Paid parental leave on work visa

Hi there,

could you please advise me if you are eligible for paid parental leave (given the condition to work for at least 12 months is fulfilled) if you hold only work visa (valid for 30 months)? Or is yours/your child's residency condition for the eligibility of paid parental leave? The definition of eligibility on MBIE pages speaks only about the length of employment but nothing about the residency status:

You are eligible for parental leave if you have worked for the same employer for an average of at least 10 hours a week, and at least one hour in every week or 40 hours in every month, in the six or 12 months immediately before the baby’s expected due date or the date you have assumed the care of a child you intend to adopt.

Thanks in advance for all answers,
Ondrej.

The kind of visa you have is nothing to do with this regulation. If you're legally allowed to work in NZ, you come under all its labour laws.

Thank you!

I also found official answer on MBIE pages, in case someone need this in the future:
http://www.dol.govt.nz/workplace/kno...base/item/1370

Cheers.

Unfortunately the link doesn't work any more.

I'm in this situation right now, I'm entitled to take parental leave according to everything that I understand from the employment law. However, what I do not know is how this will affect my eligibility to apply for a Residence-from-work visa (I'm still in the first 2 years of my Work-to-residence (Talent) Visa). Does anyone have experience on this? Should I call the immigration and get how can I make sure that I'll get advice I can rely on in the future? (Insist on something in writing?)

Here is an up-to-date link, which specifically says that someone on a work visa can take this leave if they meet the criteria. https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave...e/eligibility/ But I think you're right that it would be a good idea to ask INZ the specific question about how this would affect your residence-from-work application. I know that taking an agreed leave from work - say, two months to go back to see your family - doesn't count against you; you are still employed, even if not doing anything, and your job is waiting for you. So they MAY apply the same logic for parental leave, but it is better to be certain and to get it in writing.

I gave them a call and asked but, not too much information was given. It was said that I need to check with Employment Relations for the details or eligibility and if I'm eligible then it's social benefits which I can take and immigration wouldn't have anything to do with it. About the only important message that was given was that in case of residence from work, they will only check whether I have worked for the required amount of time (2 years), which I translate into "was under contract with that employer". That might be right or wrong. However, they will check as per the instructions on the salary with the IRD and here I don't know what sort of impact a reduced salary will have - i.e., will they just take absolute numbers for the year or will they take into account that overall salary was for reduced time and adjust it to an annual salary. To be on the safe side, I would need to limit my paternity leave to 12 weeks max unpaid, to still be eligible for PR right away (over 90k threshold). I will give them another call and ask for that specific question.

Hello there, don't mean to dredge this topic up... but did anyone find the answer?


Ooops, according to posters timeline... the PPL likely didn't affect eligibility for RFW