Employees, including regular casuals, can take parental leave if they have or will have at least 12 months of continuous service with their employer.

The employee's continuous service is calculated up to the expected date of birth for:

• birth related leave starting before the birth of the child 
• unpaid special parental leave.

For other types of leave, continuous service is calculated up to the date the leave starts. 

Regular casuals are casuals who have been employed on a regular and systematic basis.

The rules about continuous service apply in the same way to employees taking:

• continuous unpaid parental leave
• flexible unpaid parental leave.

See Entitlements while pregnant and Parental leave for more information.

What isn't counted as continuous service to take parental leave?

Service is the total amount of time that an employee has worked for their employer. Continuous service is an unbroken period of service.

Both paid and unpaid leave periods are counted as service if the leave has been approved by the employer.

Unapproved absences, like industrial action, aren’t counted as service. However, they won’t break an employee’s period of continuous service.

Casual service

If a casual has converted to part-time or full-time employment under the National Employment Standards, the time they worked as a regular casual still counts as part of their continuous service for parental leave.

Periods worked as a casual that weren’t regular aren’t counted as part of continuous service.

See Becoming a permanent employee for more information.

Does unpaid parental leave count as continuous service for other entitlements?

Unpaid parental leave is treated in the same way as other unpaid leave when counting continuous service.

Service and continuous service are counted in different ways for different entitlements. See Unpaid leave for details.