Parental Leave
Every employee in the National Workplace System is covered under the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act. As part of the NES, eligible employees (including casual empoyees) have access to unpaid parental leave.
Separate to the unpaid parental leave entitlement is the opportunity for new parents to claim the government funded paid parental leave which needs to be administered by businesses.
Recently some changes to the government funded paid parental leave scheme have been announced:
Paid parental leave has officially been expanded from 20 weeks to 26 weeks
the increase will be gradually increased y two weeks each year from July 2024 until the 26 week rate is reached in 2026.
The payment for this leave will remain at the national minimum wage – which increases 1 July every year as part of the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review.