Paid Parental Leave Confusion!

[Bun]

I am hoping someone can help me with this!

My bub is due on 18 Oct and I should qualify for PPL. I have been in my employment for over 12 months, earn under the capped amount, and I have already worked the minimum 330 hours to qualify.

However, I am confused about when I can finish up at work.

My understanding was that to qualify, you have to work for 10 of the 13 months before the baby is due. Therefore for me, the earliest I can leave work is 18 July.

I intended to stay at my job until 1 month before bubs is due, however my (tight-arse) boss doesn't want to pay costs associated with my employment that are due to be paid at the commencement of the new financial year. So I said I am happy to finish up at the end of the financial year and then use annual leave to take my official end date to 18 July so that I will still qualify for PPL. However, I may be one or two days short of annual leave to get me through til 18 July so will need to take one or two days of unpaid leave between 30 June and 18 July. But I am worried that will deem me ineligible because unpaid leave does not count as 'work'!

I have tried calling Centrelink and have gotten nowhere, and I can't even apply for PPL until 18 July and if I am deemed ineligible then it will be too late to do anything about it! We are not eligible for Baby bonus so it is important that I can claim PPL.

Please help me! Will I qualify??

[Floweryfields]

Isn't there something about a minimum of 6 hours a fortnight or something tiny like that? Can't you spread your holiday pay out, so instead of being paid 7.5hour days, get it as 6 hour days and that will draw it out further.
Also, your boss doesn't really have the right to ask you to finish earlier just to suit himself - that's not helping your situation at all!

[MLR1901]

Bun - a friend of mine had a very similar issue - she let slip to her boss the she contacted centrelink and that they will check with the employer why he wouldn't extend her leave - guess what he did? Packed himself!!! Gave her a bonus and let her finish the date she intended. I don't think it sounds right that your boss is trying to make you finish when its convient for him - the law is the law and he needs to obide by it.
Contact your HR dept (unless of course you are it!) and im pretty sure they will tell you that its not acceptable.
Another friend had just changed jobs when she found out she was pregant lucky they she had worked at previous employment for 9 mths and new one for 3 when she applied for PPL. She wasn't entitled to the company Mat leave but she was for the PPL
You could always get the baby bonus - similar thing isn't it?

[briggsy's girl]

From the Centrelink website HERE

The Paid Parental Leave work test

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

worked for at least 10 of the 13 months prior to 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.

A working day is a day you have worked for at least one hour.

There are some exceptions if you do not meet the work test due to pregnancy complications and/or premature birth.

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 (such as a farm)
have multiple employers, or
have recently changed jobs.

If you work for a family business (such as a farm), you can include your hours of work even if the business is not generating any income, providing you are undertaking the work for financial gain or benefit.

The part that i've highlighted in red is the important part - you CANNOT have more than 8 weeks off between paid days at work. the blue part explains what constitutes a paid day at work. being on paid leave doesn't count, you must actually be at work.

to put it in simple terms, you can't finish up work more than 8 weeks before EDD or you will lose eligibility for PPL - and you can only finish up that early if you've not had more than 4 weeks leave in the previous 11 months. given the dates you've laid out, you would need to continue until at least the middle of august to qualify (whatever date falls 8 weeks prior to your Oct EDD), and then only if you've not had much leave in the previous 11 months.


obviously if you go over your EDD, you may go more than 8 weeks, but that is something beyond your control.

Hope that helps

[Bun]

Thanks guys. My boss is a total %&*$, he is a lawyer and doesn't give a damn about abiding by his legal requirements or not. Our office manager also has no issue at all with the partners wanting me to finish up early so that they don't have to pay employment costs after 30 June, she thinks it is perfectly reasonable.

To be honest, staying in this work environment is having a serious impact on my mental state so I am happy to get out as soon as possible, which is why I agreed to finish up early.

I am very confused by the PPL requirements though. I was sure that I would still qualify if I finished on this date.

BG, I have scoured the Centrelink site repeatedly and thought I understood it all. I have seen the no more than 8 weeks between workdays requirement, but I thought I was clear on that issue, because you only have to work 10 of the 13 months before bub is due. And the no more than 8 weeks between work days requirement applies to that 10 month period, not after you have stopped work. If I finish up officially on 18 July, then I would have worked for 10 of the 13 months before the baby is due, and I have met all the other requirements. I also saw on the Centrelink website that paid leave is considered 'work' whereas unpaid leave isn't, so I thought that as long as I was on paid leave until 18 July, then I would be covered.

You have really worried me now, I thought I was ok!

MLR - my boss wouldn't care if I threatened to contact Centrelink. And I don't qualify for the Baby Bonus, so PPL is all there is.

[Floweryfields]

But he may care if you get fairwork involved! You cannot be fired for being pregnant, you cannot be made to finish up before you want to to suit them. You do have rights as a lawyer, he'd well know that!

