NHS KIT Days Pay 2026/27

Last updated: 27 October 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

Keeping-in-touch days let you work during maternity or adoption leave without ending it, up to a hard limit of 10 days. Each day is paid at your normal hourly rate for the hours worked, it counts as a full day even if you only attend one meeting, and working an 11th day ends the leave and the pay.

Maternity leave is long. Fifty-two weeks away from a ward, a clinic or a lab is long enough for rotas to change, for a new electronic record system to arrive, for a team to turn over half its staff. Keeping-in-touch days exist for exactly that gap. They let a nurse attend a training day, sit in on a team meeting or shadow a new procedure months before the formal return date, without the legal consequence that normally follows doing work during leave. Used well, they make the first week back feel like a return rather than a first day. Used carelessly, they burn through the allowance on low-value days or, worse, trip the 11th-day rule by accident.

The rules themselves are short, and this page states them plainly before turning to the money. The pay figures use the England 2026/27 Agenda for Change rates, which include the 3.3% award effective 1 April 2026. Full detail on maternity pay itself is in our guide to NHS maternity pay.

The 10-day rule, in full

You may work up to 10 KIT days during maternity leave or adoption leave. The number is fixed: it is 10 days in total for the whole leave, not 10 days per block or per return phase, and it does not reset if you change your planned return date. Both sides must agree each day. Your employer cannot order you to work a KIT day, and you cannot insist on one if the service does not need you that day. Each day should be agreed in advance, with the hours and the rate confirmed, so there is no argument afterwards about what was worked or what it was worth.

The counting rule catches more people than any other part of the scheme. Any work on a day counts as one whole KIT day, even if the work lasts an hour. A one-hour training session uses a full day. A single team meeting uses a full day. A morning spent shadowing a colleague uses a full day. That is why the planning advice later in this page matters: bundle things into a single day where you can, and do not spend a KIT day on something you could read in an email at home.

The 11th day is the cliff edge. Work on an 11th day brings the maternity or adoption leave to an end, and with it the maternity or adoption pay. There is no grace day and no way to undo it after the fact. Keep a simple written count, dates and hours, from the first KIT day onwards, and check it with payroll before agreeing any day that takes the total close to 10. If you are unsure whether a day counts, ask before you work it, not after.

KIT days also do not extend the leave. Working a KIT day in the middle of maternity leave does not push the return date back by a day, and it does not add a day to the end of the leave. The leave runs its planned course, and the return date stays as agreed, unless you formally change it through the normal process. Our guide to parental leave covers the separate unpaid entitlement that sits alongside maternity leave.

What a KIT day pays, by band

A KIT day is paid at your normal hourly rate for the hours actually worked. The table shows the value of one full 7.5-hour KIT day at the main Agenda for Change bands, plus the total if all 10 days are used. Day values use the published rounded hourly rate, and totals are the day value multiplied by the number of days:

Two things stand out. First, the value of the full allowance is substantial at the higher bands: a Band 6 nurse at the top step who uses all 10 days earns £1,843.50 of KIT pay across the leave. Second, the value is set by the band and step, not by the reason for the day. A training day and a clinical shift pay the same hourly rate, which is another reason to spend the days where they help most rather than where they are most convenient for the rota.

Worked example 1: Band 5 nurse, full-time

A full-time Band 5 staff nurse at the entry step earns £32,073 a year, which is £16.38 an hour. She agrees three KIT days in the final two months of maternity leave: one training day on the new record system, one day shadowing the ward she will return to, and one team meeting day to meet the new staff. Each 7.5-hour day pays £122.85, so the three days together pay £368.55. She has 7 KIT days left if she wants a phased return, and she has kept the count in writing with payroll.

If she used all 10 days, the total would be £1,228.50. That figure is worth comparing with the cost of not using them: nothing is lost by leaving KIT days unused. They are an option, not an entitlement to extra pay, and there is no payment in lieu of unused days at the end of the leave. The right number of KIT days is the number that genuinely helps the return, not the maximum available.

