Keeping In Touch Days – Guidance for Employers

Statutory maternity leave allows for ten keeping in touch days whereby an employee can go to work without that affecting her statutory maternity pay provided she has a contract of service.  Keeping in touch days are also available to employees who are on adoption leave and additional paternity leave.  The shared parental leave legislation due in during 2015 will add an additional twenty keeping in touch days to an employee’s entitlement.  Keeping in touch days can commence two weeks after a baby is born.  They can be taken in blocks or individual days.

Keeping in touch days can help ease an eventual return to work. They can be used for attending a conference, team or training event or having an appraisal interview for example or even doing some work.  An employee has to agree to work with her employer; her employer can not insist she works.  The arrangements should be made with notice prior to the employee going into work. 

Any work done on a keeping in touch day will be counted as a whole day, this includes even if a employee goes into work for just an hour.  Keeping in touch days can be taken as single days; in blocks of two or more days; or can be taken consecutively. Once an employee has used up the keeping in touch days if they do any further work they will lose a week’s SMP in the maternity pay period in which the work is done.

For any keeping in touch days that an employee works under her contract of service for the employer paying her SMP, the employer must pay SMP due for that week as a minimum. Any contractual payment for the work done as a KIT day, will depend on the agreement between the employee and employer.

If an employee has more than one employer they she is entitled to ten keeping in touch days for them all employers if they all pay SMP due to qualifying criteria. 

An employer should stay in touch with employees on maternity leave, adoption leave or paternity leave and inform them of any promotions, redundancies or changes at work.  This is not a statutory requirement but should be more so because of courtesy and encourages employee engagement.