[briggsy's girl]

BG, I have scoured the Centrelink site repeatedly and thought I understood it all. I have seen the no more than 8 weeks between workdays requirement, but I thought I was clear on that issue, because you only have to work 10 of the 13 months before bub is due. And the no more than 8 weeks between work days requirement applies to that 10 month period, not after you have stopped work. If I finish up officially on 18 July, then I would have worked for 10 of the 13 months before the baby is due, and I have met all the other requirements. I also saw on the Centrelink website that paid leave is considered 'work' whereas unpaid leave isn't, so I thought that as long as I was on paid leave until 18 July, then I would be covered.

no, it doesn't work like that
you have to have not had a period exceeding 8 weeks at any time in the 13 months prior to the EDD - even if you work 10 months solid, if you have a period of 8+ weeks before EDD, you lose your qualification

i have copied and pasted the qualifying criteria direct from the centrelink website. i'm not giving my interpretation of the information, i'm giving you the actual information as publicly available. i deal with this every day - this is the criteria.

the 10 of the 13 months is making sure that people don't work a month, have six weeks off, work another month, have a fortnight off, work a few weeks, take a month off etc - they are saying that, out of the 390 odd days which make up the 13 months before your EDD, you have to have worked 10 months - or 40ish weeks - and you can't have more than 8 weeks off in any period there - including the period immediately before the birth of the child


ETA - my apologies if this is blunt. i'm tired and i'm replying with an almost three year old climbing on me while i try and keep her off the wrist i have dislocated twice this weekend.

[Razzberry]

Just a quick hypothetical question - If a teacher finished at the end of the year at school then there were 6-7 weeks of school holidays then the teacher started maternity leave but didn't have the baby for another month what happens then? is there no entitlement? Because a teacher cannot "work" in the holidays as the kids aren't there.

Sorry to hijack, just been wondering about this for awhile!

[briggsy's girl]

that would have to be assessed by the processing team due to it not being possible for the teacher to work in that time. it may be a case of them having to go in for the start of year curriculum day. i'm honestly not sure of that. given teaches are paid for the holidays as part of their salary and it's part of the regular pattern of "work", i'm not going to say one way or the other!

[briggsy's girl]

Just a quick hypothetical question - If a teacher finished at the end of the year at school then there were 6-7 weeks of school holidays then the teacher started maternity leave but didn't have the baby for another month what happens then? is there no entitlement? Because a teacher cannot "work" in the holidays as the kids aren't there.

Sorry to hijack, just been wondering about this for awhile!

paid leave (rec etc) is counted as work so for teachers, school holidays where they are paid would still be counted as work

In Bun's situation, she is saying about taking leave to take her up to a point 3 months prior to EDD - she would need to have enough leave available to take her up to 8 weeks before EDD to remain qualified for PPL.

[Bun]

So basically, even though they say you only have to work for 10 of the 13 months before the EDD, you CANNOT finish more than 8 weeks before your EDD? I just didn't read it that way and even phoned them to check before I made any decisions re work and they thought it would be ok.

I am really at a difficult point as things have hit a very rough patch at work and my continuing employment is untenable at this stage. I am not sure what to do. I have also been diagnosed with AnteNatal Depression, which has been exacerbated by my work conditions and I am not sure if I can return to my workplace given some 'issues' that came up at work yesterday. And there is no way I am going to get another job now, half way through my pregnancy and with two other kids at home. I am not sure what to do.

What are the requirements if you are unable to work due to illness? My dr has given me a med cert and agrees that I should not return to this workplace. I am just concerned about my PPL eligibility as we need the money, especially since I obviously will not be returning to this workplace after bub.

A lot of the issues at work are due to discrimination that has been going on since I told them I was pregnant. Is there anything I can do about that to retain eligibility? I don't care about taking it up with the FWO or anything, I just want to get out of there and move on, while retaining my PPL eligibility.

Alternatively, would it be possible for me to finish up work, and then work, say, 1 day in another job in say mid-August? Then I would have worked up until 8 weeks before my EDD and not ever had a break of more than 8 weeks. I may be able to do something for my FIL's business for a day. Would this count? It sounds wrong, but I am not sure what else I can do at this stage?

Thanks so much BG, I know it's hard to post with a little one and I really appreciate your input. I have not been able to get through to Centrelink today so have had no luck getting my questions answered and this is really distressing me right now.

[briggsy's girl]

if your doctor believes there are complications of your pregnancy that make it unviable for your to work, they can provide a certificate
however, you may have to provide a letter from your employer stating that, had you not been ill, you would have continued your employment up until 8 weeks before EDD (so it may not be possible)

ETA - i checked today on the 8 weeks thing - and the four colleagues i checked with all agreed on not being able to finish up more than 8 weeks before EDD (some people will be able to leave early if they have paid leave that takes them further towards their edd kwim?

[HotI]

Alternatively, would it be possible for me to finish up work, and then work, say, 1 day in another job in say mid-August? Then I would have worked up until 8 weeks before my EDD and not ever had a break of more than 8 weeks. I may be able to do something for my FIL's business for a day. Would this count? It sounds wrong, but I am not sure what else I can do at this stage?
.

the work can be made up from more than one employer, there is just more paperwork. it is probably worth checking out if your FIL has work for you.