Where an employee is on maternity leave and receives maternity pay, do employers have to pay full pay for 10 KIT days in advance? Is this paid alongside maternity pay?

By way of recap, a woman can work for up to 10 days for her employer, commonly referred to as keeping-in-touch days ("KIT days") without bringing her ordinary or additional maternity leave to an end.

KIT days are different to the reasonable contact that employers may make with employees during maternity leave. A woman will not lose her entitlement to statutory maternity pay if she takes advantage of KIT days.

Paying for KIT days is not dealt with under legislation and instead, is a matter for agreement between an employer and employee. The expectation is, however, that the employee will receive her normal contractual rate of pay for a KIT day.

An employer can't require an employee to work a