Keeping in Touch Days Explained: Your Rights, Pay, and How to Use Them Effectively
Anyone who is about to go, or is, on maternity or adoption leave would have heard about Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days. These are days that allow employees on maternity or adoption leave to work up to 10 days, without ending their leave.
There are varying reasons why many employees exercise their right to request KIT days. This could be to ensure they stay connected with their workplace, earn money whilst on leave, assist with changes/projects, or help smoothen the transition of their eventual return to work.
Below, Tessa Harris, Employment Law Director at Redmans Solicitors, sets out what employees can expect when requesting KIT days and to make the most of them.
KIT Days: Employee entitlements
In the UK, employees can request up to 10 KIT days during their statutory maternity or adoption leave period, except during the mandatory two-week leave after the baby’s birth. These days can be completed (subject to approval by both parties), sporadically, say once a month for 10 months or 10 days in a row. However, the employee does not have to work the full 10 days.
In the case of shared parental leave, a similar concept is applied, and employees may work up to 20 days without ending their leave entitlement. However, this entitlement of 20 days is called Shared Parental Leave in Touch Days or SPLIT days and is not to be confused with the KIT Days entitlement (even though they are effectively the same thing).
During these KIT days, the employer may or may not require the employee to carry out ‘work’. Here ‘work’ can mean any tasks done under the employee’s contract of employment. These could include undertaking a training course, carrying out regular work-related tasks or any activity in the spirit of keeping in touch with the workplace.
However, it is possible that the employee could have a KIT Day but not carry out any work on behalf of the company. Either way, the nature of the work will be a matter of agreement between the employee and the employer.
Is it Mandatory to Request a KIT Day?
Requesting a KIT Day is not mandatory, so, employees have every right to turn down an employer’s request to work a KIT Day during their leave. Moreover, if an employee refuses to work a KIT Day, their employer cannot treat them unfavourably or subject them to a detriment because of this.
However, it is important to note that employees cannot work a KIT Day without the employers’ agreement. For example, an employee cannot just show up at work one day and expect to be paid.
If an employee wants to work a KIT Day, the rate of pay will need to be agreed between the employer and the employee. Generally, however, it is expected that the employee would be paid their normal contractual pay rate.
Requesting KIT Days: Is There a Right Way?
There is no prescribed way of requesting to work a KIT Day. However, for the sake of completeness and to ensure no confusion or miscommunication is caused, it is always best to put the request in writing, generally in an email.
Consideration should be given when making the request, ensuring all relevant parties are involved. Again, while there is no set rule, it is suggested, that copying in the request to the Head of Department or the employee’s line manager and HR is best practice.
When requesting KIT Days, the employee should state which days they would like to use as KIT Days. If it is the first request made, the employee could state their intention of requesting more days later down the line and clearly define what their intended hours would be.
Obtaining clarification about how the employee wishes to work would be useful – like understanding if there are remote working options or if they need to come into the office. Furthermore, the employee may wish to state if there was anything specific they wished to do on their KIT Day(s), and offer advance notice to the employer accordingly, so arrangements may be made.
How to Make the Most of Your KIT Days
Using KIT Days effectively will depend predominantly on the employee’s role and responsibilities, as well as their objectives for partaking in KIT Days.
If the KIT Day is purely seen as a chance to earn some money during leave, the employee may want to think about when company pay runs out, to choose the best time to work. If they are on additional maternity leave, where no statutory maternity pay is paid, they could use their KIT Days for financial assistance.
Equally, if the employee holds a managerial or senior position, spreading out the KIT Days through the leave period, and using as many as they can, may help with keeping on top of updates and any changes or progress made within the company. This can further give a feeling of being ‘kept in the loop’ which will help with the transition back to work at the end of the leave period.
Additionally, KIT Days can be used as a means of keeping on top of training, enhancing or maintaining skills. Again, spreading KIT Days out through the leave period may be more advantageous in such situations.
The use of KIT Days will wholly depend on the circumstances of the employee in question. However, when used wisely can certainly aid employees in a variety of circumstances.
Final Thoughts
Whilst employees are not obligated to exercise their right to KIT Days, this can be a useful tool for financial gain or to keep up with the business, whilst on extended leave. Employers could also find such days useful as employees on leave can return to offer extra support.
KIT Days can be used for a variety of reasons, but they help the most with making the return to work much smoother. Their non-mandatory nature ensures that employees have ample opportunity to consider their options and utilise these days in a way that makes the most sense for them.
Written by Tessa Harris, Employment Law Director at Redmans