Assessing Parental Leave Pay (PPL) claims 007-07030020

For information about claiming, see Initial contact by customers claiming payments for families.

Upon lodgement, see Receipt of claims, forms and documentation for family assistance.

For customers who are overseas or have indicated they will depart overseas within 21 days of making their claim, see Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments for handoff to Families International Claims (FIC) information.

For PPL claims for children born or adopted:

• on or after 1 July 2023, go to Step 2
• before 1 July 2023, go to Step 3

Approval to claim will be required from the Approval Giver for an Approval Seeker to lodge a claim for PPL.

In cases of adoption, if there:

• is one adoptive parent, the adoptive parent will need to provide approval to claim and approval to share PPL days to any other claimant (i.e. partner of adoptive parent)
• are two adoptive parents, the first adoptive parent to claim will need to provide approval to share PPL days to the other adoptive parent, however approval to claim is not required

In exceptional circumstances the PPL claimant will not require approval to claim from the birth mother. However, if they are partnered and their partner wishes to claim PPL, they will need to provide approval to claim and share PPL days (i.e. the grandmother’s partner).

Where an:

• Approval Giver claims PPL they will be able to submit their claim, provided any supporting documentation requested in the claim is provided.
• Approval Seeker claims PPL they will be unable to submit their claim until the Approval Giver:
• actions the Approval task, and
• provides approval for the Approval Seeker to claim PPL and share PPL days

Once the Approval Giver has completed the Approval task, the Approval Seeker will be notified and this will allow them to submit their claim for PPL.

If approval to claim has not been provided by the Approval Giver, and exceptional circumstances do not apply, then the customer has not made an effective claim. See Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

For information about the approval process, viewing and managing Approval Giver and Approval Seeker details, see Paid Parental Leave (PPL) approval to claim and share PPL days

Go to Step 3.

For information on how to check the claim status for an early claim, see Checking the status of an early claim for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

In Process Direct

• Select the Transactions icon
• If the claim is still outstanding, the claim will have a status of ‘In Process’ or ‘On Hold’
• On DL/Notes screen, check the Progress DOC for details of what information was requested

If the customer submitted a pre-birth claim online after their child's expected date of birth/adoption, treat the early claim as a post birth/adoption claim.

Go to Step 4.

PPL is treated as income for customers and/or their partner who are on an income support payments. If an income support payment customer claims a PPL day (or multiple days) in the past, they may incur an overpayment for days they were receiving both of income support payment and PPL.

For PPL claims for children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023, PPL days can be backdated up to 100 days in the past (limited to the date of birth/entry into care). This may result in lump sum arrears and the customer may incur a debt for ISP. Debt offsetting may occur in these cases, see Parental Leave Pay debt raising, debt offsetting and recovery.

Is the customer or their partner currently receiving an of income support payment?

• Yes:
• one outbound contact attempt must be made to discuss the potential payment impacts claiming PPL will have on their and/or their partner's income support payment. The customer may choose the days they want to claim PPL
• If the customer is subscribed to Desktop Messaging, send a pre-call notification SMS through Desktop Messaging before calling them. For pre-call messages, allow a lead-in time of 5 minutes in case there is a delay sending the message
• See the Finalise claim table in Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments
• No, go to Step 5

JobKeeper Payments were payable from 30 March 2020 to 28 March 2021 and were paid to employees by the employer.

A customer cannot receive JobKeeper Payment for the same period they are receiving PPL.

For PPL claims for children born or adopted before 1 July 2023, a customer can select a Nominated Start Date (NSD) for their PPL period that is after their JobKeeper Payment period, only where they have not returned to work.

It is the responsibility of PPL customers who are eligible for JobKeeper Payment to advise their employers the start date and end date of their PPL period (not the dates PPL was received) to ensure they are not overpaid JobKeeper Payment.

If a customer currently receiving PPL advises they received JobKeeper Payment for the same period, advise the customer that they:

• are not entitled to receive the payments at the same time, and
• need to advise their employer they are received PPL

Service Officers are not required to contact the customer to discuss PPL entitlement in relation to JobKeeper Payment. JobKeeper Payment does not preclude PPL entitlement, however, PPL does preclude entitlement to JobKeeper Payment for the same period. Customers with queries in relation to JobKeeper Payment entitlement are to be directed to discuss with their employer.