Worked example 2: Band 6 nurse, part-time at 0.6 whole time equivalent

Part-time staff get the same 10 days, but the pay follows the hours worked. A Band 6 nurse at 0.6 whole time equivalent works 4.5-hour days as her normal pattern, and a KIT day on that pattern pays 4.5 hours at her hourly rate. At Band 6 entry, £20.41 an hour, one KIT day pays £91.85, and 10 such days total £918.50. The hourly rate is identical to a full-time colleague on the same step; only the day length differs. Our guide to part-time NHS pay explains the pro rata method in full.

The counting rule applies exactly the same way. A part-time nurse who attends a single one-hour meeting has used one of her 10 days, just as a full-time colleague has. Part-time staff should be especially careful with short days, because a one-hour meeting costs the same fraction of the allowance as a full shift.

Worked example 3: a Saturday KIT day and London weighting

If a KIT day falls at a time that attracts an unsocial hours enhancement, the enhancement applies to those hours in the usual way. Under Section 2 of the Agenda for Change handbook, Bands 4 to 9 receive time plus 30% for Saturday and weekday night hours and time plus 60% for Sundays and public holidays. A Band 5 entry nurse working a Saturday KIT day therefore earns £21.29 an hour, which is £16.38 plus 30%, and a full 7.5-hour Saturday day pays £159.68. Full detail is in our guide to unsocial hours and overtime pay.

London weighting follows the same logic: it is calculated on the pay actually received. A Band 5 entry KIT day in inner London attracts 20% weighting, which is £24.57 on a £122.85 day, giving £147.42 for the day. In outer London, 15% gives £18.43 on the same day, for £141.28 in total, and in the fringe area 5% gives £6.14, for £128.99. The minimum and maximum limits for each zone apply to the annual salary, not to a single day, so the percentage applies to KIT pay in full. Full detail is in our guide to London weighting (HCAS).

KIT days and maternity pay

A KIT day does not end maternity leave and does not stop maternity pay for that week. That is the point of the scheme: the day is carved out of the leave without breaking it. What varies is how the day's pay interacts with the maternity pay already being received, and that is where the written agreement matters most.

During weeks when only statutory maternity pay is being received, most employers pay the KIT day at the contractual rate. Some pay it in addition to the statutory pay for that week, and others offset it, meaning the day's pay replaces part of the statutory pay rather than adding to it. Neither treatment is wrong in itself, but the difference is worth hundreds of pounds across 10 days, so it must be agreed before the day, not discovered on the payslip. During weeks when occupational maternity pay already pays the full contractual rate, a KIT day will usually add nothing, because the full rate is already being paid for that week. Again, confirm it in writing rather than assuming it.

Tax, National Insurance and pension deductions apply to KIT pay like any other pay. KIT pay goes through payroll, so pension contributions are taken at the member's contribution tier. A Band 5 entry KIT day of £122.85 attracts 8.3% under the provisional 2026/27 tiers, which is £10.20, and the employer contribution of 23.7% applies to KIT pay as well. The 2026/27 pension tiers are provisional, calculated figures, not yet published, and the full table is in our guide to NHS pension contributions. KIT pay also counts for the annual leave that accrues during maternity leave in the normal way, because the leave itself continues to accrue leave; the KIT day does not change that.

KIT days for adoption leave, and SPLIT days

Adoption leave carries the same 10 KIT days, on the same terms: voluntary, agreed in advance, any work on a day counts as a whole day, and an 11th day ends the leave and the pay. The pay figures in the table above apply identically, because the rate is set by the band and step, not by the type of leave. Staff adopting should plan the days the same way, saving them for the settling-in period and the return-to-work weeks rather than spending them early. Our guide to adoption and shared parental pay covers the adoption leave framework.

Shared parental leave has its own equivalent, and the two must not be confused. SPLIT days, shared parental leave in touch days, allow up to 20 days of work during shared parental leave without ending it. The limit is 20, not 10, and the allowances are separate: KIT days used during maternity leave do not reduce the SPLIT days available if part of the leave is later shared with a partner. If a couple plans to share leave, the partner taking shared parental leave should track SPLIT days separately from the KIT days already used.

