Tirohanga whānui o te utu tiaki pēpi Paid parental leave overview

If you have a new baby or a child under 6 has come into your care, or you’re recovering from a pregnancy, paid parental leave payments will help out while you’re off work and not earning your regular income.

Stopping work

You must stop work to qualify for paid parental leave.

But there are special rules if a child has come into your care at short notice and you’re unable to stop work straightaway.

Support for parents and caregivers over the first 6 months

When you’re off work caring for your child, you can get payments that match your regular income, up to a maximum payment.

You can get payments for 26 weeks (6 months) but payments will stop if you return to work before the 26 weeks are up or if you stop being the primary carer for the child.

We’ll pay the money into your bank account every fortnight.

Payments are taxable

Paid parental leave payments are treated as salary and wages, so they’re taxable just like employee income or self-employed income.

We’ll pay you the net amount, after deducting tax and any other payments you may need to make, like:

• child support payments
• student loan repayments.

We’ll add all the details of your paid parental leave payments to your income tax assessment or your IR3 tax return.

Both employees and self-employed people can get payments

If you’re an employee, we’ll work out your payments for you, using information we get from your employer.

If you’re self-employed, you need to work out your payments yourself. It’s OK ─ we explain how to do it!

Keep in touch with work while you’re on paid parental leave

Want to keep in touch with work while you're at home caring for your child?

If you’re an employee, you can use ‘keeping in touch hours’ to check in from time to time and still keep your full paid parental leave entitlement.

Apply in myIR

You can apply for paid parental leave in myIR. We explain what to do and what evidence you’ll need to include with your application.

Helpful information from Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE)

MBIE has primary responsibility for parental leave, administering the laws and providing policy advice. The MBIE website has information you’ll find helpful:

Parental leave (MBIE website)