What happens to other entitlements while on parental leave?
An employee's annual leave and personal leave entitlements do not accumulate while they are on unpaid parental leave. Any leave that an employee has built up prior to taking parental leave, remains credited to them and is available for them to use when they return to work.
Can employees use annual leave or personal leave while on parental leave?
An employee can choose to use some or all of their annual leave in addition to their parental leave. However, employees cannot access personal leave whilst on a period of unpaid parental leave.
Example
Jade requests to take 12 months of unpaid parental leave. She asks her employer Linda, if she can be paid for some of this time off from her accumulated annual leave.
Linda advises Jade that she can take any of her annual leave at any time during her parental leave. Linda and Jade agree that Jade will take 11 months of unpaid parental leave plus 1 month of paid annual leave.