Parental Leave in the WA Public Sector
- Employee and Employer Entitlements and Obligations
- Public Sector Entitlements and Obligations - Employees
- Public Sector Entitlements and Obligations - Employers
- Frequently asked questions
It is the Government's intention that the provisions of the model clause as contained in Circular to Departments and Authorities No. 3 of 2007 apply to all public sector employees and for the model clause to be incorporated into awards and agreements as far as possible.
Until awards and agreements are updated to incorporate these provisions, the model clause is to be applied on an administrative basis. Entitlements that are more favourable than the model clause must continue to be applied unless or until award or agreement provisions are amended.
Public Sector Parental Leave - Employee and Employer Entitlements and Obligations
The following summarises the major entitlements and obligations for both employers and employees with respect to parental leave.
This summary is not comprehensive: consequently, employers and employees should refer to Circular to Departments and Authorities No. 3 of 2007 for full details of their entitlements and obligations, in addition to their awards and agreements, where appropriate.
Public Sector Employees - Entitlements and Obligations
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Employee Entitlements |
Employee Obligations |
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Parental Leave You are entitled to paid parental leave where you are the primary care giver of a newly born or adopted child. Currently your entitlement is 14 weeks continuous leave: it increased from 12 weeks on 1 July 2008. Half pay paid parental leave is also available. |
Evidence - Paid Parental Leave In order to access paid parental leave, you must provide your employer, where requested, evidence to satisfy a reasonable person of your primary care giver status. |
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Unpaid Parental Leave You are entitled to up to 52 weeks unpaid parental leave. You may take a shorter period of unpaid parental leave and, at any time during that period, choose to reduce or extend your period of unpaid parental leave. |
Notice and Evidence - Paid and Unpaid Parental Leave You must provide your employer with:
You may, however, have to provide more than 4 weeks notice if required by your award or agreement. If you have taken a shorter period of unpaid parental leave and you wish to reduce or extend your period of leave, you must provide your employer with 4 weeks written notice. You are only required to provide your employer with a medical certificate stating that you are fit for work in your current position during the 6-week period up to the expected date of birth if this is specifically provided for in an award or agreement. |
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Unpaid Partner Leave You are entitled to 1 weeks unpaid partner leave with a right to request to extend this period up to a maximum of 8 weeks. |
Notice and Evidence - Unpaid Partner Leave You must provide your employer with:
You may, however, have to provide more than 4 weeks notice if required by your award or agreement. |
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Use of Annual or Long Service Leave, or Time off in Lieu You are entitled to choose to substitute all or part of your unpaid parental or partner leave with accrued annual or long service leave, or time off in lieu of overtime. |
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Use of Sick or Personal Leave You are entitled to access your sick or personal leave, or sick leave without pay if:
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Leave Without Pay You are entitled to apply for up to 2 years leave without pay following your parental leave. |
Leave Without Pay You must use all your other leave entitlements before you may apply for leave without pay. Leave without pay must be applied for in advance and on a year-by-year basis. |
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Part Time Employment During Pregnancy You have the right to work in one or more periods on a part time basis during your pregnancy. During your pregnancy you are entitled to:
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Evidence and Notice - Part Time Employment During Pregnancy Your right to work part time during pregnancy is subject to you providing your employer with a medical certificate from a medical practitioner advising that part time employment is, because of your pregnancy, necessary or preferable. You must provide your employer with four weeks written notice if you wish to:
You may, however, have to provide more than 4 weeks notice if required by any relevant award or agreement. |
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Modification of Duties or Transfer to a Safe Job During your pregnancy you are entitled to have the duties of your position modified or to be transferred to a safe job if you are fit to work but it is inadvisable for you to continue in your current position for a stated period because of:
If a modification of duties or a transfer is not reasonably practicable you are entitled to paid leave for the period you are unable to work in your current position. |
Modification of Duties or Transfer to a Safe Job - Evidence Before your duties must be modified or you must be transferred to a safe job you are required to provide your employer with a medical certificate containing a statement to the effect that it is the doctor's opinion that you are fit to work but it is inadvisable for you to continue in your current position for a stated period because of:
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Employment During Unpaid Parental Leave Where you and your employer agree, you have the right to engage in periods of temporary or casual employment during your unpaid parental leave or leave without pay taken in conjunction with parental leave. You are entitled to extend your period of unpaid parental leave or leave without pay by the period of time you were engaged in temporary or casual employment. |
Notice of Intention to Extend Leave If you wish to extend your period of unpaid parental leave or leave without pay by the period of time you were engaged in temporary or casual employment, you must give your employer at least 4 weeks notice in writing of the new date you intend to return to work. |
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Communication If your employer has made a definite decision to introduce significant change at the workplace, you are entitled to:
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Communication You must take reasonable steps to tell your employer about anything that may change:
