To ask how much maternity leave

[Flippertyjibbetty]

• you took and did that feel right?

• were you concerned about time out from your career (actual loss of skills)

• were you concerned about perceptions at work about how committed you were?

Thinking about how long to take (whether 6m or 12m or something in between). Think I have support to take a full year and definitely want to make up mind when baby is actually here but feels such a long time and I know I want a second kid at some point - so 2 years feels even longer out of 10 years working.

(I say 10 years because in my industry that's how long you have to be promoted otherwise it's up or out).

Hi
I'm also expecting our first (Tomorrow is our 12w scan so excited tho have had a few scans in the previous weeks , fingers crossed!)

This is what the goverment says :
You’ve been on maternity leave for 26 weeks or less

You’re entitled to return to the same job after maternity leave if you’ve been away 26 weeks or less. Your pay and conditions must be the same as or better than if you hadn’t gone on maternity leave.

I believe after that they need to give you a similar role to yours if yours has been given to someone else or has been removed.

My plan is to stay away those 26 weeks and after that my DH would take the paternity leave. And as I've got around 20-25 days left of holidays I'd be using them towards working PT for a while.

Also something I didnt know and discovered thanks to MN is that if you're paid for Bank Holidays you're entitled to them if you miss them while on ML so when going back to work you could claim them. My salary pays for 29 days of holidays + Bank Holidays so I'd be able to claim 3 days off for the Bank Holidays I'll miss.

I took nine months off with DS1 then went back to work FT. I couldn't afford unpaid leave so had to go back when my SMP ended. I felt like it was high time anyway; 9 months was a good length in terms of DS's needs but I was more than ready to get back to work. I wasn't concerned about the time out. There was a big restructure while I was off and my role changed a bit for when I returned but I was happy with this change; it was done in consultation with me and I had a choice of one of two new roles. I chose what I felt best suited my skills and career plans. No concerns about how my commitment was perceived.

About to have nine months off with DS2 due next month and again will return FT.

3 months. My DH was SAHD.

Yes I did worry about being out of work and found it boring and unchallenging being at home. I had zero interest in being a skivvy around the house or contributing to this rubbish gender bias that women are the primary care providers and housewives.

My DC is my life, I adore her. More so because I have a job and sanity. It's very busy but I wouldn't give up financial independence and security. I had her late twenties and a lot of people find it odd or surprising that I'm a parent as most people I work with at my age don't have kids until mid to late 30s. Meh they'll all go on ML in a couple of years and I'll make my climb up to senior management while they're off.

I took 9 months mat leave, 1 month holiday. I went back to the same role in a sense but was no longer expected to do any of the managerial duties that I did when I was F/T. Probably because there was no chance of me progressing to management anymore. I do feel my career's been damaged but I'm not too bothered as I'm being paid more to do less atm.

KoolKoala depending on your earnings level over the year before maternity leave, you can probably claim statutory maternity allowance - equivalent amount to SMP - you apply direct to the DWP. It's not huge, but it's better than nothing!

I took a year and went back full time. There was a restructure whilst I was off and I've gone back to a more fulfilling job with more responsibility, although I initially had to stand my ground not to be made redundant. My adjustment was eased in a way because my husband was made redundant a couple of weeks after I went back, so I was able to concentrate on work whilst he did nursery runs. Now we are both working it's still manageable.

I'm 7 weeks pregnant with DC2 and I intend to take a year again. At the moment I'd like to consider going back 4 days a week if it's possible.

I don't feel that going on maternity leave has held me back particularly - I've had to pause my plans to progress but that won't be forever. I'm lucky to have a job that I enjoy and find that helps.

I was a little worried about perceptions, but that's not amounted to anything. I'm honest about the challenges and I WFH one day per week to allow me to draw breath.

My husband is a director in the company he works for and I've told him it's his responsibility to show that he's taking an equal role in the childcare and the nursery runs to set an example to his staff.

i've gone back to work when DCs were 6-7 months old. TBH it feels quite early, and I didn't find it easy, but financially it wasn't really viable for me to take longer off. I have always gone back FT - although the nature of my job allows quite a lot of flexibility over when/where I work my hours. For me, it is the going back PT that is most likely to have an impact on career progression, not how long ML was. People soon forget you were off for a while, whereas only being there 3 days a week has an ongoing impact.

