Maternity and parental leave in New Zealand

What the official source confirms

Employment New Zealand's parental leave page sets out these points:

• There are 4 main types of parental leave: primary carer leave, partner's leave, extended leave and negotiated carer leave.
• It applies to employees who are having a baby or becoming the primary carer of a child under 6, and who meet the work requirements.
• The leave from the job is unpaid.
• Employees may be able to get parental leave payments from the government.

Who pays: the government, not the employer

For a US employer this is the key point. You do not run parental leave pay through payroll as salary: the payments come from the government. Your costs are the absence itself, any top-up you choose to offer and the cost of cover. Agree in writing how and when the employee will confirm a return date.

Pregnancy leave and partner's leave

For a pregnant employee, the relevant type is primary carer leave; her partner may take partner's leave. Both sit inside the unpaid-leave framework above and both depend on meeting the work requirements, which the page we read does not spell out, so we have not quoted lengths. Check eligibility on Employment New Zealand's subpages for each type before the employee's notice date.

Sick leave: 10 days a year

Eligible employees get 10 days of paid sick leave each year, to care for themselves, their partners or their dependants (Employment New Zealand). The employer pays it. The qualifying period, the carry-over limit and the pay rate were not on the page we read, so we do not state them. Changes to the Holidays Act have been discussed; we did not check their status.

Holidays and employer costs

Annual holidays are 4 weeks after 12 months of continuous employment (20 days on a five-day week), and there are 12 public holidays: 11 national plus 1 regional anniversary day. Our cost data shows no employer social security tax. Employer KiwiSaver contributions are 3.5% for members from April 1, 2026, according to accounting firm Moore Markhams (a secondary source), and an ACC work levy by industry comes on top. The ILO's EPLex profile (also secondary) shows no statutory notice period or redundancy pay: both depend on the employment agreement. See the New Zealand employer guide, the NZ minimum wage page and pay levels in New Zealand.

Parental leave for a NZ hire through an EOR

An EOR employs the person in New Zealand, records the leave, stops salary while government payments run and pays the 10 sick days through payroll. Ask it to confirm the current parental leave payment rate and the employee's eligibility in writing, since those are the figures we could not check this month.

Listed EOR fees run from $99 (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster) per employee per month (see the cost index); Deel lists $599. Prices checked October 16, 2026. Compare in our EOR rankings, or see how Japan pays leave from social insurance.