Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days on Maternity Leave 2026: Pay and Rules

What are Keeping in Touch days?

Keeping in Touch (KIT) days are a statutory arrangement allowing an employee on Statutory Maternity Leave to work for their employer on a limited number of days without it counting as returning to work early. They're designed to make it easier for parents to stay connected with their workplace — attending training, a team meeting, or a handover — without losing their maternity leave or pay for that week.

How many KIT days are allowed

Up to 10 KIT days can be used across the whole of Statutory Maternity Leave (52 weeks). Working any part of a day — even an hour — uses up one full KIT day; there's no way to "bank" partial days.

Pay for KIT days

The law requires that KIT days be paid, but doesn't fix an exact rate — this is a matter for the employment contract or the specific agreement made at the time. In practice, most employers pay the employee's normal contractual rate for the days worked, and this is usually treated as being in addition to SMP for that week (though many employers offset it, effectively topping up SMP to full pay for that day, rather than paying both in full separately — check your contract or agree the mechanism upfront).

KIT days don't extend maternity leave

Using KIT days has no effect on the length or end date of maternity leave — the 52-week period runs as originally notified, regardless of how many (up to 10) KIT days are used within it. This is a deliberate design feature: KIT days are meant to ease transition, not extend or shorten leave.

Compulsory maternity leave — no KIT days allowed

By law, an employee cannot return to work — including via a KIT day — during the compulsory maternity leave period:

This is a strict health and safety rule with no exceptions, regardless of what the employee or employer might want.

Going over the 10-day limit

If an employee works more than the 10 permitted KIT days (other than under the separate Shared Parental Leave In Touch, or SPLIT, day allowance which applies once Shared Parental Leave has been triggered), this can be treated as ending the maternity leave and pay period early, and the employee is treated as having returned to work — with all the normal terms and conditions of their job resuming.

Shared Parental Leave: SPLIT days

If a parent switches some of their maternity leave into Shared Parental Leave, a separate allowance of up to 20 "Shared Parental Leave In Touch" (SPLIT) days applies during the Shared Parental Leave period — on top of, not instead of, the 10 KIT days used during any period still classified as maternity leave.

Practical tips

• Agree in advance, in writing, what specific activities will count as a KIT day and how they'll be paid.
• Track how many KIT days have been used so neither side accidentally exceeds the 10-day limit.
• Remember KIT days are voluntary — an employee can decline without it affecting their maternity leave, pay, or job security.
• If returning gradually feels more useful than a handful of KIT days, discuss a phased return via flexible working instead.

Use the maternity pay calculator to check your SMP entitlement across the weeks you plan to use KIT days.