Policies relating Keeping In Touch(KIT) days for officers on maternity leave

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.027623

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please supply a copy of all your force policies that are in operation on today’s date that relate to Keeping In Touch days (KIT days) for Police Officers on maternity leave.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Keeping in touch days

You may choose voluntarily to work up to 10 days over the course of your maternity leave. These are called ‘keeping in touch days’ (KIT days). You should agree when you want to work such days with your manager.
KIT days are often used to:

• attend training
• attend a team meeting
• perform normal duties

It is not considered suitable to work a KIT day for a social visit. You cannot work a KIT Day during the first 2 weeks of giving birth. If you work beyond the 10 day limit, there will be an impact on the payment of statutory maternity pay (loss of one week’s SMP for each week or part week you work). Within the 10 day limit, working a KIT day will not bring a period of maternity leave or pay to an end.
A KIT day will:

• be counted as 1 working day regardless of the hours you work on that day, to allow part-time officers to perform their part-time duty as normal on a KIT day
• count for purposes of pension contributions.
• be paid at your normal daily rate, which means that if you work a KIT day during your SMP or unpaid period your pay will be ‘topped up’ to a day’s pay for the KIT days worked
When attending work on a KIT day you can make a claim to be reimbursed for:
• any additional childcare expenses. There is no upper limit to payments, although the amount claimed must be reasonable and in line with recognised childcare costs
• your fares to attend your KIT day if you do not have an ATOC, RDG or Oyster Card. The expectation is that you use the most cost effective form of travel to get to and from your KIT day

If you work a KIT day during the period when you are receiving the 26 weeks of occupational maternity pay, no additional salary is payable. HR will inform you and your line manager to re-credit the day(s) worked during this period only to be taken on return from Maternity Leave and prior to taking any accrued bank/public holiday leave or annual leave.

However no additional days are re-credited to the end of your maternity leave period when you work a KIT day during the SMP or unpaid period of maternity leave. During these periods your normal rate of pay will be applied (inclusive of SMP where applicable).

If you would like to attend work through a Keeping in Touch (KIT) day, you must contact your line manager and agree dates. These can be provisionally agreed between you in advance of you going on maternity leave.

In order to arrange payment and update HR records, you will need to submit a Keep In Touch Days Request for Service. This may be submitted during the day/shift that you are attending work or immediately after but it must not be submitted before the day you attend.

Part time officers must read the information below in order to make a claim for ‘Extra Hours’ as this requires a separate RfS to be submitted.

Calculation for a KIT day payment
The calculation for a day’s pay is as follows:

Full Time Calculation
Annual Salary + Allowances ÷ 12 months ÷ number of days in the month = KIT payment.

Part Time Calculation
Full Time Equivalent Annual Salary + Allowances ÷ 40 hours x average part time hours per week ÷ 12 months ÷ number of days in the month = KIT payment.

Calculating and claiming ‘Extra Hours’: part time officers
To ensure that you are compensated correctly for the full hours worked on a KIT day, you are therefore entitled to claim for ‘Extra Hours’.