- Who Must Comply With Maternity and Parental Leave Laws
- Grant Up to 12 Months of Unpaid Parental Leave
- Process Notice, Evidence and Leave Extensions on Time
- Keep Pregnant Employees Safe at Work
- Honour the Return-to-Work Guarantee
- Offer Keeping in Touch Days (Voluntarily)
- Coordinate Government Paid Parental Leave
- Avoid Discrimination and Adverse Action
- The Cost of Getting It Wrong
- Compliance Checklist for Your Business
- When a Lawyer Should Be Involved
- Start With Your Response Calendar
The moment an employee tells you she is pregnant, a set of legal obligations switches on. Some of them have hard deadlines measured in days, some turn on medical evidence, and a few carry penalties that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars if you get them wrong. Most Queensland employers know parental leave exists; far fewer know exactly what they must do, by when, and to what standard.
This guide sets out the employer obligations that attach to pregnancy, maternity and parental leave: who the law applies to, each duty with its trigger and deadline, what non-compliance costs, and the practical steps you can take this week.
Who Must Comply With Maternity and Parental Leave Laws
Which system covers you depends on who employs you and where the employee sits:
- Private sector employers: Most Queensland private sector employers and employees sit inside the national Fair Work system. The National Employment Standards (NES) in Part 2-2 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) set the minimum entitlements for unpaid parental leave, pregnancy safety, flexible work requests and return to work.
- State and local government employers: Queensland state and local government employees are generally covered by the Queensland industrial relations system rather than the national system. Their entitlements are sourced from state instruments such as the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) and any applicable enterprise agreements, so check the specific instrument covering your workforce.
- Everyone, on discrimination: Anti-discrimination law applies across the board. The general protections in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and, in Queensland, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) protect employees from discrimination because of pregnancy, breastfeeding, parental status and family responsibilities.
The eligibility threshold most employers need to know: an employee other than a casual must have completed, or will complete, at least 12 months of continuous service with you immediately before the expected date of birth to qualify for parental leave (s 67 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)). Regular casual employees qualify after 12 months of employment on a regular and systematic basis. Employees below that threshold still keep their anti-discrimination and work health and safety protections.
Grant Up to 12 Months of Unpaid Parental Leave
An eligible employee is entitled to up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave (the available parental leave period under s 75 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)). The leave must be taken as a single continuous period (s 71), although it can start up to six weeks before the expected date of birth, or earlier by agreement, and must be taken within the 24 months after the birth. Since 2023, parental leave can also be taken flexibly in separate agreed periods within that 24-month window, which suits parents easing back part-time.
The NES only mandates unpaid leave. You are not required to pay wages during parental leave unless a contract, award, enterprise agreement or workplace policy promises paid leave.
Process Notice, Evidence and Leave Extensions on Time
The notice rules protect you as much as the employee, because they give you certainty about staffing. An employee must give you written notice at least 10 weeks before starting leave, stating the intended start and end dates, and must confirm those dates in writing at least four weeks before the leave is due to start (s 74 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)). You may ask for evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person, such as a medical certificate stating the expected date of birth.
Two response deadlines trip employers up:
- Extension requests: An employee who will take the full 12 months can ask in writing, at least four weeks before the end of the available leave period, to extend by up to a further 12 months (s 76). You must respond in writing within 21 days (s 76A). You can refuse only after discussing the request and genuinely trying to reach agreement, and only on reasonable business grounds, which you must explain in writing. Leave cannot extend beyond 24 months after the birth or placement in any case (s 76(7)).
- Flexible working requests: An employee who is a parent of a child of school age or younger, or who is pregnant, can request changes to hours, patterns or location of work (s 65). You must give a written response within 21 days (s 65A). Refusal is lawful only if you have discussed the request, genuinely tried to reach agreement, and have reasonable business grounds that you set out in the response.
If you miss a 21-day deadline, you have not necessarily lost the right to refuse, but a late or silent response makes later refusal much harder to defend and looks poor if the dispute reaches the Fair Work Commission.
Keep Pregnant Employees Safe at Work
Pregnancy safety has two legal layers. First, if a pregnant employee gives you evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person that she is fit for work but should not continue in her present position because of pregnancy-related illness, risks or hazards, you must transfer her to an appropriate safe job for the risk period, with no other change to her terms and conditions of employment (s 81 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)). An appropriate safe job has the same ordinary hours, or different hours she agrees to.
Second, if no appropriate safe job is available, an employee who is entitled to unpaid parental leave and has complied with the notice and evidence requirements is entitled to paid no safe job leave, paid at her base rate of pay for ordinary hours during the risk period (s 81A). Employees not covered by an award or enterprise agreement may be entitled to unpaid no safe job leave instead (s 82A).
On top of this, your duty as a person conducting a business or undertaking under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires you to assess and control risks, including risks that change through pregnancy such as manual handling, chemical exposure, heat, prolonged standing and shift patterns. Consult the employee, adjust duties or rosters, and record what you did.
Honour the Return-to-Work Guarantee
When unpaid parental leave ends, the employee is entitled to return to the position she held before the leave (s 84 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)). If that position no longer exists, you must offer an available position she is qualified and suited for that is nearest in status and pay to the original role. Before returning, she can also request to take accrued annual leave or long service leave where eligible.
The guarantee bites hardest during restructures. If you reorganise a team while someone is on parental leave and eliminate her role, you cannot simply offer whatever happens to be vacant; the replacement role must be the nearest available in status and pay. Consulting before finalising any restructure that touches a person on parental leave is the difference between a defensible decision and a discrimination claim.