You must tell your employer about any change of address or contact details. |
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Return to Work on the Conclusion of Parental Leave You are entitled to return to work on a part time or job-share basis. |
Notice of Return to Work You must provide your employer with written notice at least 4 weeks before the end of your parental leave or leave without pay taken in conjunction with parental leave of:
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Reversion to Full Time Employment If you have returned to work on a part time or job-share basis, you have the right to request permission to:
You are entitled to receive written notice of your employer's decision. This includes reasons for any refusal to allow you to revert. |
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Casual Employees Eligible casual employees, as defined in the model parental leave clause, are entitled to:
During your pregnancy you are entitled to have the duties of your position modified or to be transferred to a safe job if you are fit to work but it is inadvisable for you to continue in your current position for a stated period because of:
If modification of duties or a transfer is not reasonably practicable you are entitled to paid leave for the period you are unable to work in your current position. Where an eligible casual employee becomes permanent or fixed term contract employees with the same public sector employer within three months of completing their last period of casual employment, their service as an eligible casual employee will count as qualifying service for paid parental leave. |
Casual Employees You have the same obligations regarding the provision of notice and evidence to your employer as a permanent employee. |
Public Sector Employers - Entitlements and Obligations
| Employer Entitlements | Employer Obligations |
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Primary Care Giver Evidence You are entitled to request that an employee provide evidence to satisfy a reasonable person of the employee's primary care giver status. |
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Notice and Evidence - Parental Leave You are entitled to receive, from an employee, at least 4 weeks notice of the:
You may, however, be entitled to more than 4 weeks notice if required by any relevant award or agreement. You are entitled to receive a medical certificate confirming the pregnancy and the estimated date of birth. Unless specifically provided for in an award or agreement, you are not entitled to require a pregnant employee who continues to work during the 6 week period up to the expected date of birth to provide a medical certificate stating that she is fit for work and whether it is advisable for her to continue in her current position. |
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Notice and Evidence - Unpaid Partner Leave You are entitled to receive, from an employee:
You may, however, be entitled to more than 4 weeks notice if required by any relevant award or agreement. You are entitled to refuse an employee's request to extend the period of unpaid partner leave up to a maximum of 8 weeks if:
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Unpaid Partner Leave You must agree to an employee's request to extend their period of unpaid partner leave up to a maximum of 8 weeks unless:
You must provide the employee with written notice of your decision. This must include reasons for any refusal to allow the employee to take additional unpaid partner leave. |
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Use of Annual or Long Service Leave, or Time off in Lieu You must allow an employee to choose to substitute all or part of any unpaid leave with accrued annual or long service leave, or time off in lieu of overtime. | |
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Leave Without Pay You are entitled to require an employee to exhaust all other leave entitlements before they take leave without pay. You are entitled to refuse an employee's request for leave without pay in order to extend their parental leave if:
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Leave Without Pay You must agree to an employee's application for leave without pay in order to extend their parental leave unless:
You must provide the employee with written notice of your decision. This must include reasons for any refusal to allow the employee to take leave without pay. |
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Part Time Employment During Pregnancy - Evidence and Notice You are entitled to require the employee to provide you with a medical certificate from a medical practitioner advising that part time employment is, because of the employee's pregnancy, necessary or preferable. You are entitled 4 weeks written notice if a pregnant employee intends to:
You may, however, be entitled to more than 4 weeks notice if required by any relevant award or agreement. |
Part Time Employment During Pregnancy You must allow a pregnant employee to work part time in one or more periods while she is pregnant because her pregnancy makes part time employment necessary or preferable. You must allow a pregnant employee to:
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Modification of Duties or Transfer to a Safe Job - Evidence If a pregnant employee wants you to modify her duties or transfer her to a safe job, you are entitled to require the employee to provide you with a medical certificate containing a statement to the effect that it is the doctor's opinion that the employee is fit to work but it is inadvisable for her to continue in her current position for a stated period because of:
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Modification of Duties or Transfer to a Safe Job You must modify the duties of a pregnant employee's position or transfer the employee to a safe job if she provides you with a medical certificate stating that she is fit to work but it is inadvisable for her to continue in her current position for a stated period because of:
If this is not reasonably practicable you must allow the employee to take paid leave for the period she is unable to work in her current position. |
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Replacement Employee Prior to engaging a replacement employee, you must inform the employee of:
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Employment During Unpaid Parental Leave Where you and the employee agree, you may engage the employee in periods of temporary or casual employment during their unpaid parental leave or leave without pay taken in conjunction with parental leave. Where the employee intends to extend their period of unpaid parental leave or leave without pay by the period of time they were engaged in temporary or casual employment, you are entitled to at least 4 weeks notice in writing of the new date an employee intends to return to work. |
