‘Keeping in touch’ days help secure benefits despite working after adoption
25 Apr 2025
Share
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) recently dealt with a case where a worker sought review of a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) decision that denied her parental leave payment application under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987.
The worker argued that the date she truly assumed care of the child with intent to adopt should be considered the day she received formal written confirmation from the birth mother, not when she first brought the child home.
She maintained that her circumstances, including her inability to immediately stop work, should be viewed in light of the Act's purpose to support caregivers.
At issue was the interpretation of when parental leave entitlements begin for non-biological parents and whether continuing to work briefly after assuming care disqualifies a person from receiving payments.
The worker had been employed as a caregiver since October 2021. In late 2023, the worker's stepdaughter, who lived in Australia and was pregnant, contacted her about the possibility of the worker and her husband taking care of the child after birth. The stepdaughter planned to travel to New Zealand to give birth.
A week before the child was born, the worker and her husband agreed to take care of the child and started considering adoption. On 7 January 2024, the worker received a...
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has confirmed that a New South Wales man has been convicted and fined after pleading guilty to multiple offences relating to fraudulent claims under the Small-scal...