Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsEntitlement to unpaid special parental leave
(1) An employee is entitled to a period of unpaid special parental leave if the employee is not fit for work during that period because:
(a) the employee is pregnant and has a pregnancy - related illness; or
(b) all of the following apply:
(i) the employee has been pregnant;
(ii) the pregnancy ends after a period of gestation of at least 12 weeks otherwise than by the birth of a living child;
(iii) the child is not stillborn.
Note 1: Entitlement is also affected by section 67 (which deals with the length of the employee's service).
Note 1A: If the child is stillborn, the employee may be entitled to unpaid parental leave (see section 77A).
Note 2: If an employee has an entitlement to paid personal/carer's leave (see section 96), the employee may take that leave instead of taking unpaid special parental leave under this section.
Notice and evidence
(2) An employee must give the employee's employer notice of the taking of unpaid special parental leave by the employee.
(3) The notice:
(a) must be given to the employer as soon as practicable (which may be a time after the leave has started); and
(b) must advise the employer of the period, or expected period, of the leave.
(4) An employee who has given the employee's employer notice of the taking of unpaid special parental leave must, if required by the employer, give the employer evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person that the leave is taken for a reason specified in subsection (1).
(5) Without limiting subsection (4), an employer may require the evidence referred to in that subsection to be a medical certificate.
(6) An employee is not entitled to take unpaid special parental leave unless the employee complies with subsections (2) to (4).
(7) Subdivision B does not apply to unpaid special parental leave.
Note: Personal information given to an employer under this section may be regulated under the Privacy Act 1988 .