Baby loss and miscarriage support in New Zealand: your rights

New Zealand does two things most countries do not

Two features of New Zealand law after a pregnancy loss are unusual and both are worth knowing before you speak to your employer. Paid bereavement leave specifically covers miscarriage and stillbirth. And the 26 weeks of primary carer leave, and the parental leave payments that go with it, survive a loss rather than being cancelled by it.

Three days of paid bereavement leave

Employment New Zealand states that eligible employees can take paid bereavement leave if someone close to them dies, including for a miscarriage or stillbirth.

The entitlement is a minimum of three days per bereavement where you have a miscarriage or stillbirth. It also applies where another person has a miscarriage or stillbirth and you stand in one of the specified relationships to that person or the pregnancy, so a partner is covered in their own right rather than depending on the pregnant person's claim. For other bereavements the minimum is one day per bereavement, where the employer accepts you have had a bereavement.

Who qualifies

You must have six months' current continuous employment with the same employer, or have worked for the employer for a total of six months meeting the required pattern of hours. Once you meet those criteria, you are entitled to bereavement leave every 12 months. If you stop meeting the criteria because your work changes, you can re-qualify when you next meet the six-month requirement.

How it can be taken

Bereavement leave can be taken at any time and for any purpose relating to the bereavement. It does not have to be taken straight away, and it does not have to be taken on consecutive days. Employment New Zealand's own examples show people taking two days at the time and a third day months later for a memorial. That flexibility matters after a pregnancy loss, when the hardest days are often not the first ones. The leave is paid at relevant daily pay or average daily pay, as applicable.

Your parental leave survives the loss

This is the provision most people do not know about, and it is significant. Employment New Zealand states that if an employee is eligible for primary carer leave and has a miscarriage, or their baby is stillborn or dies, they are still entitled to 26 weeks of parental leave.

It goes further. Where the miscarriage or the death of the baby happens before the employee has applied for primary carer leave, the employee can still apply for primary carer leave. You have not lost the entitlement by not having claimed it yet.

There is also an explicit provision for a pregnancy where the baby will not remain in the employee's care: if you are pregnant or have given birth to a baby who will not remain in your care, you are still entitled to the full 26 weeks of primary carer leave.

The payments continue too

Employment New Zealand is equally clear on the money. If an employee is eligible for primary carer leave and parental leave payments, they stay eligible even if their baby dies before or after birth. Parental leave payments come from Inland Revenue and run for up to 26 weeks.

Put together, that means someone who has a stillbirth at 30 weeks can take 26 weeks of primary carer leave and receive 26 weeks of parental leave payments. Nobody can require you to come back sooner, and the payments are not withdrawn.

Which to use, and when

The two entitlements sit alongside each other rather than competing. Bereavement leave is short, paid at your daily rate, flexible in timing, and available for losses at any stage including early miscarriage. Primary carer leave is long, paid through Inland Revenue, and available where you meet its own eligibility test, which is an average of at least ten hours a week over the six months before the due date or before becoming the primary carer.

For an early miscarriage where primary carer leave eligibility has not been established, bereavement leave and, if you are unwell, sick leave are the usual route. New Zealand employees are entitled to sick leave once they meet the qualifying period, and it can be used for the physical and mental health consequences of a loss.

If you were about to start leave

Timing matters. If you had booked annual holidays around your due date, or had given notice for primary carer leave, talk to your employer and to Inland Revenue rather than letting the arrangements run on unchanged. The entitlements above are available to you, but they have to be claimed, and the paperwork is easier to sort out early.

Where to get support

Your lead maternity carer remains your first point of contact and can refer you on. Hospitals with maternity units generally have social work and bereavement support attached, and can also help with the practical matters, including registration where a stillbirth has occurred. Your GP can refer you for counselling, and national and regional pregnancy loss support organisations operate across New Zealand; your lead maternity carer, GP or hospital social worker can direct you to the ones in your area.

What to do, and in what order

Tell your employer you are taking bereavement leave, and remember you do not have to take all three days at once or immediately. If you were eligible for primary carer leave, tell your employer that the 26 weeks are preserved, and contact Inland Revenue about parental leave payments even if you had not yet applied. Use sick leave if you are not well enough to work. And ask your lead maternity carer or the hospital for a referral to bereavement support.