paid maternity leave

paid maternity leave - maternity pictures ideas

Parental leave is an employee benefit that provides paid or unpaid time off work to care for a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare. The term "parental leave" includes maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. Often, the minimum benefits are stipulated by law.

To meet the Paid Parental Leave work test you must have:

• worked for at least 10 of the 13 months before the birth or adoption of your child, and
• worked for at least 330 hours in that 10 month period (just over one day a week), with no more than an eight week gap between two consecutive working days

If pregnancy complications or a premature birth have prevented you from meeting the work test, just let us know. There are some exceptions.

Activities that count as work

A 'working day' is a day you have worked for at least one hour. You can count periods of paid leave towards the work test but periods of unpaid leave do not count.

If you are claiming for a child who will be born or adopted on or after 1 March 2014, you can also count any Paid Parental Leave or Dad and Partner Pay periods you have previously taken in the 13 months before the birth or adoption.

You do not need to be working full-time to be eligible for Parental Leave Pay. You may meet the work test even if you:

• are a part-time, casual, or seasonal worker
• are a contractor or self-employed
• work in a family business
• have multiple employers
• have recently changed jobs
• have worked overseas

If you work for a family business, you can include your hours of work even if the business is not making any income, providing you are doing the work for financial gain or benefit.

The following activities also count as work:

• employment at an Australian Disability Enterprise
• operating a business while receiving assistance under the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme
• farm labour or operating a business while receiving an Exceptional Circumstances Relief Payment
• jury service, and
• defence reservist work

Periods of workers’ or accident compensation (or similar payments in respect of employment) can also count as work.

Activities that do not count as work

Periods of unpaid leave or voluntary work cannot be included as work.

If your child will be born or adopted before 1 March 2014, any time you solely received government-funded Parental Leave Pay does not count towards the work test, even if it was paid by your employer.

Activities undertaken for Work for the Dole (including Community Development Employment Projects for new participants), Green Corps, Drought Force, the National Green Jobs Corps and other income support programs that include a work component do not count as work.

Payment rate of Parental Leave Pay

The amount of Parental Leave Pay is calculated based on the rate of the National Minimum Wage. Parental Leave Pay is currently $622.10 per week before tax for a maximum of 18 weeks. This is the hourly rate of the National Minimum Wage x 7.6 (hours in a standard working day) x 5 (days in a standard working work). Parental Leave Pay is a taxable payment that can be paid by your employer or by us directly.

Payment by your employer

Your employer will provide your Parental Leave Pay in your usual pay cycle if you:

• have worked for them for 12 months or more before the expected date of birth or adoption. For Australian Public Service (APS) employees, all APS employment is included in the employment period
• will be their employee until at least the end of your Paid Parental Leave period
• are an Australian-based employee, and
• expect to receive at least eight weeks of Parental Leave Pay

If you do not meet these criteria, your employer is not required to provide your Parental Leave Pay. However, they can still choose to provide it to you if you both agree for this to happen. For it to happen, your employer will need to register with us and opt-in to provide Parental Leave Pay before you lodge your claim.

If your employer is providing your Parental Leave Pay:

• they need to withhold PAYG (Pay As You Go tax withholdings) at the usual rate
• they can deduct Child Support from your Parental Leave Pay if required to do so
• they are not required to make additional superannuation contributions, but may do so if they wish to
• you will be able to access paid leave such as maternity leave at the same time as Parental Leave Pay, but you may be taxed at a higher rate
• you may arrange for other deductions to be made from your Parental Leave Pay, and
• you may salary-sacrifice some or all of your Parental Leave Pay through voluntary contributions to superannuation

These arrangements (except for PAYG and Child Support deductions) will depend on what you and your employer agree on, in the same way you make agreements about wages.

source : http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/parental-leave-pay

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