Parents who have children 'too close together' miss paid leave

A legislative oversight means parents who have children "too close together" are missing out on paid parental leave.

A spokeswoman for Minister of Labour Ruth Dyson said an amendment bill to correct the punishing anomaly was tabled in Parliament last week and is proposed to take effect from July 2006.

But that will come too late for some families.

Southland teacher Kate Lundy, who is about to have her second child, was surprised to learn she will not be entitled to paid parental leave because she returned to work less than 12 months ago.

Mrs Lundy took leave last May, and her daughter was born on May 22.

She returned to work part-time (three days a week) at the beginning of the year.

Her second baby is due in September.

While she will have been working nine months by then -- three months more than the six-month minimum to qualify for paid parental leave for a first child under current legislation -- she cannot claim paid parental leave because she has already been on leave during the previous year.

Current legislation states that 12 months must elapse after a period of parental leave before a parent can take leave again on the birth or adoption of another child.

Mrs Lundy said she was missing out on about $3700 in the hand, "which would've have bought a few nappies and groceries!".

"It's a bit odd when they're trying to encourage women back into the workforce."

She said she still would have gone back to work when she did.

"Clearly, I wasn't doing it just for the sake of paid parental leave, but it certainly makes a difference.

"I feel like I'm being punished for having children too close together or something.

"But who is to decide what the 'right gap' is?"

A spokeswoman for the Department of Labour said the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave for Self-Employed Persons) Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament last week would allow parents -- regardless of whether they are having a first, second or subsequent child -- to be governed by the same provisions for accessing paid parental leave.

It proposes to lower the minimum period a parent has to work following a previous period of parental leave to six months, before a parent can qualify for paid parental leave again.

However, no changes have been made to the timeframe for unpaid extended parental leave.

In order to qualify for unpaid extended leave of up to 52 weeks, a parent must work for an employer for a minimum of 12 months after a period of parental leave before being eligible in relation to another child.

The new legislation is proposed to take effect from July 1, 2006.

From that date, a parent will qualify for parental leave payments of 14 weeks if it has been six months since the previous period of parental leave.

At that time, the scheme will have been extended to the self-employed.

The Government brought in 12 weeks' paid parental leave in 2002 and last December extended it to 13 weeks, when it also halved the minimum length of time a qualifying parent must have worked for the same employer from one year to six months.

More than 45,000 people had accessed the scheme since it began, receiving up to a maximum rate of $357.30 a week.

"The Department of Labour is continuously reviewing conditions for parents who work and also have their families to consider," the spokeswoman said.

- NZPA