Dyson Ruth: Parental Leave and Employment Protection mendment Bill — Second Reading 
Dyson Ruth: Parental Leave and Employment Protection mendment Bill — Second Reading 
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Hon RUTH DYSON (Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment (CYF)) 
: 
 I move  
That the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. The bill furthers a number of the Government’s objectives to support working parents on the birth or adoption of a child. This includes ensuring that the paid parental leave scheme is accessible to a wider number of employees encouraging female workforce attachment supporting families with leave and job protection supporting the health and well-being of new mothers and babies and improving New Zealand’s compliance with international human rights instruments that provide rights to paid maternity leave. 
The bill contains three key changes to the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act. First it provides new entitlements for employees not currently eligible for parental leave entitlements under the principal Act on the birth or adoption of a child. Currently an employee must be employed with the same employer for at least an average of 10 hours a week during the immediately preceding 12 months to be entitled to maternity leave and parental leave. The bill provides that employees with between 6 months’ and 12 months’ service with the same employer for an average of 10 hours per week will be eligible for paid parental leave for 13 weeks from 1 December this year to be extended to 14 weeks from 1 December next year. 
 Secondly the bill extends the duration of parental leave payments. Currently they are for 12 weeks and as I mentioned from 1 December this year will go to 13 weeks with an additional week from 1 December next year. Thirdly the bill provides a new entitlement to 1 week’s unpaid paternity leave for partners who have between 6 and 12 months’ service with the same employer. The bill also provides that employees may transfer their entitlement to parental leave payments to their spouse or partner. If that happens the bill provides that the spouse has extended partner’s paternity leave for the period of payment in those circumstances. 
The bill returns to the House with a relatively small number of technical amendments that relate to the commencement of the legislation. Amendments to the commencement provide that the Act comes into force on its assent in relation to a small range of circumstances. This relates to a small group of employees who may have an expected date of delivery on or after 1 December 2004 but their child is born early and therefore need to be able to access their entitlement to leave early or need to access associated entitlements such as 10 days’ special leave for reasons associated with pregnancy or need to apply for parental leave payments before 1 December 2004. Similar issues have also arisen in relation to the commencement of the extension to the duration of paid parental leave from 13 to 14 weeks from 1 December next year and have been addressed by technical amendments to that part of the bill. 
Most submissions generally supported the bill suggesting that the move to include a wider range of employees is positive. However a number suggested in particular that coverage should be extended to include self-employed women and also those in part-time work of fewer than 10 hours a week or short-term workers who have fixed-term jobs or are not in continuous employment for 6 months or more before giving birth. 
Our Government introduced paid parental leave in 2002 and thousands of working families have benefited with leave and a period of payment on the birth or adoption of a child. We are conscious though that some people such as self-employed people still miss out under this bill. The feasibility of extending paid parental leave to the self-employed is currently being considered. I consider this a high priority and I am committed to progressing this issue in the future as far as practicable. 
I have already released a Supplementary Order Paper setting out further amendments that I intend to move at the Committee stage. This includes an amendment to recognise that in order to complete their training junior doctors are required to work for more than one district health board. The amendment provides that junior doctors’ employment on rotation with more than one district health board be considered continuous employment for the purposes of parental leave entitlements. 
This bill supports employers by providing them with access to support to keep a staff member when they have a baby. The bill strikes an appropriate balance by enhancing this opportunity for employers through the provision of taxpayer-funded payments and providing leave to those with between 6 and 12 months’ employment. The changes contained in this bill will be reviewed 1 year from implementation. In the meantime I welcome the select committee’s report and thank all of those who took the time to make submissions.