Can Employers Refuse Keeping In Touch Hours In NZ?

Priya runs a growing skincare brand in Auckland. Her operations manager is on parental leave, and a major supplier change comes up sooner than expected. Priya would love her manager to join two planning calls and review a handover note, but she also doesn't want to risk the employee's paid parental leave payments.

This is where keeping in touch hours can be useful. They let an employee do a small amount of paid work during parental leave without being treated as having returned to work, but only if the rules are followed carefully.

The key point for your business is simple: keeping in touch hours are optional. You can't require them, and an employee can't force you to offer them. The safest approach is to agree the details in writing, follow your parental leave policy and keep clear payroll records.

Can Employers Refuse Keeping In Touch Hours In NZ?

Yes, you can usually refuse keeping in touch hours in NZ because they require agreement between you and the employee.

Keeping in touch hours sit under the parental leave rules in the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987. They're designed to help an employee stay connected with your workplace during their paid parental leave period, without ending that leave.

That doesn't mean the employee has a legal right to work those hours whenever they ask. If the timing doesn't suit your business, the work isn't needed, or you're concerned the request may breach the rules, you can say no.

However, you should still handle the request carefully. Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, you need to act in good faith. That means being clear, responsive and fair, rather than ignoring the employee or refusing for a reason linked to pregnancy, parental status or another protected ground.

A sensible refusal might sound like:

• Operational reason: The work is already covered and you don't need extra support right now.
• Compliance reason: The proposed hours would exceed the 64-hour cap.
• Timing reason: The baby was born less than 28 days ago, so the usual keeping in touch rules aren't available yet.
• Wellbeing reason: The employee has suggested frequent contact that may blur the line between leave and returning to work.

What you shouldn't do is pressure an employee to work while they're on parental leave. Keeping in touch hours are an option, not a back door to having someone continue their role.

What Counts As Keeping In Touch Hours?

Keeping in touch hours are paid work hours an employee does for you during their paid parental leave period, within the legal limits.

People often talk about keeping in touch days in NZ, but the law focuses on hours. That matters because a two-hour video call and a full day in the office are treated very differently when you're tracking the 64-hour limit.

Common examples include:

• attending a team planning meeting
• joining a training session for a new system
• helping with a handover for a specific project
• giving input on a major client or supplier issue
• attending a one-off strategy session

Work can count even if it's done from home, outside ordinary hours, or by phone. If the employee is performing work for your business, you should assume it counts unless you've had advice that says otherwise.

Casual social contact is different. Sending a card, inviting the employee to a staff morning tea, or sharing a general team update usually won't be keeping in touch work. The line gets crossed when the employee is actually doing work or being asked to contribute as part of their role.

Be especially careful with small tasks that feel harmless, such as asking the employee to check emails, approve a roster or answer customer questions. Those minutes can add up, and they may still be work. If you wouldn't ask someone to do it for free during an ordinary work week, don't treat it casually during parental leave.

How Do Keeping In Touch Hours Affect Paid Parental Leave?

Keeping in touch hours won't usually stop paid parental leave payments if they stay within the rules.

In New Zealand, paid parental leave payments are administered by Inland Revenue. Eligible primary carers can receive up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave payments. During that paid parental leave payment period, an employee can work up to 64 keeping in touch hours without being treated as having returned to work, provided the other requirements are met.

The main rules to watch are:

• 64 hours maximum: Treat this as the total cap across the paid parental leave payment period, not a monthly allowance.
• No work in the first 28 days after birth: The standard rule is that keeping in touch hours can't be used in the first 28 days after the baby is born.
• Agreement is needed: You and the employee both need to agree to the work.
• The work must be paid: You should pay the employee for the hours worked and record them properly.

Special rules can apply where a baby is born prematurely, so get tailored advice before agreeing to work during that early period.

A Worked Example

Say Priya's operations manager is receiving paid parental leave payments for 26 weeks. At week 8, Priya asks whether she'd be willing to help with a supplier transition.

They agree to:

• two 2-hour planning calls in week 8
• one 3-hour document review in week 9
• one 1-hour handover call in week 10

That's 8 keeping in touch hours in total. Priya pays those hours through payroll, records them separately, and notes that they were agreed keeping in touch hours. Because the work happened after the first 28 days and stayed well under 64 hours, it should not, by itself, stop the employee's paid parental leave payments.

If Priya later asked for another 60 hours of work, the total would become 68 hours. That could put the employee's payments at risk, so Priya shouldn't approve it as keeping in touch work.

What Are Your Employer Obligations During Parental Leave?

Your main obligations are to respect the employee's parental leave, protect their role where the law requires it, and avoid treating keeping in touch hours as compulsory work.

