71CEKeeping-in-touch days

1. An employee is not to be treated as having returned to work because he or she performs 64 hours or fewer of paid work for his or her employer during the employee’s parental leave payment period, if that work is performed on keeping-in-touch days in accordance with subsection (2).

2. An employee may perform 1 or more hours of paid work for his or her employer on a keeping-in-touch day if—

3. both the employee and the employer consent to the employee performing work for the employer on that day; and
4. the day is not within 28 days after the date on which the child in respect of whom the employee took parental leave was born.

5. An employee is treated as having returned to work, and all parental leave payments received by the employee in respect of a period after the date on which the employee is treated as having returned to work are recoverable under section 71X as an overpayment, if the employee—

6. performs paid work for his or her employer within 28 days after the date of birth of the child; or
7. performs more than a total of 64 hours of paid work for his or her employer during a period of paid parental leave.

8. Subsections (2)(b) and (3)(a) do not apply to an employee if the parental leave payment the employee receives is in respect of a child born before the end of the 36th week of gestation.

Notes

• Section 71CE: inserted, on 1 April 2016, by section 57 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).
• Section 71CE(1): amended, on 1 July 2020, by section 23 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 45).
• Section 71CE(3)(b): amended, on 1 July 2020, by section 23 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 45).
• Section 71CE(3)(b): amended, on 1 June 2017, by section 8 of the Regulatory Systems (Workplace Relations) Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 13).