I took a year with DS 1. I went back to a 0.6 job in a different department and lower pay (pro-rata - obviously it was ACTUALLY lower) but the company was supportive and my son was ill quite often so I found the flexibility of being able to swap days etc quite helpful if I had to stay home with him.

I'm now in a new role which is very senior in my (new) organisation and still 0.6FTE. Salary and responsibility level is higher than before I went on my first maternity leave.

I am planning to a year off this time (plus a bit more when taking accrued annual leave into account) and my employer is being very supportive, involving me in arranging cover (recruitment, drafting JDs and being on the interview panel) and I'm being encouraged to do what works best for my family. My same job will be kept for me whilst I'm off and I full intend to return to it.

I think I'm in the minority but the place I work now is quite unusual I think - they treat their staff particularly well I think. Where I worked previously if you didn't come back after 6 months your role was changed without a doubt and if you were part-term after mat leave your role was always at a lesser level.

DS1 7 months as I was keen to get back to work and financially couldn't afford much longer and figured it would be easier to get back to work if leave was shorter. Since returning part time I was promoted and given lots of opportunities for projects and additional responsibilities which I wanted.

DS2 took full 12 months financially we could afford it, have fallen out of love with work a bit and ds1 started school so could support that transition. I wont allow it to hold me back not that I expect it to in a large organisation anyway.

DC1 took a year plus leave, plus one month unpaid so 14.5 months all in.

DC2 took a year plus a few weeks leave, only went back part time

DC3 will be taking 9 months, plus leave so 10 months all in.

Have happily and willingly taken a slightly different role, which allows me to work flexibly [think more of a pick up / put down role what waits for the days I work as opposed to a fee earning / target driven role] but with scope to increase responsibility in the future.

With DS I took 11 months off (2 months of that was holiday). That felt right - DS settled well into nursery at 10 months old and I was happy to go back. I went back to my old job but did it over 4 days which worked out ok.
I'm currently off with DD and will have taken 14 months (12 months mat) by the time I go back but I moved jobs before I left and it's all gone a bit rubbish with boss leaving, team leaving etc so I literally have no idea what I'm going back to. So I'm just delaying it as much as I can as I'll probably look for a new job anyway.

I took every second I could so full year plus holiday entitlement. I wanted to spend as much time with DCs as possible. I came back both times to a quick promotion. I am good at my job, work hard, have specialist skills and proven expertise. That is what's important to a good employer, not time off!

Since then ( I was first senior person to take full mat leave) the whole company has adopted a much more flexible attitude to working parents and has seen how beneficial that is to morale and the quality of people you can hire. So it's been beneficial on a really wide scale too.

Go for it!

I had 10.5 months off with DD1 (2 weeks AL at the start and the rest ML).

I went back at 0.8FTE into a secondment role but left after 10 months when I had to return to my original role as it was long hours and could mean being away M-F for several months at a time.

This time round I'm planning on taking the full 12 months. I work for my husbands company and do contracting. My current contract finishes at Christmas so it works perfectly with DC2 due end of Jan. I plan to return in Jan 19 just before they turn one.

I definitely think it's going back part time that puts the nail in the progression coffin rather than the length of mat leave, unless there's a restructure and you're unlucky enough to be off while it happens.

8.5 months with my DS - 3 weeks annual leave before officially starting my leave on my due date. Went back to work a week before he turned 8 months, but missed a decent chunk of my first couple of weeks back because he caught RSV on one of his nursery settling days :(

I was happy with the length of time I took off. Didn't feel like too long and never got into unpaid leave.

I'm 20 weeks with #2, due mid-February. I'm undecided as to whether I'll take the full year or not, even though it makes sense financially to take off as much time as possible as double London nursery fees are crippling. I do need to go back to work though as my son's 30 hours should then kick in on 1 April 2019, days after his third birthday and this makes things a lot more doable.

I took 12 months with dc1 and worried about career, boredom etc. Loved it, got promoted shortly after my return. Took a little time to find my feet again when I got back, but the only person who seemed to notice was me, so it was perhaps me being too tough on myself! Taking a year again with dc2, no concerns at all about it.

!st baby I took 11 months and it felt just right. I was off long enough to feel I had actually been on maternity leave rather than holiday. By 11 months my DD had reached numerous milestones e.g. sitting up, crawling, babbling and had just started walking and I had managed to witness them all which is something that meant a lot to me. (My sister went back to work after 6 weeks due for financial reasons and 20 odd years later is still very bitter about all the 'firsts' she missed).

2nd baby arrived just a year after going back to work and I had planned on taking 11 months again but I was made redundant when LO was 5 months old and I was still on maternity leave. Something I've discovered is VERY common!

I've now been a SAHM, thanks to redundancy, for 6 months, but am just about to start job hunting as LO is turning one so technically I've had my year off and can't afford to stay home any longer, otherwise I would.

I also worry about my career as I work in a very competitive industry and I think any longer than 2 years out and I would probably have to take a step backwards to get employed again. I don't care what anyone says, employers do not make returning to work easy for mums.

I took 12 weeks as my husband wanted to be at home and I didn't want to be on the back foot career-wise. I know it should matter, but it does. And incidentally, I'd have missed out on the opportunity to study, had I decided to take longer so it's worked out well.

I wasn't ready to go back, however. I hated it to begin with. I cried on the way to work for the first week.

I went at 32 weeks and took 14 1/2 months. I went back 12 hours a week over two days. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they don't take me seriously!

I don't care really though; I'm only there to earn a little (though they pay me well) so I can buy things for myself and my child without having to ask my DH for money all the time. He pays for everything.

I was thinking of going part time to ease back into work for a few months. Interesting that ppl think that has more of an impact than just being off - I suppose its as someone said, when you're back you're back, whereas part time has longer impact.

Part timers seem to get a bit screwed though - I see them generally still doing more than the 0.6FTE or 0.8FTE days they are paid for. Not something I would want to do long term (if avoidable). There is a stupid perception that our industry just 'wouldn't work' on a part time basis (not in fee-earning/target driven jobs).

(Side note - Double London nursery fees OMG I can't even imagine that coming out of my salary/combined salary.

Basically two mortgages!!!)

EnglishRose13 - that's horrible. I imagine it was physically quite difficult for all those who went back at 3m

• thought I would go back after 3-6 months as I loved my job so much but loved my time with DS much more :-) so it turned into 1year. I am in a senior management role for big UKcorporate and they were (surprisingly) very supportive of me changing on this. Still remember farewell speech by my then director /boss who said see you in 3-6 months...
• No - and the moment I went back it was like I never left. I did quite some stay in touch things /calls/ planning with my teams during mat/leave.
• Yes very worried and on reflection spent too much time worrying about this (at night), even more so when I finally requested going back 0.6fte which was approved straight away - was especially worried because of big promotion just before I went on maternity leave. Actually really positive experience and I have great employer who values diversity in management. My career is still going strong and am considered for further promotion in near/medium term.

Thought I share my really positive experience with you. Unfortunately some of my friends have negative experiences and I know I am lucky.

Would recommend talking to HR and to understand your company policies on this. Of course company culture very important too - what others in similar roles have done will give you a clue. Having said that people in similar roles as myself took less /6-9 months.

I went back after 9.5 months with DD1 and 14.5 months with DD2.
I suspect I wasn't taken seriously after DD2 but that was for other reasons. I proved them wrong when I went back.
There's very little chance of career progression because I won't work full time while I'm there now, but I'm not too fussed about that because I don't particularly like the idea of any of the higher up jobs!

I took 4 months off. I was worried about deskilling and also missed my working life, I didn't get much pleasure out of being at home with DS at that age.

Even after such a short leave I did find getting back into work difficult but soon grew to love it again. My career has continued to progress well and I'm happy with the decision I made. If I have another I'd plan to do the same again.

I took six months, as late as possible (started on due date), and then my husband took 3m. I then patched together holiday leave to take us to about 11m before our eldest started nursery.

We're doing just the same again. My husband enjoyed his time with the eldest, and we needed my wage back. We were very fortunate that I can work flexibly/at home too, so I was able to maintain breastfeeding and didn't miss much at home. To be honest, it was a joy to have two people at home at least some of the week.

Going back at 6m for me was also important for me keeping my career going.