Paternity leave has no equivalent. The short paternity leave period is not covered by KIT or SPLIT days, and working during it is a different matter entirely. Anyone unsure which leave type they are on should check the leave letter before agreeing any in-touch day, because the day counts against the allowance for that leave type only.

Planning your 10 days

The most useful KIT days cluster near the return. A training day two months before the return date, a shadowing day in the final fortnight, and a team day in the last week will do more than three days spent in the first month of leave, when the return is still distant and the details will have changed again by the time you are back. If a major system change lands mid-leave, one well-timed training day can be worth more than several routine days.

Bundle ruthlessly. If a training session and a team meeting can fall on the same day, put them on the same day and save a day. If a meeting can be joined from home in an hour, ask whether it needs a KIT day at all: an hour of work still costs a whole day of allowance, so a remote catch-up that does not require attendance may be better handled outside the scheme. Keep the count in writing, dates and hours, and share it with payroll after each day. The most common KIT day problem is not the 11th day itself but the quiet drift towards it, where three one-hour days and two half days have silently consumed half the allowance before anyone counted.

Finally, get each day agreed in writing before working it: the date, the hours, the rate, and how the pay will interact with maternity pay for that week. A short email from the manager confirming those four points prevents almost every KIT day dispute. If the agreement cannot be put in writing, treat that as a reason to pause, not as paperwork to skip.

Frequently asked questions

How many KIT days do NHS staff get?

Up to 10 keeping-in-touch days during maternity leave or adoption leave. KIT days are voluntary: neither you nor your employer can insist on them. Any work on a day counts as one whole KIT day, even one hour of training or one meeting, so a part day still uses up one of the 10.

What happens if you work an 11th KIT day?

Working an 11th day ends your maternity leave and your maternity pay. The 10-day limit is a hard cap, not a target, so keep an accurate count of every day worked, including short days, and stop at 10 unless you are ready for the leave to end.

How much does a KIT day pay?

A KIT day is paid at your normal hourly rate for the hours worked. In 2026/27, a full 7.5-hour KIT day pays £122.85 at Band 5 entry (£16.38 an hour), £153.08 at Band 6 entry (£20.41 an hour) and £96.83 at Band 2 (£12.91 an hour). All 10 KIT days at Band 5 entry total £1,228.50.

Do KIT days affect statutory maternity pay?

No. A KIT day does not end your maternity leave and does not stop maternity pay for that week. Whether the day's pay sits on top of your maternity pay or is offset against it depends on your employer's policy and your written KIT agreement, so agree the rate and the treatment in writing before the day.

Are KIT days pensionable?

Yes. KIT pay goes through payroll like normal pay, so pension contributions are taken at your contribution tier. A Band 5 entry KIT day of £122.85 attracts 8.3% under the provisional 2026/27 tiers, which is £10.20, and the employer contribution of 23.7% applies to KIT pay as well.

Do part-time staff get 10 KIT days?

Yes. The 10-day allowance is the same for part-time staff; only the pay changes, because a part-time KIT day pays for the hours actually worked. A Band 5 entry nurse at 0.6 whole time equivalent earns £73.71 for a 4.5-hour KIT day, and 10 such days total £737.10.

Can you use KIT days for training?

Yes. Training, team meetings, ward updates and return-to-work planning are the most common uses. A training day still counts as one of the 10, even if it lasts only an hour, so save KIT days for the sessions that genuinely need you in the room rather than spending them on routine updates you could read at home.

Are KIT days the same as SPLIT days?

No. KIT days apply to maternity leave and adoption leave, with a limit of 10 days. Shared parental leave has its own equivalent, SPLIT (shared parental leave in touch) days, with a limit of 20 days. The two allowances are separate: KIT days used during maternity leave do not reduce the SPLIT days available if leave is later shared.