For more information about processing PPL claims, see Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

Note: customers in receipt of JobKeeper Payment during their work test period for PPL can count these hours towards the work test. See Paid Parental Leave scheme Work Test.

The claiming period closed on 28 October 2022.

Customers cannot receive Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment/s if they are receiving PPL on any day during the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment relevant period.

For more information on eligibility for Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, see Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment.

If a customer is claiming PPL and it is identified that their PPL period will overlap with a Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, contact the customer.

If the customer is subscribed to Desktop Messaging, send a pre-call notification SMS through Desktop Messaging before calling them. For pre-call messages, allow a lead-in time of 5 minutes in case there is a delay sending the message.

Tell them to nominate a future PPL period that does not overlap their Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment period/s.

Note: Pandemic Leave Disaster Payments do not count as qualifying work for the PPL work test.

The COVID-19 Disaster Payment helped customers who were unable to work and earn their usual income because of a state public health order for lockdown or restricted movement.

A customer cannot receive a COVID-19 Disaster Payment if they are receiving PPL on any day during the COVID-19 Disaster Payment relevant period.

For more information on eligibility for COVID-19 Disaster Payment, see COVID-19 Disaster Payment.

If a customer is claiming PPL as a primary claimant and it is identified that they are, or have been, receiving a COVID-19 Disaster Payment since the date of birth/adoption of their child, contact them to advise:

• they are not entitled to receive COVID-19 Disaster Payment at the same time as PPL, and
• if they have been on paid or unpaid leave from their employer for any period before or since the birth of their child, they are not entitled to COVID-19 Disaster Payment for any relevant period where their paid or unpaid leave covers every day of that relevant period

If the customer is subscribed to Desktop Messaging, send a pre-call notification SMS through Desktop Messaging before calling them. For pre-call messages, allow a lead-in time of 5 minutes in case there is a delay sending the message.

If, after a discussion with the customer it is determined they were eligible for COVID-19 Disaster Payment before or after the date of birth i.e. they were actually due to work during the relevant periods, but they were unable to due to the restricted movement:

• they could still claim COVID-19 Disaster Payment, and
• nominate a future PPL period that does not overlap any of their eligible COVID-19 Disaster Payment relevant periods

Note: if a customer is eligible for COVID-19 Disaster Payment, receiving the payment will not count as a return to work unless the customer actually returned to work/duties.

Has the customer received, or are they receiving COVID-19 Disaster Payments when they are not eligible?

• Yes,
• If the customer is receiving automatic payments, these will need to stop. Generally, entitlement would stop from either the commencement of any pre-birth leave (paid or unpaid) or the date of birth/adoption of the child, whichever occurs first. See COVID-19 Disaster Payment - automatic payment and change of circumstances
• For customers who have already received COVID-19 Disaster Payment and were not eligible, a debt will need to be investigated
• No, go to Step 8

Note: customers in receipt of COVID-19 Disaster Payment during their work test period for PPL can count these hours towards the work test. See Paid Parental Leave scheme Work Test.

Is the customer providing information or documentation for the PPL claim?

• Yes, if the customer is providing a change to the nominated payment destination, accept details and update by running the Change Payment Destination workflow outside of the new claim activity. Run the workflow in Process Direct. If the I031ZZ warning presents, continue past as this will not inhibit completion of the activity:

• If the customer provides advice of birth registration following rejection reason BNR, see Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• If the customer is overseas or is departing overseas within 21 days of making the claim, add keyword FICREQ and UNASSIGN the claim in Workload Management (WLM) using the reason 'Second Contact Attempt Required'. WLM business rules will redirect the work item to FIC staff who will process the claim. Procedure ends here
• Other documentation, see Receipt of claims, forms and documentation for family assistance
• No, go to Step 9

Is the claim status assessed PPL/ASS?

• Yes:

• Pre-birth claim, go to Step 10
• Post-birth claim, go to Step 11
• No, go to Step 13

If initial eligibility criteria are met pending proof of birth/entry into care/placement, the claim status will finalise as ASSessed PPL/ASS-PCB (Pending proof of birth/entry into care).

For children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023

A person must have care of a child on their PPL days. (Exception: this does not apply: after a child has dies or was stillborn, or if care of the child is lost without legal authority).

Birth mothers do not need to claim PPL first, or at all, in order for the other parent or partner to get PPL. Either parent or their partner can claim PPL first. All claimants must be eligible on their PPL days. A PPL claim can be made by:

• the birth mother
• an adoptive parent of the child
• a parent of the child who is not the birth mother
• the partner of the birth mother
• the partner of an adoptive parent
• the partner of a parent of the child who is not the birth mother
• another person if exceptional circumstances exist, including in cases of surrogacy

Pre-birth/entry claims will be automatically made not effective (NEF) 56 days after the first PPL day nominated.

If the customer is contacting to advise a change in circumstances, see Customer notifies a change of circumstances for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

Upon lodgement of proof of birth, or if the customer has lodged a post birth claim for the same birth event, see Processing proof of a child's birth.

For pre-birth PPL claims, ensure the Tax File Number (TFN) and bank account details have been recorded prior to finalising the claim. If the customer has not provided the TFN and/or bank account details, contact the customer to obtain the information.

Claims have been assessed but are awaiting a start date or further action from the employer will have a claim status of:

• PPL/ASS-ASD:

• For children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023 - first PPL day
• For children born or adopted before 1 July 2023:
  - start date of PPL period
  - date of transfer of primary care, in cases of full transfer to secondary claimant)
• PPL/ASS-AFN if the customer is not eligible for PPL period for a child born before 1 July 2023 and the claim is awaiting nomination of first Flexible PPL day
• PPL/ASS-EIR if the employer registration is still required
• PPL/ASS-EIA if the employer acceptance is still required
• PPL/ASS-ADN if the customer has not yet claimed any PPL days
• PPL/ASS-ADW if all PPL days have been withdrawn
• PPL/ASS-AWP if a claim lodged by an Approval Seeker and the Approval Giver has not yet provided permission to share PPL days to the Approval Seeker

Note: Assessed (ASS) codes ADN, ADW and AWP are post-birth claim codes only. If these actions occur in a pre-birth claim the claim status will remain as ASS-PCB (Pending proof of birth/entry into care).

FTB Part B stopped: to avoid an overpayment FTB Part B while their PPL claim status is PPL/ASS-EIR or PPL/ASS-EIA, the customer will not be paid FTB Part B until the PPL claim is finalised. Once the employer acceptance is recorded, the customer will be granted PPL from the PPL start or will be paid arrears of FTB Part B for this period.

Employers have 14 days to register for the scheme or to accept the determination to provide PPL to the employee. The customer should be encouraged to discuss this with their employer.

If an employer responds to the employer determination and they provide an alternate Australian Business Number (ABN) to the ABN advised by the employee they are, by action, presenting themselves as the nominated employer. See Role of the employer in Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

If a Secretary Initiated review/ACTDOC is on the customer's record from the Paid Parental Leave Employer Processing Team (PPLEPT), advising the employer has informed Services Australia the customer:

• is not known to the employer, or
• does not meet the PPL work test, see Role of the employer in Parental Leave Pay (PPL)

Have 14 days passed?

• Yes, go to Step 12
• No, advise the customer that their employer is still required to take action to accept the employer determination. Encourage the customer to discuss this with their employer. No further action can be taken by PPLEPT until the timeframe has expired. Procedure ends here

If more than 14 days have passed since the claim was finalised as assessed pending employer action (PPL/ASS-EIR or PPL/ASS-EIA), determine whether PPLEPT have commenced the PPL assisted dispute resolution (ADR) process. PPLEPT will DOC the employee’s record when compliance action has commenced. If compliance action has commenced, advise the customer that PPLEPT are following up with their employer to assist and resolve the employer’s outstanding PPL obligations.

