If you’re expecting a baby or had one a couple of months ago, then it’s good to know how Parental Leave Pay works after you go back to work. Here’s the lowdown!   

BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

When you have a baby, Parental Leave Pay is a very welcome addition to your family (kinda like your newborn, but not really!). 

Assuming you’re eligible for it, this government payment helps to cover costs when you’re away from your paid work, and if your baby arrived on or after 1 July 2023, there’s more flexibility than ever when it comes to Paid Parental Leave.  

You have two years from the time your child was born or adopted to use your Parental Leave Pay days, and your family can get up to 100 days (aka 20 weeks) of Parental Leave Pay. 

This allowance is shared between you and your partner (if you have one), and each parent can take up to 10 days of Parental Leave Pay at the same time, which is great for those early days with your brand-new baby. 

Some parents like to use their Parental Leave Pay allowance in a big chunk before going back to work, however, you definitely don’t have to use up all your days like this. 

Instead, you have the option of returning to work with Parental Leave Pay days still banked up, and if you’re not sure exactly when you want to use them, the government will hold them in a balance which you can tap into as needed.  

You can choose to take Parental Leave Pay before, during or after you use paid or unpaid leave from your employer (like maternity leave, paternity leave, annual leave or long service leave), and as with the childcare search, forward-planning is everything!  

The government says you should talk to your employer at least 10 weeks before your child’s expected arrival to negotiate leave and tell them if you want to claim Parental Leave Pay. 

Then, once you've settled into life with your little one and are back at work, there's the option of slotting any saved-up Parental Leave Pay days into your calendar.

Just make sure you're across the finer details first, which we've summarised below.   

The most important thing to know is that you must be on leave or not working when you use a Parental Leave Pay day. 

If you’ve returned to paid work, this means you can use a Parental Leave Pay day on any day that you’re looking after your child and not working.  

This includes weekdays, weekends, holidays or any time you’re on leave from work, and you can take a day here and there or book in blocks of Parental Leave Pay days. Whatever works! 

If you are tempted (or roped in) to do some work on a day designated for Parental Leave Pay, then you need to be very careful with your time. 

If you work for one hour or more, the government considers this to be working on a Parental Leave Pay day, and this means a 65 minute Zoom meeting will count as work. 

Also, keep in mind that if you’re self-employed, ‘occasional tasks’ like paying bills, checking deliveries and touching base with clients do add up, and if they tick over the 60-minute mark on a Parental Leave Pay day, they count as work.  

If your work plans do change, you need to tell Centrelink straightaway.  

This means that if you’re planning to work on a day you’ve nominated for Parental Leave Pay, you’ll need to either choose a new day to get the pay for, or return the day to your Parental Leave Pay balance and use it another time.  

And if you’ve already worked on a day that you nominated for Parental Leave Pay, you’ll need to call the Centrelink families line (on 136 150) to correct your info.   

Staying on top of this admin is really important, because you don’t want to get overpaid and end up with a Centrelink debt.  

That said, there is an exception to the ‘No work on a Paid Parental Leave day’ rule.  

Specifically, you can still get Parental Leave Pay if you’re working for an ‘allowable reason,’ which includes: 

• Having to work to comply with a court ordered summons. 
• You being a defence force or law enforcement officer who has to work because of a compulsory recall to duty. 
• You being employed as a health professional, emergency services worker or other essential worker, responding to a state, territory or national emergency.  

If you experience a stillbirth or infant death, then the government also understands the pain you’re going through and thinks of this as an allowable reason to work and still receive Parental Leave Pay.  

You should also know that the return to work rules for Paid Parental Leave are different if your child was born or adopted before 1 July 2023.  

In this case, the government won’t pay for any days left in your Paid Parental Leave period after you go back to work, but if you have some Flexible Paid Parental Leave days handy, you can use these on non-work days when you are caring for your little one. 

They can be used any time within the two years after your child arrived, and there’s more info about this here, including transferring Paid Parental Leave before you go back to work, and keeping in touch days, which give you a small chance to return to work without losing your Parental Leave Pay. 

There’s definitely more flexibility under the new system to manage your work and care arrangements, and there’s also the promise of a Parental Leave Pay boost. 

The government intends to increase Parental Leave Pay to 26 weeks (aka 130 days) by 2026, so if you’re planning a baby nearer that date, you may have even more days to spend with them on the PLP payroll.

Fingers crossed!