Employment During Unpaid Parental Leave You must keep the following records for every period of temporary or casual employment - the:
You must allow an employee to extend their period of unpaid parental leave or leave without pay by the period of time they were engaged in temporary or casual employment where you have receive 4 weeks written notice of the employee's intention. |
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Communication You are entitled to advice from an employee about anything that may change:
You are entitled to notification from an employee concerning any change of address or contact details. |
Communication If you have made a definite decision to introduce significant change at the workplace, the, you must take reasonable to steps to:
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Return to Work - Notice You are entitled to written notice at least 4 weeks before the end of the employee's parental leave or leave without pay taken in conjunction with parental leave of:
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Return to Work - Part Time Employment You must allow an employee to return to work on a part time or job share basis. |
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Reversion to Full Time Employment You are entitled to refuse an employee's request to revert if there are reasonable grounds not to agree. |
Reversion to Full Time Employment If an employee has returned to work on a part time or job-share basis, you must agree to their request to:
unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse the request. You must provide the employee with written notice of your decision. This must include reasons for any refusal to allow the employee to revert. |
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Casual Employees Modification of Duties or Transfer to a Safe Job - Evidence You are entitled to receive the same notice periods and evidence from a casual employee as from a permanent employee. |
Casual Employees You must allow eligible casual employees, as defined, access to:
You must modify the duties of a pregnant eligible casual employee's position or transfer the employee to a safe job if she is fit to work but it is inadvisable for her to continue in her current position for a stated period because of:
If this is not reasonably practicable you must allow the eligible casual employee to take paid leave for the period she is unable to work in her current position. You must recognise service performed by an eligible casual employee as qualifying service for paid parental leave where you employ an eligible casual employee on permanent or fixed term contract basis within three months of them completing their last period of casual employment with you. |
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- Primary care giver FAQs
- Quantum of parental leave FAQs
- Pay on parental leave FAQs
- Employment during unpaid parental leave FAQs
- Return to work FAQs
- Qualifying service FAQs
- Other FAQs
Primary care giver FAQs
Q. What evidence does an employee have to provide to confirm they are their child's primary care giver?
A. An employee is only required to provide evidence if their employer has specifically asked the employee to provide confirmation of their primary care giver status.
If confirmation is required an employee must provide evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person of their entitlement to paid parental leave. Examples of such evidence include, but are not limited to:
- a statutory declaration containing sufficient details to satisfy a reasonable person of the employee's entitlement to paid parental leave;
- a medical certificate addressing any incapacity the child's mother may have to be its primary care giver;
- details of any leave being taken by the child's mother;
- details of the mother's working arrangements; and/or
- details of the child's care arrangements.
Q. Can both parents be a child's primary care giver at the one time?
A. No. A primary care giver is a single person who provides the majority of care and attention to a child. An employer may, however, allow an employee and their partner to take paid parental leave concurrently in exceptional circumstances.
Q. Is an employee entitled to paid parental leave to care for a child other than their newly born or adopted child?
A. No. Paid parental leave is only provided to employees where they are the primary care giver of a newly born or adopted child.
An employee who needs to care for other children as his partner is unable to care for them - for example, where the mother is in hospital for the birth of a child - may be able to access other leave entitlements, including personal leave, unpaid carer's leave and annual leave.
Q. Is an employee entitled to paid parental leave to care for a newborn child where their partner had a Caesarean?
A. Yes, as long as the employee has:
- assumed the principal role for the care and attention of their newly born child; and
- completed 12 months continuous service in the WA public sector.
A mother does not have to be physically absent from the home in order for their partner to meet the definition of primary care giver. The mother may be physically or mentally incapable of caring for the child.
A Caesarean section is a major operation and the effect of such an operation may vary from woman to woman. As to whether a woman is able to be her child's primary care giver following her child's birth will depend on her medical practitioner's assessment at the time of her return home, this being the point at which she could be expected to take on primary care responsibilities for her child.
An employer may seek confirmation from the employee that they are the child's primary care giver.
Q. Is an employee entitled to paid parental leave where one partner is working from home and the other is their child's primary care giver?
A. Yes, as long as the employee has:
- assumed the principal role for the care and attention of their newly born or adopted child; and
- completed 12 months continuous service in the WA public sector.
One parent does not have to be physically absent from the home in order for the other parent to meet the definition of primary care giver.
An employer may seek confirmation from the employee that they are the child's primary care giver.
Q. Is there a formula for determining what constitutes a "principal" role in caring for a child?
A. No. A decision will need to be made according to the facts of each circumstance and the nature of any evidence that the employee provides the employer.
