Employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid parental leave when a child is born or adopted. An additional 12 months leave can be requested. Types of maternity and parental leave as well as employee eligibility can be found on the Fair Work Australia website here
Gaining access to paid parental leave is provided through Centrelink to eligible employees who meet a specific criteria. The leave scheme is available for a minimum of 8 weeks and a maximum of 18 weeks and must be concluded by the time the child is 12 months old. Individuals who are accessing the parental leave payments must not be working during the weeks they are receiving the payment.
Employees are encouraged to start the claim process within 3 months of the arrival of a child as to not to delay payment. To be eligible, proof of the child’s arrival must be submitted to Centrelink within the first 4 weeks.
Parental leave is either paid via the employer to the employee or directly from Centrelink to the employee. This is determined based of the employees’ individual circumstances.
For employees to access paid parental leave they must meet the following criteria;
- be on paid or unpaid leave or not working or have had their employment terminated
- be the primary carer for the child
- individual adjusted taxable income less than $150,000 from the financial year before the birth of date claim for paid parental leave is lodged (Centrelink will use whichever date is earlier)
- not to work during claim period (8-18 weeks)
- meet the work test within the 13 months before the child’s birth; worked 10 of the 13 months prior to birth a min of 330 hours in those 10 months = approx. 1 day per week. This can be worked over multiple employers however can not have more than 12 weeks between two work days.
- Child must be registered with birth deaths and marriages
- All paid parental leave must be taken with the first 12 months of birth. Need to apply no later than 34 weeks of the child’s birth to receive full 18 weeks payment.
More information about accessing paid parental leave can be found here
Employers with ABN and employees returning to work after parental leave
Employers are required to register through PRODA (first) and the Centrelink Business Hub
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/organisations/business/services/provider-digital-access-proda
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/organisations/business/services/centrelink/business-hub
Employees working with Employers with ABN and employment will be terminated at the beginning of parental leave
- Employees apply directly to Centrelink
- Parent leave will be paid directly to employee
- Employers do not need to register through PRODA or the Business Hub
Employees working with Employers with WPN
Regardless of returning to this employer after leave is taken, employee is to apply for parental leave through Centrelink and parental leave will be paid directly to the employee. However it is advised that the employee calls Family and Parenting Line 136150 to discuss.
Employer may be required to provide evidence of WPN and not ABN.
Get help with leave requirements for nannies
Making sure you have met your leave requirements is one of the more annoying and time consuming part of employing a nanny. Domestic Payroll can help.
We are here to help, assisting with the required payments and keeping track of all your nanny’s time off. Get in touch with us now and find out how paying the nanny can become an easy process including managing the leave accruals and entitlements.
