The Fair Work Commission has rejected a Whitehaven Coal data specialist's bid to extend her maternity leave by a further six months, ruling instead that she must return to her job in September. Jessica Donnelly, who works remotely for the mining giant's Brisbane operations centre, had argued that the six months' paid leave the company gave her should sit separately from Australia's standard 12-month unpaid parental leave entitlement, effectively giving her 18 months off. The ruling matters because it clarifies how paid and unpaid parental leave interact under the Fair Work Act, and highlights the tension between statutory leave rights and employers' operational needs.

Commissioner Paula Spencer found that Ms Donnelly's paid and unpaid leave ran concurrently, meaning she was only entitled to 12 months off in total, and that Whitehaven had reasonable business grounds to refuse a longer absence given pressure on her team and plans to expand data analytics coverage to more mines. Ms Donnelly, who earns $187,000 using specialist software skills, said she was struggling to secure childcare despite being on waiting lists since her child's birth, while Whitehaven said hiring a temporary contractor would be impractical and could cost more than $200,000 in onboarding. As a compromise, she was granted an extra six weeks' leave to bridge the gap until a childcare place becomes available, and she is due back at work on 14 September.