SPM200100 - Change in circumstances - Keeping in Touch (KIT) days

Employees can work for up to 10 KIT days during the maternity/adoption and additional paternity pay period (MPP/APP) without it affecting their SMP/SAP payments.

KIT days can be taken at any time during the MPP/APP as single days or blocks of days.

Any amount of work done on a KIT day counts as one full KIT day even coming into work for one hour, a training session or to attend a meeting.

If work on a KIT day spans midnight it will count as one KIT day but only if this is the employee’s normal working pattern.

Any wages paid for the day’s work may be offset against the employer’s SMP/SAP liability so long as the total amount of SMP/SAP and earnings paid to the employee for the SMP/SAP week is at least the SMP/SAP entitlement.

If the employee returns to work for any day or part of a day which is not a KIT day they will lose the SMP/SAP they were entitled to for the week in which they have worked.

Example

A woman works Monday to Friday

The SMP pay period is 4 March 2015 to 1 December 2015

The SMP pay week is Wednesday to Tuesday.

She returns to work for six days:

Monday to Wednesday, 31 August 2015 to 2 September 2015, and

Monday to Wednesday, 7 September 2015 to 9 September 2015.

The SMP pay weeks for this period are:

  • 26 August 2015 to 1 September 2015 (two KIT days)
  • 2 September 2015 to 8 September 2015 (three KIT days)
  • 9 September 2015 to 15 September 2015 (one KIT day).

She then works for five days Monday to Friday 26 October 2015 to 30 October 2015.

The SMP pay weeks for this period are:

  • 21 October 2015 to 27 October 2015 (two KIT days)
  • 28 October 2015 to 3 November 2015 (two KIT days, one non-KIT day).

SMP will be payable for all of the above SMP pay weeks except for the pay week 28 October 2015 to 3 November 2015 because in this week she has exceeded her 10 KIT days.

She has used her total of 10 KIT days so any further work done for her employer SMP will not be payable for the SMP pay week in which she works.