Where a Paid Parental Leave MFU is on the AL screen and no DOC has been recorded by PPLEPT to indicate the PPL assisted dispute resolution (ADR) process has been initiated, determine whether a Fast Note to PPLEPT is appropriate. This may be where:

• the customer would like to provide additional information to the PPLEPT (including where the employer has indicated they are unwilling to comply), or
• the customer is experiencing financial hardship and the start date of the employer paid period is in the past, or
• there is no MFU on the employee’s record and the ADR process has not been started

Where a Paid Parental Leave MFU is on the AL screen and/or there is a DOC recorded by PPLEPT to indicate the PPL ADR process has been initiated, determine whether a Fast Note to PPLEPT is appropriate. This may be where:

• the customer would like to provide additional information to the PPLEPT (including where the employer has indicated they are unwilling to comply), or
• the customer is experiencing financial hardship and the start date of the employer paid period is in the past, and it has been more than 21 days since the assisted dispute resolution (ADR) process has been initiated

Does the customer satisfy at least one of the above criteria?

• Yes, send a Fast Note to PPLEPT. Use Fast Note (Service reason PPL - Paid Parental Leave) - select Auto text, use Families > Updates > PPL ASS EIR/EIA Follow up – Hand off to PPLEPT. Select Confirm to create a DOC
  Note: Feedback will be provided to service officers sending an inappropriate Fast Note.
• No, advise the employee that PPLEPT will commence/continue the PPL assisted dispute resolution (ADR) process. Encourage the customer to discuss this with their employer. Procedure ends here

When the Fast Note is received at the PPLEPT, see Assisted dispute resolution for employer determination for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

Procedure ends here.

If the PPL claim benefit status is:

• STA (started), view assessment details, go to Step 15
• CUR (current), go to Step 14
• NEF (not effective), tell the customer the status of their PPL claim and the additional information required to make their claim effective. To re-index the NEF claim, see Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• REJ (rejected). If a PPL claim was rejected, NBS and NBU can be assessed with the customer's FTB. Invite the customer to claim FTB if the customer has not already done so. See Claim choice for a newborn or adopted child

If the customer is advising they have registered or applied to register the birth of their newborn child following a rejection BNR (Birth Not Registered), see Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

Procedure ends here.

In Process Direct

• PPL Claim Summary (P1CS) will display summary details of all PPL claims
• PPL Claim Details (P1CLM) will display claim details
• Parental Leave Pay (PPL) Days (P1FLX) will display:
• For PPL claims for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023 - a summary and calculation of PPL days the customer has been assessed for, or paid for the claim
• For PPL claims for a child born or adopted before 1 July 2023 - Any Flexible PPL days that have been any Flexible PPL days that have been connected to the PPL period

Procedure ends here.

For Smart Centre Processing staff only.

For a pre-birth/entry claim:

• A submitted online claim or a paper claim signed by the customer within the family assistance and PPL allowable early claim period (for children born or adopted before 1 July 2023)
• Expected date of birth and entry into care date
• Nominated start date (for children born or adopted before 1 July 2023)
• Australian residence details - documents may be required
• PPL work test details - evidence to support the PPL work test may be required
• PPL income test details - evidence to support the PPL income test may be required
• Tax File Number (TFN)
• Bank account details
• Their employer's Australian Business Number (ABN). In some instances, employers are not required to have an ABN, for example people who are not in a business and employ household workers, such as nannies, cleaners or gardeners. In these instances, Services Australia will deliver PPL to the employee
• Approval to claim and share PPL days (if required)

For a post-birth/entry claim, additional information required:

• customer's tax file number
• payment destination details (whether or not an employer determination has been made)
• proof of the child's birth (if not already provided)
• Approval to claim and share PPL days (if required and if not already provided)

Is the claim effective?

• Yes, see Step 1 in the Completing the PPL claim assessment table
• No, go to Step 16

For Smart Centre Processing staff only.

Early claim lodged outside of allowable claim period

If a pre-claim is lodged outside the allowable early claim period, see Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

Auto NEF when Proof of Birth is not supplied

Pre-birth claims will be automatically made not effective (NEF) 56 days after:

• for a PPL claim for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023, the expected date of birth or entry into care
• for a PPL claim for a child born or adopted before 1 July 2023, the nominated start date

Auto NEF-PAC (PPL already claimed by customer)

If a customer's PPL has been cancelled CRQ (customer request) before receiving the full entitlement of PPL, they will not be able to reclaim this payment. Any subsequent claims submitted by the customer will automatically NEF-PAC (PPL already claimed by customer).

