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Section : Can an employee extend their unpaid parental leave?
Domain : Human Resource Management
Classification : Not Identified
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An employee taking 12 months parental leave can request an extension of up to a further 12 months leave (up to 24 months in total). The request must be in writing and given to the employer at least 4 weeks before the end of the employee's initial period of parental leave. The employer must respond in writing within 21 days, stating whether they grant or refuse the request. They can only refuse if:
- they've discussed and genuinely tried to reach an agreement with the employee about an extension
- they've considered the consequences for the employee of refusing the extension, and
- there are reasonable business grounds to do so. Fair Work Infoline: 13 13 94 'Reasonable business grounds' may include:
- the requested extension would be too costly
- other employees' working arrangements can't be changed to accommodate the request
- it's impractical to change other employees' working arrangements or hire new employees to accommodate the request
- the extension would result in a significant loss of productivity or have a significant negative impact on customer service. If an employer refuses a request, the written response to the employee must: