8 Ways to Make the Most of Your KIT Days
Ensuring you effectively use the Keeping in Touch (KIT) days available to you whilst on your maternity leave can ensure a much smoother and positive return to work once maternity leave is over. However, a lack of awareness and useful guidance on how to use your KIT days means that many working mums are missing out.
This guide aims to ensure more working parents fully utilise their available (KIT) days, get paid to do so and maximise the value gained. By building a plan, sharing this with your manager and jointly agreeing on expectations you will feel more connected with work whilst on leave as well as increased confidence as you navigate your subsequent return to work.
What are KIT days?
KIT days are a way of working up to ten days during maternity (or adoption) leave without your pay or leave being impacted. If you are taking shared parental leave you can work up to 20 shared-parental-in touch days (SPLIT). To note KIT days are not an automatic entitlement so do check on your company policy & be aware that your employer cannot make you use them! KIT days can be used at any time during your leave, except for the mandatory initial two weeks of leave.
Do I get paid for KIT days?
Yep, you sure do! This additional pay can be a lifeline for the first few months back as you are hit with an eye-watering childcare bill after months of only statutory pay! You are entitled to be paid for any KIT (or SPLIT) days that you work within the usual payroll period…and payment cannot be delayed. Also, KIT days cannot be divided -so if only work for a couple of hours this will be paid as a full day – which is why it is so important to agree on expectations in advance (preferably via email) with both your manager and HR teams.
How can I use my KIT days?
KIT days can be used for any work relevant to your role – if you have a good relationship with your manager work together to jointly decide on the most useful activities to build into your KIT Days. Try thinking about what would be helpful for your return and any concerns that would be helpful to tackle on these days.
Kit days are often used for team meetings or training events– could these be combined? Therefore allowing you to catch up with colleagues and get up to speed on new software? Could you attend the project launch that will be a focus for you on return? Is a team social event planned – off sites are a great way to get some visibility?
Alternatively, you could allocate KIT days to create a staggered return…using say two of your KIT days a week initially this could also provide an opportunity to “pilot” an altered working pattern?
Don’t forget you will likely need to pay for childcare arrangements on your KIT days so make sure you are building this cost into your plans.
8 Top tips:
- Plan early for how you will use your KIT days - ideally prior to leaving whilst you are still focused on work & clear about your priorities. Everything tends to get a little foggier after 6 months of maternity leave!
- Communicate clearly – Document to both HR & your manager what work or activities you will be doing on each Kit day and what you will be paid for (on email) to avoid any disputes that may upset your return.
- Create a joint plan with your manager, discuss what would be most helpful for you and what is feasible for the team.
- Be sure to think about what activities would specifically help YOUR return and incorporate these into your KIT days…can you also incorporate a commute & drop off process into a KIT day to check if your planned timings are indeed realistic? Share honestly the outcome with your manager.
- Review your network contacts & reach out once you have agreed on the dates for the KIT days, plan a coffee with key contacts but set expectations – is this a quick hi or are you looking for help with a new role on your return?
- Don’t over plan each day with back-to-back meetings…KIT days are an opportunity to ease yourself back in, re-orientate yourself and get a lie of the land rather than exhausting yourself!
- Make sure you have organised any required access or password information prior to your arrival so you don’t end up wasting a day of childcare whilst you are stuck in the car park.
- Relish the opportunity to introduce your new baby on one of your KIT days – but don’t over commit yourself, a quick pop-in is probably best as if they are anything like mine this will be the moment that your baby has a trapped wind, needs a massive feed or has an explosive poo which can all be disconcerting with your colleagues!
Rachel Jackson is the Founder & CEO of A Different Me – where she is on a mission to ensure that every working mum returns to work feeling valued, supported and in control of their own experience. A Different Me provides “Return to work” coaching packages, practical planning tools and relevant insights to guide working parents. In addition, Rachel consultants to organisations looking to improve the lived experiences of their own working parents.
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Originally Released On 10 February 2022