Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirms paid parental leave increased to 26 weeks by 2020

NZ Herald 6 November 2017
Jacinda Ardern says increasing paid parental leave to 26 weeks could mean new parents are more likely to return to the same employer.

Cabinet today approved the policy to increase paid parental leave to 22 weeks by July 1, 2018, and 26 weeks by July 1, 2020.

Paid parental leave is currently at 18 weeks. The Government will meet the cost of increasing it and estimates it will have a net cost of $325m over four years.

Prime Minister Ardern said finding someone to replace staff for longer could prove tougher for some businesses, however it could also make it easier to find temporary replacements.

And workers could be more likely to return after a longer leave period, Ardern said.

“I hope by setting out the timeline that we have, [businesses] will be able to plan for that.

“I also hope that overall…they may perhaps be more likely to see their employee return to work because they have had a decent amount of paid parental leave.”
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