Work requirements for self-employed people

You qualify for parental leave payments if you:

are the primary carer of a child under 6 years old, and

have worked in self-employment for an average of at least 10 hours a week over any 26 of the 52 weeks just before: your baby’s due date (if you or your partner are giving birth to the baby), or the first date you or your partner become primary carer (if you or your partner have not given birth to the baby, for example, you’re adopting a child).

You do not have to be working when you apply for parental leave payments. Your eligibility is based on how much you’ve worked over the 52-week period. As long as you’ve worked enough hours over at least 26 of the 52 weeks, you’ll qualify for payments.

Parental leave payments are only available while you’re not working. However, as a self-employed person, you’ll still get your payments if you do occasional administrative duties, for example, signing off wages, or monthly account reconciliations and GST returns, as long as you’re not working regularly.

Income you receive during a parental leave payment period will not affect your entitlement if:

it was earned before the parental leave payment period started, or

it’s from work done by other people in the business.

You’re considered self-employed if you’ve been doing 1 or more of the following as a self-employed person:

providing goods or services under a contract for services

carrying on a business, including in partnership with another person

working for a trust in a business carried on by the trust.

You can be doing more than 1 type of self-employed work to meet the work requirements, for example, gardening and beekeeping.

Employee or contractor?

You can count time away from work towards the work requirements if you were:

entitled to an ACC payment during that time

on parental leave before the baby’s due date (this does not include any parental leave taken in the last 6 months for a different child)

unable to work for any other reason considered by a Labour Inspector to not disrupt your normal pattern of self-employment.

Accident Compensation Act 2001 – ACC New Zealand (external link)

Work requirements for self-employed people

Official source

You qualify for parental leave payments if you:

are the primary carer of a child under 6 years old, and

Income you receive during a parental leave payment period will not affect your entitlement if:

it was earned before the parental leave payment period started, or

it’s from work done by other people in the business.

You’re considered self-employed if you’ve been doing 1 or more of the following as a self-employed person:

providing goods or services under a contract for services

carrying on a business, including in partnership with another person

working for a trust in a business carried on by the trust.

You can be doing more than 1 type of self-employed work to meet the work requirements, for example, gardening and beekeeping.

Employee or contractor?

You can count time away from work towards the work requirements if you were:

entitled to an ACC payment during that time

on parental leave before the baby’s due date (this does not include any parental leave taken in the last 6 months for a different child)

unable to work for any other reason considered by a Labour Inspector to not disrupt your normal pattern of self-employment.

Accident Compensation Act 2001 – ACC New Zealand (external link)