Federal Paid Parental Leave now in the hands of DECD

The Paid Parental Leave Scheme is a new entitlement for working parents of children born or adopted since January 1, 2011. Those eligible can get up to 18 weeks of federal funded Parental Leave Pay at the National minimum wage which currently sits at $589.40. This entitlement is tax deductible.

While this scheme was introduced in January, DECS, like many employers chose not to administer the Parental Leave payments until now. As of July 1 all employers must begin delivering the parental leave payments themselves if they have staff who:

• Have a child or adopt a child from January 1, 2011
• Have worked for the employer for at least 12 months prior to the expected date of birth or adoption
• Will be their employee for the Paid Parental Leave period
• Are an Australian based employee
• Are expected to receive at least 8 weeks of Parental Leave Pay

There is a "keeping in touch" (KIT) component to the Paid Parental Leave Scheme to enable employees on paid leave to remain connected to the workplace without losing their entitlements. This must be an agreed arrangement between the employee and the employer and only up to a maximum of 10 days.

Currently, DECS and all other government departments are not prepared to provide the KIT provision for operational reasons.

However, women who are on maternity/parenting leave from DECS are able to attend training and development provided by their site and count those hours towards the training and professional development strategies 37.5 hours. This will allow women to access the paid leave in week 10 of term 4 if they have completed hours of T&D.

Follow this link to download the Paid Parental Leave scheme Employer Toolkit (1 July version)