Parental leave in NZ isn't just an HR courtesy. It's regulated under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987, with wider employment obligations under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

In practice, your obligations usually include:

• responding to parental leave notices within the required process and timeframes
• not requiring the employee to work while they're on parental leave
• keeping the employee's position open unless a lawful exception applies
• communicating in good faith about workplace changes that affect them
• not disadvantaging the employee because they're pregnant, a parent, or on parental leave
• paying and recording any agreed keeping in touch hours correctly

Employees who are having a baby generally need to give written notice at least 3 months before the expected due date. If an employee is becoming the permanent primary carer of a child under 6, they should notify you as soon as they can and generally at least 14 days before they want to take parental leave. Adoption, surrogacy, early birth and complex work patterns can involve different timing and evidence requirements, so get advice if you're unsure. You generally need to respond within 21 days after receiving a parental leave notice.

The Holidays Act 2003 can also matter. Parental leave can affect how annual holidays are paid when the employee returns, particularly for holidays taken in the 12 months after returning from parental leave. Your payroll setup should be able to deal with that correctly.

If you're working with contractors rather than employees, be careful and consider employee or contractor advice. Employee parental leave rights won't apply in the same way, but classification isn't just a label. Recent employment law changes, including the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 contractor gateway test, make it even more important to check whether someone is truly a contractor before you treat them outside employee protections.

How Should You Agree To Keeping In Touch Hours In Writing?

You should agree to keeping in touch hours in writing before the work happens, even if the arrangement feels informal.

A written agreement doesn't need to be long, but it should remove doubt about what has been agreed. This protects your business, helps the employee manage their paid parental leave obligations, and gives payroll something clear to work from.

A good keeping in touch hours agreement should cover:

1. Employee And Employer Details: Identify the employee, their role and your business.
2. Parental Leave Details: State the parental leave period and whether the employee is receiving paid parental leave payments.
3. Purpose Of The Work: Describe the specific task, meeting, training or handover.
4. Dates And Hours: List the agreed dates, start and finish times, and total hours.
5. Pay Rate: State the rate of pay and how it will be processed through payroll.
6. 64-Hour Tracking: Record the employee's total keeping in touch hours used so far.
7. No Pressure To Work: Confirm the arrangement is voluntary and either side can decline further hours.
8. Contact Method: Set out whether contact will be by email, phone, video call or in person.
9. Confidentiality And Systems Access: Confirm any limits on access to files, customer data or internal systems.
10. Privacy And Records: Explain where the agreement and payroll records will be stored.

This outline isn't a finished legal document. A lawyer should tailor it before you use it, especially if you have multiple employees on leave, shift workers, employee commission arrangements, or sensitive information involved.

You should also be mindful of the Privacy Act 2020. Use the employee's personal contact details only for genuine employment purposes and keep employee privacy practices consistent, keep communications respectful, and don't share parental leave details more widely than needed.

What Should You Record In Payroll And HR Files?

You should record the hours, pay, agreement and reason for the work clearly enough that someone else could understand it later.

This is where many businesses slip up. The manager agrees to a short call, the employee helps with a few emails, payroll processes a small payment, and no one records that it was keeping in touch work. Months later, it's hard to work out whether the 64-hour cap was respected.

Set up a simple process before the first hour is worked:

1. Approve The Request: Confirm in writing that both sides agree to the specific work.
2. Check The Timing: Make sure the work isn't within the first 28 days after birth, unless you've checked whether a special rule applies.
3. Track The Cap: Add the proposed hours to any previous keeping in touch hours.
4. Tell Payroll: Make sure payroll knows the payment is for keeping in touch hours during parental leave.
5. Pay Through Payroll: Deduct PAYE and process the payment like other taxable employment income.
6. Keep Records: Store the agreement, times worked, payment details and related communications.

New Zealand employers must keep wage, time, holiday and leave records. As a practical rule, keep employment and payroll records for at least 6 years. That lines up with the usual record-keeping requirements and gives you a clear audit trail if questions come up later.

It also helps to train managers not to contact employees on parental leave for ad hoc work without checking first. A short parental leave policy can say who approves keeping in touch hours, what needs to be recorded, and what kinds of contact are fine without becoming work.

Key Takeaways

• Keeping in touch hours in NZ are optional. You can refuse them, and you can't require an employee to work during parental leave.
• The usual cap is 64 paid keeping in touch hours during the paid parental leave payment period.
• The standard rule is no keeping in touch work in the first 28 days after birth, although special rules can apply for premature births.
• Pay the employee for agreed hours and record them properly through payroll.
• Use a written agreement so everyone is clear on the work, dates, hours, pay and remaining cap.
• Have a clear parental leave and keeping in touch policy so managers don't accidentally create compliance issues.

If you'd like help with your parental leave policies, keeping in touch hours agreements, employment contracts or payroll record processes, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.