KIT days in Jan - free childcare?
I am planning to use my KIT days in January then officially start work beginning of February. I applied on gov . uk and got my code in September.
I was under the impression that she gets the 30 hour free childcare from Jan, however I have put Feb as my start date so says her application is pending due to Maternity or paternity leave. Honestly so confused. How do I reconfirm to make sure she gets the free hours in Jan?
The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of Peanut.
Learn more about our guidelines.
You can't until you're on payroll and technically you're not with KIT days x
You have to have returned to work or be returning within 31 days of the start of the term. Any annual leave you use also counts as being returned to work
One of the mums from the sensory group moved her return to work date to the 31st Jan because she would have to wait until April for the funded hours otherwise. She was originally going to go back to work in Feb.
Could you see if you could return to work before Feb but used annual leave until the date you wanted to return?
You have to be "back on the books" ( either back at work or on annual leave) in January to receive the funding from Feb.
Basically there are 3 months of the year which are term dates Jan, April and September. If you want funding from Feb your mat leave has to officially end one date in Jan.
This is what I'm doing. My official return to work date I moved to 28th Jan but am using annual leave so not actually back in work till later in February x
Your KIT days are still classed at MAT leave...the point of them is that you are able to get business updates, use them to ease back into work etc and be paid while retaining the MAT leave status, so if you use KIT days in Jan and return officially in Feb you won't be eligible until April for the funding.
THANK you so much! I found your comments so helpful. My new plan is to use my KIT days at the beginning of Jan and have my LO with me then officially start mid/end of Jan. I just hope it's not too late to get it approved since it's past the online reconfirmation date x
QQ, if my start date is at the end of Jan, can I start using the free 30 hour a week from the beginning of Jan?
Hmm you might have to check with the nursery. You could definitely be on "annual leave/holiday" early Jan at the same time your child starts nursery- so you dont have to actually be back in work - but ultimately I dont think you can be on maternity leave whilst your child is attending nursery on a funded hours basis?
Download the Peanut App
