Parental Leave

A common enquiry to the GPSA office is, ‘how do I know if I need to pay parental leave?’

Under the NTCER, Clause 6.5 a GP registrar is entitled to unpaid parental leave. Parental leave pay is a Department of Human Services scheme for parents of newborn babies or recently adopted children. Though there is no provision for paid maternity or paternity leave under the NTCER your GP registrar may choose to avail of this commonwealth government support program.

The Department of Human Services website says;

As an employer, you must provide Parental Leave Pay to an eligible employee who:

• has a newborn or recently adopted child
• has worked for you for at least 12 months before the expected date of birth or adoption
• will be your employee until at least the end of their Paid Parental Leave period
• is Australian based, and
• is expected to receive at least eight weeks of Parental Leave Pay

If your GP registrar meets this criteria then they must apply to the scheme and be approved. Approved applications will result in the commonwealth’s minimum wage payment being received by the employer from human services and then paid to the employee.

If your GP registrar does not meet all of the criteria they can still contact Centerlink and may be eligible for assistance directly through Centrelink.

Other useful links for employees and employers;

Fair Work Australia Ombudsman definition of parental leave, eligibility, resolution of workplace issues

Supporting Working Parents website

Department of Human Services – employers role

Department of Human Services – eligibility