Parental Leave Policy Costing Tool

Take the guesswork out of parental leave budgeting

Who is this tool for?

HR professionals

Assess the financial impact of different policy options and align benefits with your budget.

Business owners

Plan for parental leave benefits as part of your annual budgeting.

Executives

Build a compelling business case for parental leave benefits to present to senior leadership or the Board.

Compare multiple scenarios

Evaluate up to three policy options side-by-side.

Built-in, data-driven assumptions

We factor in realistic policy uptake so you can focus on the numbers that matter most.

Instant results

Generate a clear cost estimate in just minutes, helping you make informed decisions with confidence.

The tool includes the option to cost out:
- Paid primary carer leave (sometimes referred to as maternity leave)
- Paid partner leave (sometimes referred to as paternity leave)
- Voluntary employer KiwiSaver contributions
- Paying annual leave at full value
- Enabling employees to work 80% hours but receive 100% of their pay for a period
- Family formation leave for fertility, adoption and surrogacy
- Additional leave for miscarriage, stillbirth, or premature birth
- Extra sick leave upon return to work
- Wellbeing benefits, such as meal plans, baby gifts, and Crayon’s Financial Baby Prep Program
We ask you to provide:
- The total number of employees and gender split
- Average wage/salary per employee
We have built-in assumptions about parental leave policy uptake based on nationwide data. You’re welcome to override this with your own assumptions.
If you have any questions about how the tool works, feel free to reach out to our team at hello@gocrayon.com. We’re happy to help!

The New Zealand Parental Leave Register features over 300 employer-verified parental leave policies.