Keeping in Touch

During your parental leave you can take keeping in touch days to help stay in touch with work and facilitate a smooth return to work

Keeping in touch days are paid days of work that you can take during your parental leave without bringing it to an end.

They can be used for “any work that enables a trainee to keep in touch with the workplace”

Examples include (but aren't limited to):

• Clinical work

  • • For example some trainees may chose to use KiT/SPLiT days to allow a phased return to work for example working 2 days a week in the lead up to returning to work

• Local or regional teaching

• Courses for example specialty-specific training courses, generic life support courses, return-to-work courses

• Conferences

• Hospital induction, e-learning 

There are several different types of keeping in touch days, summarised below:

• It is not compulsory to take any keeping in touch days. They are there to take if you would like to

• Working any part of a day counts as using 1 full keeping in touch day

• Days don’t need to be used consecutively

• Taking keeping in touch days doesn’t alter the duration of parental leave or affect your CCT date

• Keeping in touch days need to be agreed by both employee and employer

• Days need to be arranged in advances

• It is also advised that you agree pay arrangements with HR in advance 

• Can’t be used during the two weeks of compulsory maternity and adoption leave immediately after the birth of the baby

• Can be taken at any other time during the period of maternity, parental and adoption leave

• Can’t be taken during the accrued annual leave period, once parental leave has ended

Keeping in touch days during period of accrued annual leave

KiT and SPLiT days can only be taken in the statutory leave period and therefore can’t be taken during the accrued annual leave period immediately before you return to work

• However, it is recognised that you might want to take keeping in touch days during this period 

• Discuss with your trust about how to organise keeping in touch days in this period

  • Each trust has there own policy of how they arrange this and how they categorise these days

• If you do take days in this period, as you are in effect giving up a day of annual leave, you are entitled to the equivalent number of days back in lieu

• You won’t get any extra pay, as you will be already being paid at full pay on your accrued annual leave

Trusts in the North West have created an official term for days taken outside of statutory leave: supported return to training (SRTT) days

• Once you’re no longer eligible for KIT / SPLiT days you can use Supported Return to Training (SRTT) days instead

• Allowance:

  • Mother / primary adopter can take a combination of up to 10 combined KIT and / or SRTT days in total

  • Each parent taking shared parental leave can take up to 20 combined SPLIT and / or SRTT days in total

• You should be paid at your basic daily rate for the hours worked less any occupational or statutory parental leave payments

• You can now claim time back in lieu to reflect parental leave and pay lost with taking KiT and SPLiT days

You should be paid by the trust paying your parental leave pay, even if you are due to return to work in a different trust and you take the KiT and SPLiT days in your new trust

If you are LTFT, your pay should be the same as that of an equivalent grade full-time trainee, basic daily rate for the hours worked

A summary of the pay and days off in lieu you are entitled to are summarised below:

NB if you are planning to take any keeping in touch days, it is worth thinking about not spreading your parental pay. There is no official guidance of how your should be paid for KiT/SPLiT days in this instance, which can make it difficult with HR / payroll.

You can apply to your trust for additional funding to cover childcare costs to allow you to work a KiT / SPLiT / SRTT day, but payment is at the discretion of the trust

The NHS Terms and Conditions of Service from the NHS Staff Council states “To enable employees to take up the opportunity to work KIT and SPLiT days, employers should consider the scope for reimbursement of reasonable childcare costs or the provision of childcare facilities”

If you are using KiT / SPLiT days to work clinically, make sure you contact your defence union to inform them and ensure you have the correct cover

If you are breastfeeding at the time you are planning to work a keeping in touch day, your employer should:

• Carry out a risk assessment before you start your work

• Ensure facilities are provided in line with the standard health and safety provisions that govern pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers at work

You are entitled to both your study leave and the study leave budget during parental leave

• Study leave can be taken as KIT/SPLIT days or accrued to be taken at a later date after returning to work

• However, unused study leave cannot be carried forward over to the next leave year 

• This can be useful for courses that may not be deemed eligible for KIT/SPLIT days

References:

https://london.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/kit_and_split_days_guidance_-_july_2020.pdf

https://anaesthetists.org/Home/Wellbeing-support/Career-support/Keeping-in-touch-KIT-days