Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987

Payment for parental leave - Entitlement to preterm baby payments

71DB: Additional keeping-in-touch hours for primary carers who receive preterm baby payments

You could also call this:

“Extra work time for parents of premature babies during special payments”

If you receive a preterm baby payment, you can do some paid work for your employer during the time you get this payment. This is called the payment period. You can work up to 3 hours for each week in the payment period. For example, if your payment period is 4 weeks, you can work up to 12 hours. You can work on any day during this time if both you and your employer agree.

These work hours are extra and don’t count towards the other work hours you’re allowed during parental leave. Even if you do this work, it doesn’t mean you’ve officially returned to work.

If you work more hours than you’re allowed during the payment period, some things will happen. You’ll be treated as if you’ve gone back to work on the day after you worked too many hours. You’ll have to pay back any preterm baby payments you got after working too many hours. But don’t worry, you’ll still get your regular parental leave payment.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6810663.

Previous

71DA: Entitlement to preterm baby payment, or

“Extra money for parents of babies born early”

Next

71E: Entitlement may be transferred to spouse or partner, or

“You can share your parental leave money with your husband, wife, or partner”

Part 7A Payment for parental leave
Entitlement to preterm baby payments

71DBAdditional keeping-in-touch hours for primary carers who receive preterm baby payments

  1. An employee who receives a preterm baby payment may, during the period in relation to which the employee receives that payment (the payment period), perform paid work for his or her employer as follows:

  2. the employee may work up to a total of 3 hours multiplied by the number of weeks in the payment period (the permitted number of hours):
    1. the employee may work on any day in the payment period, if both the employee and the employer consent to the employee working on that day.

      1. The permitted number of hours of paid work under this section is in addition to the number of hours of paid work permitted under section 71CE(1).

      2. An employee is not to be treated as having returned to work because the employee performs up to the permitted number of hours of paid work for the employer.

      3. If an employee performs more than the permitted number of hours of paid work for the employer during the payment period:

      4. the employee is treated as having returned to work on the day after the date on which the permitted number of hours is exceeded; and
        1. all preterm baby payments received by the employee in respect of a period after the date on which the permitted number of hours is exceeded are recoverable under section 71X as an overpayment; but
          1. the employee’s entitlement to a parental leave payment under this Part is not affected.

            Notes
            • Section 71DB: inserted, on , by section 58 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 8).