As paid parental leave is an entitlement for leave from work, the focus on who provides the majority of care should be on the working week, not the calendar week.
Q. Is an employee entitled to parental leave to be the primary care giver for a grandchild?
A. No. Parental leave is only available to employees with respect to the birth or adoption of a child to the employer or their partner.
An employee who is their grandchild's primary care giver may be able to access other leave entitlements, including personal leave and unpaid carer's leave.
Quantum of parental leave FAQs
Q. An employee and their partner both work in the WA public sector. Does this affect their entitlement to paid parental leave?
A. Yes. If both employees are entitled to paid parental leave and both wish to take paid parental leave, they must share the entitlement. They are only entitled to a period of leave equal to that that would be provided to one employee.
Q. Does half pay parental leave affect an employee's leave accruals or other entitlements?
A. No. Employees who take their paid parental leave at half pay do not accrue award, agreement or other entitlements beyond those they would have accrued had they taken leave at full pay.
Q. Does an employee get twice the amount of leave if they have a multiple birth or adopt more than one child at a single time?
A. No. All references to 'a child' in the parental leave clause are to be read as including children of a multiple birth or adoption.
Q. Does an employee get additional paid parental leave if their period of paid parental leave extends past 1 July 2008 ie. when the quantum of leave increases?
A. No. An employee is only entitled to the amount of paid parental leave they were entitled to when they commenced their leave.
Q. Are public holidays counted as part of parental or partner leave?
A. Yes. Public holidays that fall during paid or unpaid parental or partner leave do not extend the period of leave.
Q. If my employee works for me during their unpaid parental leave, does this extend their period of leave?
A. Yes, but only if the employee gives you 4 weeks written notice of their intention to extend their period of leave by the period of time they were engaged in temporary or casual employment.
Pay on parental leave FAQs
Q. Does changing from part time to full time employment before commencing paid parental leave affect an employee's entitlement?
A. No. An employee is entitled to be paid according to their employment status at the time of commencing their leave.
Q. How should payment be determined for a part time employee who takes paid parental leave?
A. A part time employee is entitled to the greater of the following two methods for calculating their ordinary working hours:
an average of the hours worked by the employee over the preceding 12 months; or
their ordinary working hours at the time of commencement of leave.
Q. Is an employee on parental leave who has fallen pregnant entitled to paid parental leave without resuming duty? If yes, what rate of pay should be applied?
A. Yes. An employee does not have to return from parental leave in order to access paid parental leave. An employee in this situation is entitled to be paid according to their classification and employment status at the time of commencing the original period of parental leave or leave without pay.
Q. Is an employee entitled to higher duties allowance when on paid parental leave?
A. No. Higher duties allowances and shift and weekend penalties are not payable during paid parental leave.
Employment during unpaid parental leave FAQs
Q. Can my employee work for me during their unpaid parental leave?
A. Yes, subject to a number of conditions. Please refer to the parental leave clause for these conditions.
Return to work FAQs
Q. Does an employee have the right to return to work on a part time basis?
A. Yes. It should be noted that employees have the right to return on a part time basis, not merely the right to request to return on a part time basis.
Q. Does an employee who has returned to work on a part time basis have the right to revert to full time employment?
A. Yes, subject to some conditions.
An employee who has returned to work on a part time basis has the right to request a reversion to full time employment. An employer must agree to such a request unless there are reasonable grounds not to agree.
Qualifying service FAQs
Q. Is an employee required to work for their employer for 12 months before they can access unpaid parental leave or unpaid partner leave?
A. No.
The requirement for 12 months continuous service relates only to paid parental leave.
Q. Does service with a public sector employer as a casual employee count for the purposes of paid parental leave and the 12 months continuous service requirement?
A. Yes, but only where the casual employee was:
- an eligible casual employee, as defined in the parental leave clause; and
- employed by the same public sector employer on a permanent or contract basis within three months of the employee completing their last period of casual employment with that employer.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What options does an employer have if a pregnant employee is fit for work but is unable to continue in her current position?
A. An employee must firstly provide the employer with a medical certificate stating that she is fit to work but it is inadvisable for her to continue in her current position for a stated period of time because of:
- illness, or risks, arising out of her pregnancy; or
- hazards connected with her position.
Alternatively, an employee must provide the employer with a medical certificate stating that part time employment is, because of the employee's pregnancy, necessary or preferable.
Where such a certificate is provided, the employer's options are to:
- modify the employee's duties;
- transfer the employee to a safe job at the same level; or
- allow the employee to work part time, where the employee requests part time employment.
If the employer does not think that any of these options are reasonably practicable, they must allow the employee to take paid leave for the stated period. This leave is additional to any other leave to which the employee is entitled and is also available to eligible casual employees, as defined.