Public consultation on health and safety also underway to identify further areas of improvement
A bill aimed at improving paid parental leave settings and offering greater flexibility for non-biological parents has successfully passed its first reading in Parliament.
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden introduced the Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3).
“[This bill] includes a change that will help people who have taken on the care of a child unexpectedly,” stated Minister van Velden in a statement.
‘Small, technical change’ to parental leave with ‘huge impact’
Under current regulations, individuals must cease working to access parental leave payments when they become primary caregivers. This bill aims to rectify that, she said.
Van Velden cited a case to illustrate the need for the amendment: “For example, a man and his partner were informally looking after a child and when final parenting orders were made, he resigned from his job to be the primary carer for the child and gave his six weeks’ notice.
“This man was declined parental leave payments because he did not take parental leave, or stop working, from the date he became the child’s primary carer.”
The proposed change is expected to alleviate unnecessary stress for individuals in similar situations, said van Velden.
“This is a small, technical change that will make a huge impact on affected Kiwi families and diverse parenting arrangements, eg. caring for extended family,” she said. “This change can be made now to improve the scheme and remove unnecessary and unintended stress for people who find themselves in this situation.”
A majority of employers across New Zealand are going above statutory entitlements when it comes to paid parental leave, but the country still lags compared to other developed nations.
Amendments to health and safety laws
In addition to parental leave modifications, the bill introduces several amendments to health and safety laws, aimed at addressing existing issues, clarifying provisions, and ensuring regulations are fit for purpose.
Van Velden emphasized the importance of these adjustments: “I want to make sure businesses and organisations are focused on addressing the things that cause harm to workers. They should not be caught up in unnecessary steps or trying to interpret and navigate complex or perplexing health and safety rules and regulations.”
A public consultation on health and safety is also underway to identify further areas of improvement. Meanwhile, the bill seeks to simplify existing legislative provisions to ensure efficient regulatory systems.
“Collectively, these small changes will make it easier for Kiwi families to understand the law and comply with government requirements,” she said.
The maximum rate for paid parental leave in New Zealand will go up to $754.87 per week starting in July, the government has announced.
Additional health and safety reforms
The bill also proposes key health and safety changes, particularly for high-risk industries such as mining, chemicals, and petroleum. It mandates that failures in safety-critical equipment or processes must be reported to WorkSafe, even if no one was directly exposed to danger. This aims to ensure timely notifications of potential hazards.
Furthermore, the bill seeks to reduce delays in enforcement actions. It stipulates that regulators need only make reasonable efforts to determine if any enforcement action is being taken by a relevant agency, rather than contacting over 100 entities. This measure is intended to minimize unjustified delays before parties receive notice from WorkSafe about enforcement actions or private prosecutions.
Another provision in the bill aims to improve the customer experience for ACC CoverPlus Extra customers by allowing them to receive all their annual levies in a single invoice. This change is expected to enhance administrative efficiency and the equity of levy collection.