Advice on keeping in touch days in work

[No1worrier]

I hope someone can help, I plan on taking 9 months maternity leave, I am in full time employment and in my roll I deal with my own clients. I have decided I want to check in every now and again to make sure things are going smoothly. I have dealt with some of these clients for years and want to make sure they are being looked after. This will be either from my laptop at home or popping into the office on the odd occasion. I know legally you are allowed 10 kit days. I have a good maternity package with my work so I don't/won't want paid for these days I check in with my clients and most of the time it will be off the record. Is there any way the government will know if I go over the 10 days? I'm just wanting to keep myself right. I know some people will think I'm mad doing what I plan to do but it will help me sleep at night and make my job a hell of a lot easier on my return. I don't mean every day but possibly if you add up the hours it could be a couple of days a month. Thanks in advance!

I've just found this online:

"If you work for more than 20 SPLIT days it will bring your ShPP to an end.

If your employer asks you to work more than ten KIT days during your maternity or adoption leave you should make sure that your employer will not be treating you as having returned to work and that you can still return on the date agreed or the end of your 52 week maternity/adoption leave period.

In order to avoid any dispute, if you are intending to work more than ten KIT, ask your employer to confirm any KIT days in writing, as well as the rate of pay, and that your maternity/adoption leave will continue after the KIT days.

Once you have worked for more than ten KIT days you will lose a week’s SMP/SAP for any week in which you do some work, even if it’s only for one day. If a week contains, for example, the last of the ten KIT days and another (eleventh) day of work during your maternity/adoption leave, you will lose that week’s SMP/SAP. However, you are still entitled to any contractual pay that has been agreed for your KIT days.

If you have more than one job, your KIT days apply to each job separately. You would only lose SMP/SAP in the week in which you worked more than ten KIT days from the employer paying you SMP/SAP."

If it's going to be off the record and you wont be getting paid, how on Earth would anyone other than you and your employer know that you are checking in and catching up on work. Have I misunderstood what you are trying to say here?

@Flickeringgreenlight this was basically what I was asking, how would anyone know? I overthink everything so I think I've done that with this too! My worst habit lol. I'm new to all this maternity leave stuff so just wanted a bit of advice from others.

[quote No1worrier]@Flickeringgreenlight this was basically what I was asking, how would anyone know? I overthink everything so I think I've done that with this too! My worst habit lol. I'm new to all this maternity leave stuff so just wanted a bit of advice from others.[/quote]
I see where you are coming from and as long as there is no payment involved (other than the 10 days you are entitled to and if you want to receive - guess its up to you), no one would have a clue whether you are on your laptop chatting to your client or not. Obviously as long as you and your employer are on the same page I guess. Think about it, the only way anyone can track it (HMRC that someone is) is by the payments that you receive from your employer for the days you worked. Does that make sense?