Government-paid maternity and paternity leave and other benefits will be extended in 2017
The Child Development Co-Savings (Amendment No. 2) Act 2016 was passed by Parliament on 10 November 2016, making amendments to the Child Development Co-Savings Act (“CDCA”) relating to government-paid maternity and paternity leave and other benefits. The changes will come into effect in 2017.
Currently, fathers are only entitled to one week of compulsory, government-paid paternity leave, with a second week provided by employers on a voluntary basis. The amendments to the CDCA will provide for two weeks government-paid paternity leave to new fathers from 1 January 2017. Fathers can choose to clear the two-week block of leave within 16 weeks from the birth of the child, or they can work out an agreement with their employer to take the leave flexibly by days within a year from the birth of the child.
Fathers will also have the choice of taking additional leave in their baby’s first year, with shared parental leave benefits being increased from one week to four weeks from 1 July 2017. Parents can decide how to apportion the four weeks of shared parental leave between them at any time before the child turns 1 year old, however the decision cannot be changed once it is made.
The CDCA is also amended to provide that all qualifying mothers, regardless of their marital status, will be entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave from 1 January 2017. Presently, unwed mothers are only entitled to eight weeks maternity leave, so these amendments have been introduced to ensure that children will not be excluded from state support for the fact that they were born to unwed parents.
Other key changes to the CDCA provide for greater support to adoptive parents. From 1 July 2017, adoptive mothers will get 12 weeks of adoption leave. For the first and second child, the first four weeks of the leave will be paid for by their employers and the last eight weeks will be funded by the Government. For the third and subsequent child, all 12 weeks of leave will be funded by the Government. Currently, adoption leave is for four weeks, and is fully paid by the Government. The leave must be used within one year of the birth of the child.