Parental Leave:
The National Employment Standards (NES) have recently been updated to improve unpaid parental leave for parents, including for parents who experience a stillbirth, the death of an infant, or premature birth.
The key changes are two-fold:
1. Eligible employees can now take up to 30 days of flexible unpaid parental leave in the two years following birth or adoption. Leave can be taken as:
- A single continuous period of one or more days; or
- Separate periods of one or more days each.
** Note that these 30 days are to come out of the employee’s entitlement to 12 months of unpaid parental leave
2. Employees who have experienced the trauma of stillbirths, the death of an infant, and premature births will now have access to improved unpaid parental leave entitlements.
The entitlements are available to full-time, part-time, and casual employees.
Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2:
In the 2019-20 Federal Budget, the government announced that it would expand the data collected through Single Touch Payroll (STP) by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
STP phase 2 reporting requirements will become mandatory when it commences in July 2021.
Back to all country updates