Note: if the customer has previously requested their initial PPL claim for the child be cancelled CRQ, they cannot appeal this decision. For more information, see Cancellation of Parental Leave Pay (PPL)

Auto NEF-ANV (Approval Giver is not valid)

For PPL claims for children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023.

The Approval Seeker has provided details of an Approval Giver in their PPL claim who is not authorised to provide approval to claim or share PPL days. For example, the Approval Giver is not the birth mother or first adoptive parent of the child.

Auto NEF-ANP (Approval is not provided)

For PPL claims for children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023.

The Approval Giver has not provided approval to claim or share PPL days for an Approval Seeker to claim PPL for a child.

Auto NEF-NPA (Proof of Approval Giver work details have not been provided)

For PPL claims for children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2023.

If a customer contacts to discuss the NEF-NPA outcome, tell them to be eligible for PPL, both the Approval Giver and Approval Seeker must meet the PPL work test where the Approval Giver is the birth mother or first adoptive parent.

If additional information is required

Contact the customer to obtain the information. Issue written request if necessary. If the customer is subscribed to Desktop Messaging, send a pre-call notification SMS through Desktop Messaging before calling them. For pre-call messages, allow a lead-in time of 5 minutes in case there is a delay sending the message.

See Information requests for FTB and PPL claims, and Add Newborn and PPL change of circumstances activities.

If information is not provided as requested, see Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

Once all information required for the claim to be assessed is supplied, see Step 1 in the Completing the PPL claim assessment table.

For more information about using the relevant workflow and general processing information, see the relevant procedure:

• Pre-processing checks for standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave payments
• If PPL status is ASSessed, the following procedures can also be used to finalise the claim:
• Processing proof of a child's birth
• Process claim for Bereavement Payment (FA008)

This procedure can be used to assess PPL eligibility and payability.

Is the customer eligible for PPL?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No:
• PPL will auto-reject in most cases, based on details keyed. If the claim is not auto-rejecting because information within the online claim needs to be updated or corrected, staff workflows can be added to update the information within an online claim. See Social Applications. If appropriate, manually reject
• Use Fast Note to record the claim outcome - Auto text > Families > Claims and select the relevant claim outcome option
• Check entitlement to Newborn Supplement (NBS) and Newborn Upfront Payment (NBU)
• Procedure ends here

If an employer determination is made, the employer is responsible for the delivery of PPL. If the employer cannot do this, it will be delivered by Services Australia.

To view employer delivery details,

In Process Direct

Use the Super Key to go to the PPL Calculation Summary (P1RCS) screen. The PPL days calculation details summary (P1RCE) table will display the Paymaster information (FAO or EMP) for the specific PPL day/s. For more information, see Rate explanation screens for family assistance and Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

In Customer First

• select Workspace > Claim Contacts > Paid Parental Leave claim summary to access the PPL Claim Summary (P1CS) page
• Go to the Paid Parental Leave Employer Notified Details (P1ERD) by placing an ‘N’ next to the claim to view the employer details.

If the customer meets the criteria to have their PPL period delivered by their current employer, and the employer has pre-registered for PPL, an acceptance letter will auto-generate to the employer and the claim will have a status of PPL/ASS-EIA awaiting the employer acceptance.

Is PPL to be delivered by the employer?

• Yes, once acceptance has been received from the employer, the customer's benefit status will be updated to PPL/ASS-PCB (pending proof of birth/entry into care) or PPL/ASS-ASD if the confirmation of birth or entry to care has already been received. The customer's letter will confirm PPL is to be provided by the employer
• No, if PPL cannot be delivered by the employer, the payments will be delivered by Services Australia. Note: requests are received from PPL customers specifying their employer(s) as their requested payer when it has been determined Services Australia will be providing their PPL. Although the customer's employer may not be legally required to provide the customer's PPL, they may elect to do so. Encourage the customer to discuss this option with their employer. The employer must register with Services Australia and opt in to provide PPL before the customer submits their claim

For more information about how PPL is delivered to customers by their employer or Services Australia, see Delivery of Parental Leave Pay (PPL).