

If a baby is born before the end of 36 weeks' gestation, up to 13 weeks of preterm baby payments are available at the same rate. The birth mother can also transfer payments to a spouse or partner.

Best Start cannot be paid for the same period as parental leave payments. To receive payments for another child, 6 months must have passed since the last payment period ended.

Since 1 July 2025, a person who becomes a primary carer at short notice can choose a date to stop work and start receiving payments after the child comes into their care, within a reasonable period of that date.

How and when to apply for payments

Applications go to Inland Revenue through myIR. IRD's rule is that you "must apply for paid parental leave payments before you return to work," and before the child's first birthday (or before you have had 12 months of primary care). An application made late in the period can still be paid as a lump sum back to the start date, but Inland Revenue's rule is that you cannot apply once you are back at work. The Act lets Inland Revenue accept a late application only in limited cases, so do not rely on that.

Evidence depends on your situation. A birth parent usually supplies a letter from a doctor or midwife confirming the due date. Other primary carers supply evidence such as a court order, a letter from Oranga Tamariki or the Ministry of Social Development, or a statutory declaration on IRD's form IR880D.

Giving notice to your employer

Notice for the leave goes to your employer, in writing:

• Having a baby: at least 3 months before the expected due date, with a certificate from a doctor or midwife confirming the due date.
• Becoming the permanent primary carer of a child under 6: at least 14 days before you want the leave to start.

If you are the birth mother's spouse or partner and, while the child is under 1, become the primary carer because she has died, or because for another reason you have taken permanent responsibility for the child in her place, notice is due within a reasonable period after you become the primary carer instead.

Your employer then has 7 days to respond and ask for any further information, which you must provide within 14 days. Once the employer has everything it needs, it has 21 days to tell you in writing whether you are not entitled to the leave, what your rights are, and whether your job can be kept open.

Before your leave ends, write to your employer at least 21 days in advance to say whether you are returning, returning early or not returning.

Employer policies can only add to these rules. Employment New Zealand says an employer's own policy applies only if it is the same as, or better than, what the law provides.

Starting leave and working during it

Primary carer leave can start up to 6 weeks before the due date. If it has to start earlier, for example because the baby is born early, a doctor or midwife advises it, or the employer directs it, the employee still has at least 20 weeks of leave after the birth.

Keeping-in-touch hours

During the payment period you can work up to 64 hours in total as keeping-in-touch hours without losing payments, but not in the first 28 days after the child's birth (that 28-day bar does not apply if the baby was born before the end of the 36th week of pregnancy). For a preterm baby, the limit increases by 3 hours for each week of preterm baby payments.

Going over the limit means you are treated as back at work, and payments stop. The limit is hours, not days.

Special leave in pregnancy

Employment New Zealand's guide says that pregnant employees "can also take up to 10 days' unpaid special leave for pregnancy-related reasons like antenatal classes, scans or midwife appointments." This is separate from the 26 weeks. The guide does not set out the service or hours conditions for special leave, so check them with your employer or Employment New Zealand before relying on it.

Job protection and returning to work

If you give proper notice and it is your first period of parental leave for that child, a leave of up to 4 weeks is protected: the law presumes your employer can keep your job open, and the only way out is for the employer to prove a genuine redundancy.

For leave longer than 4 weeks, the job must be kept open unless one of two exceptions applies:

• Key position: the role is critical to the running of the business, and it is not possible or practical to get someone to cover it temporarily.
• Redundancy: the role becomes redundant. The employer must show the redundancy arose after it agreed to the leave and that there is no similar position to offer.

Where one of those exceptions applies, a 26-week "period of preference" can apply, during which the employer must offer you a similar job first if one comes up. There is no small-employer exemption, but the size of the business is one factor in deciding whether a role is a key position. See our guide to redundancy in New Zealand for how a genuine redundancy process works.

Protection from dismissal and complaints

You cannot be dismissed for going on parental leave, and an employer must not end your employment because you are pregnant or becoming a primary carer. An employer can direct a pregnant employee to start leave early or move to another role only if the employee cannot do the job safely or adequately because of the pregnancy.

A complaint must be raised by the latest of: 26 weeks after the issue, 26 weeks after the birth or after becoming the primary carer, or 8 weeks after the leave ends. Routes include Employment New Zealand's early resolution service, the Labour Inspectorate, mediation, and the Employment Relations Authority.

Miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a baby

Employment New Zealand says that if an employee eligible for primary carer leave has a miscarriage, or the baby is stillborn or dies, the employee can still take the 26 weeks of parental leave. Extended leave is not available in that situation.

The employee may also be able to take bereavement leave if they meet its own test. Our guide to bereavement leave in New Zealand covers the 3 days available for a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Annual holidays after parental leave

Under the current Holidays Act 2003, annual holidays that fall due during parental leave, or in the 12 months after it, are paid at average weekly earnings over the previous 12 months, with no comparison to ordinary weekly pay. Because those 12 months include unpaid leave, Employment New Zealand notes "this can result in you receiving less."

That rule is due to change in 2028 (see the next section). For how annual holiday pay is calculated today, see annual leave and holiday pay in New Zealand.

The Employment Leave Act 2026

The Employment Leave Act 2026 passed its third reading on 29 July 2026 and received Royal assent on 6 August 2026. It is law, but it is not yet in force. It will replace the Holidays Act 2003 on 6 August 2028, with the new rules applying from the start of an employee's first pay period beginning on or after that date.

Until then, current rights come from the Holidays Act 2003 and the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987. Employment New Zealand says employers "cannot start following the new law early."

For parents, the main change the government has described is to holiday pay: annual leave taken after parental leave will be paid like any other annual leave, and leave will continue to accrue during parental leave. The Act also changes how Inland Revenue works out an employee's payment, and that part starts sooner: for applications received on or after 1 July 2027, the 'ordinary weekly pay' limb is replaced by the average of your gross weekly earnings over your most recent regular pay periods (about the last 4 weeks), still compared with average weekly income and capped at the maximum. The Act does not change the leave entitlements themselves (26 and 52 weeks, partner's leave, notice and job protection).

For the wider set of employment rights, see our New Zealand employment law guide, or the New Zealand law hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is parental leave in New Zealand?

An eligible primary carer can take up to 26 weeks of primary carer leave. With 12 months of service with the same employer, extended leave can take the total to 52 weeks. With 6 months of service the total is 26 weeks. Most of a 52-week leave is unpaid, because government payments run for 26 weeks.

How much is paid parental leave in NZ in 2026?

From 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 the maximum payment is $811.05 a week before tax. For employees, Inland Revenue pays the higher of ordinary weekly pay and average weekly income, up to that maximum. The minimum for self-employed people is $239.50 a week from 1 July 2026.

Do I need to have worked for my employer for 6 months?

For the leave, yes: primary carer leave requires an average of at least 10 hours a week with the same employer for the 6 months before the due date. The payment test is separate and looks at any 26 of the 52 weeks before the due date, across any employer or self-employment, so someone can meet the payment test without meeting the leave test. Negotiated carer leave exists for that situation.

Is partner's leave paid?

No. Partner's leave is 1 week (with 6 months' service) or 2 weeks (with 12 months' service) of unpaid leave, and Inland Revenue parental leave payments cannot be received while on partner's leave. An employer can choose to pay more than the legal minimum.

When do I have to tell my employer?

If you are having a baby, give written notice at least 3 months before the expected due date, with a doctor or midwife certificate. If you are becoming the permanent primary carer of a child under 6, give at least 14 days' written notice. Give at least 21 days' written notice of whether you are returning to work.

Can I apply for paid parental leave after I go back to work?

Generally no. Inland Revenue requires the application to be made before you return to work and before the child's first birthday. A late application made while you are still off work can be paid as a lump sum back to the start date.

Can I work while on parental leave?

You can work up to 64 keeping-in-touch hours in total during the payment period, but not in the first 28 days after the birth (unless the baby was born preterm). Working more than the limit means you are treated as back at work and the payments stop.

Does my job have to be kept open?

For a first period of leave of up to 4 weeks for that child, yes, unless the employer proves a genuine redundancy. For longer leave, the job must be kept open unless it is a key position that cannot be covered temporarily or the role becomes genuinely redundant. In those cases a 26-week period of preference for a similar job can apply.

Is parental leave changing under the Employment Leave Act 2026?

Mostly from 6 August 2028, when it replaces the Holidays Act: annual leave taken after parental leave will then be paid like any other annual leave, and annual leave keeps accruing during parental leave. One change comes sooner: for payment applications received on or after 1 July 2027, Inland Revenue will compare average weekly income with your average gross weekly earnings over your most recent pay periods, instead of ordinary weekly pay. The leave entitlements themselves do not change.