Partner's leave

Who is a partner?

A spouse or partner is defined as someone, of any gender, who is in a relationship with the primary carer of a child under the age of 6 years. They must be either married, in a civil union or de facto relationship. They do not have to be the biological parent of the child.

De facto relationships - Ministry of Justice(external link)

What employees are entitled to?

The amount of an employee can take depends on how long they've been working for their employer. If they’ve worked for the same employer continuously for at least an average of 10 hours a week for:

• 6 months immediately preceding the expected delivery or assumption of care for the child, they can take 1 week of unpaid partner’s leave.
• 12 months immediately preceding the expected delivery or assumption of care for the child, they can take 2 weeks of unpaid partner’s leave.

An employee cannot take partner’s leave if:

• they’re the biological mother of the child and have transferred their parental leave payment entitlements to their spouse or partner
• they’re the partner or spouse of the child’s biological mother and she has already transferred her parental leave payment to them – as they’ll be taking primary responsibility for the child’s day-to-day care.

Parental Leave and Payment Eligibility table [PDF, 1013 KB]

When can an employee take partner’s leave?

An employee needs to take their partner’s leave around the time the child comes into their care. They can start their leave any time in the 21 days before the baby’s due date, or the date their partner or spouse is due to become the primary carer for a child under 6 years.

However, if the employee and their employer agree, they can start their partner’s leave at any time.

Requesting parental leave

When an employee’s partner’s leave ends

The latest an employee can finish taking partner’s leave is 21 days after:

• the baby is born — unless the baby is discharged from a hospital more than 21 days after the birth, in which case the last day they can use partner’s leave would be on the day the child is discharged
• the date their partner or spouse becomes the primary carer for the child.