Parental leave extension requests: what employers actually need to prove

A recent Fair Work Commission decision has employers breathing a small sigh of relief, and parents rightly asking questions. An employee on parental leave asked for six extra months at home because she couldn’t find full-time childcare. Her employer said no. She took it to the Commission. She lost.

It’s the first ruling of its kind on extending unpaid parental leave, and it tells you exactly what you need on file if you’re ever in the same spot.

What was this case actually about?

The employee had used her full 12 months of parental leave and asked for another six, pushing her return date out by half a year. Her reason was genuine: she’d done the legwork on local childcare and could only lock in three days a week, with a fourth day opening up once her daughter turned one.

Her employer refused, on the basis that her role required specialist skills, her team’s workload had nearly tripled while she was away, and bringing in a contractor to cover her would cost well over $180,000 for the six months, on top of a lengthy ramp-up period.

The Commission sided with the employer. Not because childcare struggles don’t matter. Because the employer had done the work to show why the request couldn’t be met, and could back it up with real numbers.

What does the law actually require here?

Employees have a right to request an extension to unpaid parental leave. You have a right to say no, but only on reasonable business grounds, and you need to be able to show your working.

“Reasonable business grounds” isn’t a gut feeling. It’s things like:

• the cost and practicality of covering the role
• how specialised the position is, and how long a replacement would take to get up to speed
• the impact on the rest of the team if the role stays unfilled or under-resourced
• whether the business has already restructured or absorbed extra work to manage the absence

If you can’t point to specifics, a knock-back is just an opinion. And opinions don’t hold up at the Commission.

What did this employer get right?

They didn’t just say no and move on. They quantified the problem. They had figures on contractor costs, onboarding timeframes, and workload increases across the team. They could show the remaining staff were already stretched, with real risk to their wellbeing if the gap ran longer.

That’s the difference between a defensible decision and a risky one. Saying “we need you back” isn’t enough. Showing exactly why, with numbers attached, is what gets you through a dispute.

What should you do if you get one of these requests?

Take it seriously, and take your time to build the case properly.

• Get the real cost of covering the role, not a rough guess
• Work out how long a replacement would actually take to be productive
• Look at what the absence is doing to the rest of the team right now, not hypothetically
• Document all of it before you respond, not after someone challenges the decision
• If there’s a genuine middle ground, like partial return or a phased date, put it on the table

Saying no is sometimes the right call. Saying no with nothing to back it up is how you end up in front of a Commissioner.

FAQs

Can an employee ask for their parental leave to be extended?

Yes. Employees can request an extension to unpaid parental leave, and employers can only refuse on reasonable business grounds.

What counts as “reasonable business grounds” to refuse an extension?

Cost of cover, how specialised the role is, replacement onboarding time, and the impact on the rest of the team are all relevant factors, provided they’re backed by evidence.

Does a lack of childcare guarantee an extension will be approved?

No. Childcare difficulties are a genuine and understandable reason for a request, but the employer’s ability to demonstrate business impact still carries significant weight in how these disputes are decided.

What should employers do before refusing a parental leave extension?

Get the numbers on cover costs, ramp-up time, and current team workload, and document the decision clearly before responding.