Managing national system employees on parental leave

Authored by the LexisNexis Legal Writer team.

What are keeping in touch days?

Division 5, Pt 2-2 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) provides for parental leave and related entitlements for national system employees as a part of the National Employment Standards (NES): ss 60 and 61(3).

An employee who has or will have responsibility for the care of a child may take up to 12 months’ unpaid parental leave associated with the birth, adoption of a child: s 70. Such leave must be taken in a single continuous period: s 71(2).

The general rule is that to be entitled to leave under Div 5, Pt 2-2 of the FW Act an employee, other than a casual employee, must have completed 12 months of service: s 67. For other than unpaid pre-adoption leave or unpaid no safe job leave, a casual employee must be a regular casual employee for at least 12 months and have an expectation of continuing as such had it not been for the birth or adoption of the child: s 67(2).

Under the FW Act, an employee may take up to 10 keeping in touch days on which the employee performs work for the employer without breaking the continuity of their leave: s 79A.

Keeping in touch days cannot be taken when an employee is on flexible unpaid parental leave (flexible UPL). This is because keeping in touch days are designed to assist an employee stay connected to the workplace during an extended period of leave whereas an employee who takes flexible UPL days does so after they have returned to work as a part of the workplace.