Extended leave

What employees are entitled to

If an employee is the primary carer of a child and they've worked for their employer for 12 months or more for at least an average of 10 hours a week, they can take up to 52 weeks of extended leave minus the number of weeks of primary carer leave they take. For example:

• if they take the full 26 weeks of primary carer leave, they can take up to 26 weeks of extended leave on top of that
• if they take 20 weeks of primary carer leave, they can take up to 32 weeks of extended leave.

If they’ve worked for their employer for at least 6 months for at least an average of 10 hours a week, they can take up to 26 weeks’ extended leave minus the number of weeks’ primary carer leave they take. For example, if they take 10 weeks’ primary carer leave, they can take up to 16 weeks of extended leave.

If an employee receives preterm baby payments for a baby born early, any weeks where the employee is getting a preterm baby payment do not count as part of their extended leave.

Parental Leave and Payment Eligibility table [PDF, 1013 KB]

Extended leave is usually unpaid

Parental leave payments from Inland Revenue are for up to 26 weeks, usually the 26 weeks matches the 26 weeks of primary carer leave.

An employee will only get parental leave payments during extended leave if they take less than 26 weeks of primary carer leave, so extended leave is usually unpaid.

Some employers choose to offer extra payments and may include this in their employment agreements or workplace policies.

Parental leave payments

Best Start payments

Employees may be able to get a Best Start payment from Inland Revenue which is different to parental leave

Find out more about Best Start:

Best Start - Inland Revenue(external link)

Requesting extended leave

If an employee or their spouse or partner are:

• having a baby and want to take extended leave, they must write to their employer at least 3 months before the baby’s expected due date
• going to become the permanent primary carer of a child under 6 years old, they should let their employer know when it’s likely to happen as soon as they can. But they must write to their employer at least 14 days before they want to take extended leave.

Employees taking extended leave after primary carer leave must let their employer know this at the same time as they request primary carer leave.

If an employee is sharing extended leave with their spouse or partner, they will need to include these details in their written request:

• a statement that they are sharing the extended leave with their spouse or partner
• the name of their spouse or partner
• the name and address of their spouse or partner’s employer
• the start and finish dates for the period of leave they are taking, and the start and finish dates their spouse or partner will take
• an assurance that the total number of weeks of leave combined is not more than they are entitled to (26 or 52 weeks).

Requesting parental leave

Sharing extended leave

If an employee and their spouse or partner both meet the eligibility criteria, they can share the extended leave. They can take it at the same time or one after the other.

Employees who meet the 12-month criterion above may take up to 52 weeks’ extended leave (less the number of weeks primary carer leave taken, up to 26 weeks). If 2 parents are sharing the leave and they both meet the 12-month criterion, then they share this amount.

Employees who meet the 6-month criterion above may take up to 26 weeks in total. If 2 parents are sharing the leave and they both meet the 6-month criterion, then they share this amount.

If 1 parent meets the 12-month criterion and the other parent meets the 6-month criterion, then the person who meets the 6-month criterion cannot take more than 26 weeks of the total 52 weeks (less the number of weeks primary carer leave taken up to 26 weeks) available to the couple.

For example, Margot and Tom both meet the 12-month criterion. Margot takes primary carer leave for 26 weeks. This means between her and Tom they have 26 weeks of extended leave they can take. Margot takes 13 weeks of extended leave, then Tom takes the final 13 weeks of extended leave while Margot goes back to work.

When can employees take extended leave

An employee can start extended leave:

• at any time after their primary carer leave ends
• at any time after their partner’s leave ends
• on any date agreed with their employer.

If they’re eligible to take primary carer or partner’s leave but choose not to take it, then they can start their extended leave either when the baby arrives or on the date they become the primary carer of the child.

They can also finish their primary carer or partner’s leave, go back to work, and then take extended leave later.

Requesting parental leave

When extended leave ends

If an employee (or their spouse or partner) meets the 12-month work criterion, their extended leave must end by:

• the date the child turns 1 year old, if they or their spouse or partner gave birth to the child
• the 12-month anniversary of becoming the primary carer of the child.

If they only meet the 6-month work criterion (and their spouse or partner does not meet the 12-month work criterion), their extended leave must end by:

• the date the child turns 6 months old, if they or their spouse or partner gave birth to the child
• the 6-month anniversary of becoming the primary carer of the child.

What happens while on parental leave and your return

If a child is stillborn or dies

An employee is not entitled to extended leave if a child is stillborn or dies. That’s because to be eligible for extended leave, the employee needs to be taking care of the child.

If an employee has not started extended leave yet, they cannot go on extended leave.

If an employee is on extended leave, their extended leave will end. If they choose to return to work before the date they first gave to their employer, they still need to give 21 days’ notice of their intention to return to work.

In these cases, the employee would need to discuss their circumstances with their employer in good faith. The employee could take bereavement leave if they are entitled to it or agree with their employer to other contractual time off.

Find out more:

If you have a miscarriage, your baby is stillborn or dies

Bereavement leave