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Digest No. 1966

Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill 2012 (Members Bill)

Date of Introduction: 05 April 2012
Member: Sue Moroney
Select Committee: As at 19 April, 1st Reading not held.
Published: 19 April 2012by John McSoriley BA LL.B, Barrister,Legislative AnalystP: (04) 471-9626 (Ext. 9626) Caution: This Digest was prepared to assist consideration of the Bill by members of Parliament. It has no official status.Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, it should not be taken as a complete or authoritative guide to the Bill. Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.

Purpose

The aim of this Bill is to amend the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 (the Act) to extend paid parental leave to a maximum of 26 weeks (Clause 4, the “purpose clause”).

Background

The current entitlement to paid parental leave is 14 weeks. The Bill is particularly proposed because “the ability for parents to choose to care for newborn babies is an essential part of supporting families to develop nurturing relationships”, “the WHO [recommends] that exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for up to six months”, and the fiscal impact would be limited by a staged implementation [1]   .

The Government has indicated that it will exercise its financial veto [2]   provided for in Standing Orders 321-325 in respect of this Bill.

Standing Order 321(1) provides: “The House will not pass a bill, amendment, or motion that the Government certifies it does not concur in because, in its view, the bill, amendment, or motion would have more than a minor impact on the Government’s fiscal aggregates if it becomes law”.

Main Provisions

Extending paid parental leave

The Bill amends the Act by providing that “the duration of paid parental leave shall be extended to a maximum of 18 weeks on 1 April 2012; a maximum of 22 weeks on 1 April 2013, and a maximum of 26 weeks on 1 April 2014 (Clause 5, amending Section 71J(a) and (b) of the Act (“Duration of parental leave payment”).

Copyright: © NZ Parliamentary Library, 2012
Except for educational purposes permitted under the Copyright Act 1994, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including information storage and retrieval systems, other than by Members of Parliament in the course of their official duties, without the consent of the Parliamentary Librarian, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.This document may also be available through commercial online services and may be viewed and reproduced in accordance with the conditions applicable to those services.

  1. Parental Leave and Employment Proptection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill, 2012 No 13-1, Explanatory note, General policy statement, p. 1.   [back]
  2. Nats back parental leave, but will still veto, TV3, 16 April 2012.   [back]