How do self-employed partners or fathers apply for paid parental leave?
Who can apply?
To receive paid parental leave, eligible self-employed parents need to be on leave from their business. If you and your partner have decided to share paid parental leave, you are required to stop work while you receive payments.
How do I apply for paid parental leave to be transferred to me?
The application process has four steps:
- The mother or primary caregivers (in the case of joint adoption) applying for paid parental leave needs to fill in the application form. This is IR880 [external link] for employees, or IR888 [external link] for self-employed applicants. If the mother or primary caregiver is an employee, her employer will need to fill in the employer section of the form.
- The applicant and their eligible partner must fill in the “Paid parental leave transfer to a self-employed person” form IR889 [external link], to transfer part or all of the mother’s entitlement to her partner.
It is important to carefully consider how much leave is to be transferred and when you are going to take your leave, because it is not easy to change your dates once you have applied.
All application forms are available on the Department of Labour website. - Your completed form needs to be accompanied by either:
- A statement and declaration by a Chartered Accountant, or
- A declaration made by you, in accordance with the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957. Both declarations are included in the self-employed application form available from the Department of Labour.
- To complete the process, the following documents must be attached and sent to Inland Revenue:
Evidence of pregnancy
A medical certificate (or a copy) stating that the mother is pregnant and the expected date of delivery
Evidence of adoption
- A letter from a social worker saying you are keeping (or will be keeping) a child in your home with a view to adoption
- A certified copy of an interim order of a court under Section 6(1)(b) of the Adoption Act 1955
- A copy of a statutory declaration to the effect that you have assumed the care of a child who you plan to adopt either on your own, or jointly with your spouse or partner.
Once your application has been processed, Inland Revenue will send you notification of whether or not you are entitled to paid parental leave, how much you will receive and when you will receive your payments
