What are keeping in touch days?
Employees can work up to 10 days during their maternity or adoption leave. These days are called ‘keeping in touch days’. Keeping in touch days are optional - both the employee and employer need to agree to them.
The type of work and pay employees get should be agreed before they come into work. The employee’s right to maternity or adoption leave and pay is not affected by taking keeping in touch days.
Employees can work up to 20 days during their Shared Parental Leave. These are called ‘shared parental leave in touch’ (or SPLIT) days. These days are in addition to the 10 ‘keeping in touch’ (or KIT) days already available to employees on maternity or adoption leave.
How to Mark a KIT Day and Process Payment in the System
Locate the KIT Day on the Calendar:
- Open the system's calendar.
- Here, you'll find days earmarked for an employee's maternity, among other things. These are potential KIT days.
Mark the KIT Day:
- Click onto the day in question – be careful not to click into the day.
- Right-click to reveal a dropdown menu.
- From the dropdown, select Mark as KIT Day.
Note:
Marking a day as a KIT day does not automatically process any payments. It simply denotes that this specific activity occurred on that date in the system.
Processing Payment for the KIT Day:
A. Navigating to Payroll Period Input:
- Head over to the Payroll Period input section. This can be found in the forms section.
B. Creating a New Payment Record:
- If the KIT day you've marked falls within the current month:
- Right-click and choose New to create a new payment record.
- A dropdown will appear where you'll need to select a payment heading.
- If there's an option titled KIT day, choose that. If not, you can select Adjustment. Alternatively, there's also the option to create a new payment heading if required.
- Once your selection is made, click Next.
C. Entering the Payment Amount:
- A new screen will open, prompting you to input the amount of money for the KIT day.
Important: The amount for a KIT day isn't automatically generated by the system. It should represent the difference between three specific payroll entities:
- Statutory Maternity Pay
- Occupational Maternity Pay
- KIT Pay
These three entities combined should equal a day's worth of pay for the employee in question. This is a manual process, requiring careful calculations on your part.
- On the Payments and Rates screen, you'll likely find the employee's daily rate. Ensure that the combined values of the above three payroll entities match this daily rate. If they do, your KIT day payment calculation is correct.
Remember, accuracy is crucial when marking KIT days and processing their respective payments. Always double-check your entries to ensure payroll consistency. If you encounter any issues, refer back to this guide or seek assistance from your payroll department.
For past Keep In Touch days, see How to Update Payroll Period Input for 'Keep in Touch' Days.
By Patrick Lamb
25/08/2023