Offer Keeping in Touch Days (Voluntarily)
An employee on parental leave can work for you on up to 10 keeping in touch days during the leave period to stay connected to the workplace, for example to attend training or key meetings (s 79A of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)). Both sides must consent, the work is paid at the employee's normal rate, and it does not break or extend the leave period (s 79B). The days cannot fall within 14 days of the birth if the employee suggested them, or 42 days otherwise.
Keeping in touch days are an option, not an obligation. Never pressure an employee on parental leave to work or to attend events; that pressure can itself become adverse action.
Coordinate Government Paid Parental Leave
Government-funded Paid Parental Leave is separate from the NES and does not come out of your pocket. Under the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth), the scheme provided 22 weeks from 1 July 2024, 24 weeks from 1 July 2025, and reaches 26 weeks (130 days) for children born or adopted from 1 July 2026.
Where your employee is eligible, you may be required to pay the government-funded Parental Leave Pay through your usual payroll, and the government pays you the amount in advance. If you are not the paying employer, Services Australia pays the employee directly. From 1 July 2026, the Australian Taxation Office takes over administration of the scheme and pays a 12% superannuation contribution on Parental Leave Pay for children born or adopted from 1 July 2025.
If you offer your own paid parental leave on top, the rules are a matter for your contract, award, agreement or policy. Decide and document how any top-up interacts with the government scheme, and whether superannuation is paid on employer-funded leave, before the first employee goes on leave.
Avoid Discrimination and Adverse Action
The general protections in Part 3-1 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) make it unlawful to take adverse action against an employee because of pregnancy, or because she has exercised a workplace right such as requesting flexible work or taking parental leave. Adverse action includes dismissing, demoting, reducing hours, or treating an employee unfavourably, and it extends to decisions about hiring, rostering and performance management.
In Queensland, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) separately prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on attributes including pregnancy, breastfeeding, parental status and family responsibilities (s 7), across recruitment, terms, promotion, training and dismissal. Keep records showing decisions were made on documented business criteria, applied consistently.
Sensitive circumstances deserve their own preparation. An employee who suffers a pregnancy-related illness, or whose pregnancy ends after at least 12 weeks' gestation other than by live birth, may be entitled to unpaid special parental leave (s 80 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)), and after a stillbirth, parental leave entitlements may still be taken. Personal or carer's leave and compassionate leave may also be available. Have a process that lets employees take these steps without repeatedly explaining personal details.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
The Fair Work Ombudsman investigates NES breaches, can issue compliance notices requiring underpayments to be calculated and paid, and can take employers to court. Contraventions of the NES are civil remedy provisions with maximum penalties of 60 penalty units for an individual and five times that for a company. With a penalty unit worth $313 since 1 July 2024, that is up to $18,780 per contravention for an individual and $93,900 for a company.
Those figures rise sharply for larger employers. Since February 2024, maximum penalties for NES and other selected contraventions are five times higher for businesses with 15 or more employees, taking a standard contravention to $469,500. A serious contravention, one that is knowing or reckless under s 557A of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), carries up to ten times the standard penalty, reaching $4,695,000 for a larger business. And since 1 January 2025, intentionally underpaying wages or entitlements is a criminal offence that can result in fines or imprisonment.
Separately, an employee can pursue compensation and penalties through adverse action claims in the federal courts, and in Queensland, discrimination complaints can be made to the Queensland Human Rights Commission and heard by QCAT with compensation awards. Legal costs and reputational damage typically dwarf the penalty itself.
Compliance Checklist for Your Business
Work through these steps in order when an employee tells you she is pregnant:
- Calendar the deadlines: As soon as you receive notice of parental leave, record the 10-week notice date, the four-week confirmation date, the expected birth date, and every 21-day response deadline for extension and flexible work requests.
- Confirm entitlements: Check the employee's service history against the 12-month continuous service threshold before confirming the leave.
- Assess pregnancy safety: Run a risk assessment of the employee's duties, and if evidence says the current role is inadvisable, transfer to a safe job or arrange no safe job leave, documenting each step.
- Respond in writing: Grant or refuse extension and flexible work requests within 21 days, with reasons if refusing, after a genuine discussion.
- Plan the return: Identify the pre-leave position, and before any restructure, check how the return-to-work guarantee applies.
- Set up payroll for government PPL: Confirm whether you are the paying employer, and how any employer-funded top-up and superannuation interact with the government scheme.
- Train managers: Give supervisors a one-page guide to entitlements, deadlines, and respectful conversations, including how to handle miscarriage and stillbirth.
When a Lawyer Should Be Involved
A lawyer adds most value at the decision points, not the paperwork. Engage one before you refuse a flexible work or extension request, so the reasonable business grounds are documented in a form that survives scrutiny. Get advice before restructuring a role held by someone on parental leave, and before making changes to contracts or hours on return. A lawyer can also review your parental leave policy, employment contracts and top-up arrangements for consistency with the NES and any award or agreement, and can defend you if the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Commission or a court becomes involved.
Start With Your Response Calendar
Of everything in this guide, the obligations most often missed are the 21-day written response deadlines for extension and flexible work requests, and the requirement to genuinely discuss a request before refusing it. A reasonable business grounds refusal is defensible; a silent, late or unexplained one is not. This week, put a parental leave policy on paper, nominate who owns each deadline, and add the response calendar to your HR system. The employee who announces her pregnancy is not a disruption to manage, but a set of dates and duties to honour.
If you would like help drafting a parental leave policy, reviewing contracts, or responding to a specific request, contact Artificer Legal for a consultation.