New CTH Bill to Improve Unpaid Parental Leave Entitlements for Parents of Stillborn Babies

On 3 September, the Fair Work Amendment (Improving Unpaid Parental Leave for Parents of Stillborn Babies and Other Measures) Bill 2020 (Cth) (‘the Bill’) was introduced to the House of Representatives.

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) in order to ensure that parents whose children are hospitalised, stillborn or pass away within the first 24 months of life are provided equal opportunity and flexibility to claim unpaid parental leave (‘UPL’) as parents whose children are born healthy. In his Second Reading Speech, Attorney-General Christian Porter referred to the unprecedented and dramatic changes parents have had to make in combining work and care due to the impacts of COVID-19. The Bill is informed by the recommendations of the Senate  Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and  Education Report. Furthermore, the Bill is intended to complement the new flexible government-funded Paid Parental Leave scheme administered  by Centrelink under the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010. In his Second Reading Speech the Attorney-General stated:

Amendments about stillbirth, death and hospitalisation of children

The current legislative framework allows employers to recall parents on birth-related UPL due to stillbirth or the death of their child within the first 24 months to return to work with 6 weeks notice. For parents on adoption-related UPL whose child dies in the first 24 months of life, they can be recalled to work with four weeks notice. Furthermore, employers are able to cancel any upcoming planned period of UPL. The Bill proposes to amend National Employment Standards to ensure that UPL entitlements are available in full to parents of stillborn children as it would have been if their baby had lived. Therefore, conditional to the assent of the Bill, the Bill will effectively prevent employers from recalling employees back to work or cancelling planned periods of UPL where the employee has given notice of circumstances of stillbirth or child death.

Secondly, the Bill intends to provide better and clearer access to compassionate leave by clarifying that an employee can take compassionate leave in relation to a stillborn child. Further, in the circumstances where a baby is hospitalised immediately after birth, the Bill enables an employer and employee to make arrangements for the employee to return to work while their baby is in hospital and recommence their UPL when the baby is discharged. The purpose of this provision is to respond to feedback from parents who expressed that the option to ‘pause’ their UPL would enable them to spend more time with their baby at home.

Amendments about flexible unpaid parental leave

Currently, UPL is offered on the condition that it is taken as a single continuous block so that if a parent returns to work, they forfeit any remaining untaken leave. However, as the Attorney-General noted in the Second Reading Speech:

If assented, the Bill will provided increased flexibility by allowing parents to take up to 30 days of their 12-month UPL entitlement flexibly within the first 24 months of the child’s life. The 30 days may be taken as single days, groups of days or a single continuous block.

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products. Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice and does not substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.

Fair Work Amendment (Improving Unpaid Parental Leave for Parents of Stillborn Babies and Other Measures) Bill 2020, second reading speech and explanatory memorandum, available from TimeBase's LawOne service

Media Release: Legislation introduced to improve unpaid parental leave entitlements (Attorney General Christian Porter, 3 September 2020)