Clause 16

This section applies where a parent (called in this section P) of a relevant child —

is concurrently employed by 2 or more employers; or

is both an employee (whether employed by one employer, or by 2 or more employers) and a self‑employed person,at any time during P’s entitlement period in relation to the confinement in respect of the child or application to adopt the child.(2) Where P is concurrently employed by 2 or more employers at any time during P’s entitlement period, P may consume P’s entitlement in relation to the same confinement or application to adopt the child (as the case may be) during P’s employment with every employer.IllustrationP is concurrently employed by 2 employers (called Employer A and Employer B, respectively). P has an entitlement to paid maternity leave for a total of 16 weeks under section 9(1) in respect of a relevant child. P may therefore claim 16 weeks of paid maternity leave from Employer A, and also claim 16 weeks of paid maternity leave from Employer B, in respect of the same child.(3) Despite anything in this Act, the modified reimbursement limits mentioned in subsection (4) apply to all of the following claims in relation to P for the same confinement or application to adopt the child, even if P becomes employed only by one employer at any other time during P’s entitlement period:

all claims by P’s employer (if only one), or all claims by all of P’s employers (if more than one), for reimbursement from the Government in respect of any of the following types of payments made by the employer or employers (as the case may be) to P:

any payment that P is entitled to receive from an employer of P during P’s entitlement period in respect of that same confinement or application to adopt the child;

any payment made to P by an employer, where P is a specified employee during P’s employment with that employer;

all claims by P as a self‑employed person in respect of P’s entitlement for payment from the Government for any income lost by reason of any cessation of active engagement in P’s trade, business, profession or vocation in relation to the same confinement or application to adopt the child, as the case may be.(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the modified reimbursement limits are the single employer reimbursement limits modified in the following manner:

the single employer reimbursement limits are to be treated as the limits, in relation to the same confinement or application to adopt a child, on the aggregate amounts of —

reimbursement that the Government may make to P’s employer or all of P’s employers, as the case may be; and

payments that the Government may make to P as a self‑employed person;

the single employer reimbursement limits as modified by paragraph (a) are subject to any apportionment of the amounts of any reimbursement or payment, or the priority between any claims (or both), as provided in any regulations made under section 20.(5) Where P is employed by more than one employer, sections 9(6), (6A) and (6B), 9A(5A) and (6), 12A, 12DC and 12HA (called any relevant provision) apply with the modification that the reference to any employer or employment of P in any relevant provision includes a reference to all of P’s employers or P’s employment with all of P’s employers, as the case may be.(6) Despite anything in this Act, the Government may do the following after an employer of P (called in this subsection E) submits a claim mentioned in subsection (3)(a) and the Government is in possession of any information that P is employed by more than one employer:

refuse to reimburse E the full amount of E’s claim, so that E and any other employer or employers of P may be reimbursed to the extent described in paragraph (b) for claims that have been or may be submitted by them;

reimburse P’s employers in accordance with any apportionment of the amounts of any reimbursement, or the priority between any claims (or both), as mentioned in subsection (4)(b).(7) Despite anything in this Act, the Government may refuse to pay P (in full or in part) for any income lost by reason of P’s cessation of active engagement in P’s trade, business, profession or vocation in respect of the same confinement or application to adopt the child, if the Government has already reimbursed the employer or employers of P to the extent described in subsection (4)(a) and (b) in relation to that same confinement or application to adopt the child, as the case may be.(8) Despite anything in this Act, where any amount has been paid by an employer to P in accordance with the single employer payment limits applicable to P’s entitlement, but the Government has refused under subsection (6) to reimburse the employer for that amount —

the employer may recover that amount directly from the employee; and

the recovery of that amount by the employer is not to be treated as a contravention of the requirement for the employer to pay P at P’s gross rate of pay under section 9(1), (1A) or (1B), 12AA(4), 12DA(2)(b) or 12H(2), as the case may be.(9) In this section —“entitlement”, in relation to P, excludes any entitlement of P under section 12B or 12D;“entitlement period”, in relation to P’s entitlement, means the total period (whether expressed as one period or an aggregate duration of several periods) of P’s entitlement;“relevant child” means a child —

whose mother’s confinement in respect of the child occurs on or after 1 April 2025; or

in respect of whom the eligibility date of the application to adopt the child is on or after 1 April 2025;“single employer payment limits”, in relation to any payment that P is entitled to receive from an employer, means —

in relation to any entitlement to payment or paid maternity leave under section 9(1), (1A) or (1B) — the limits specified in section 9A(4);

in relation to any entitlement to paid adoption leave under section 12AA — the limits specified in section 12AA(5);

in relation to any entitlement to paid shared parental leave under section 12DA — the limits specified in section 12DB(1); or

in relation to any entitlement to paid paternity leave under section 12H — the limits specified in section 12I(3);“single employer reimbursement limits”, in relation to any claim by an employer for reimbursement from the Government for any payment made to P, means —

in relation to any claim under section 10(1) or any claim in respect of any payment mentioned in section 10(2A) — the limits specified in section 10(2);

in relation to any claim under section 12AD(1) or any claim in respect of any payment mentioned in section 12AD(3) — the limits specified in section 12AD(2);

in relation to any claim under section 12DB(4) or any claim in respect of any payment mentioned in section 12DB(6) — the limits specified in section 12DB(5); or

in relation to any claim under section 12J(1) or any claim in respect of any payment mentioned in section 12J(3) — the limits specified in section 12J(2);“specified employee” means an employee for whom the requirements of section 10(2B), 12AD(4), 12DB(7) or 12J(4) are satisfied.Paid leave to be treated as taken in certain sequence12MB.—

Where an employee is entitled to be absent from work under section 9, 12AA or 12H (whichever is applicable), and under section 12DA, in relation to an April 2025 Scheme child, the employee is treated as consuming the employee’s entitlements in the following sequence, even if the employee does not do so:

first, by consuming —

for a natural mother of the child — the employee’s entitlement to the total period of paid maternity leave under section 9;

for an adoptive mother of the child — the employee’s entitlement to the total period of paid adoption leave under section 12AA; or

for a natural father or an adoptive father of the child — the employee’s entitlement to the total period of paid paternity leave under section 12H;

second, by consuming the employee’s entitlement to paid shared parental leave under section 12DA, as if the paid shared parental leave was taken after the total period of paid leave under section 9, 12AA or 12H (as the case may be) was taken.(2) Any claim, payment or reimbursement in relation to any entitlement mentioned in subsection (1) may be made as if the sequence mentioned in that subsection applies to that claim, payment or reimbursement, as the case may be.(3) In this section, “total period”, in relation to any entitlement to paid leave, means the total period of paid leave whether expressed as one period or the aggregate duration of several periods.”.