Share your top tips for parental leave and getting back into the workplace with Pearson

[EllieMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

Parental leave is a time that can be filled with so many different emotions from excited, happy, anxious to a little overwhelmed. There is also a lot of information out there about how to return to the workplace and for many the difficulty is finding a job that allows them to either be part time or allows flexible working. But most importantly it is a life changing period of time for both fathers and mothers alike. With that in mind Pearson would like to know all your best parental leave tips and how you got back into the workplace.

Here is what Pearson has to say: “Examiner and Standards Verifier, Heidi McEntee who is mum to three (6,3,1), explains the benefits of her role within Pearson and how it fits around her role as a mum. “You can pick how much or how little work you take on. I can reduce my workload to suit what kind of life I want to have with my children, even now as a Senior Standards Verifier.” When asked if she’d recommend the role to other mums she said, “Yes, I would definitely recommend to other mums. Due to the flexibility of the role it means I can attend all of the events at my son's school, which is something I couldn't do before. I can drop my kids off and pick them up from school which I am incredibly thankful for.”

Pearson has maintained a friendly attitude to parental leave throughout, Kevin Lyons, Senior HR at Pearson says, “We actively promote flexible and agile working and also have many remote workers, and have seen excellent take up of shared parental leave. We see work as an activity and not a place, and are committed to a culture of effective working in a flexible and agile way”

What helped you return to the workplace after being on parental leave? Do you have any tips for getting back into the swing of your new life? How did you make sure you were still able to have time with family as well as working again? Do you have any tips or great pieces of advice for how to get prepared on parental leave?

Whatever your tips are for maternity leave and returning back to the workplace, let us know on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

What helped you return to the workplace after being on parental leave?

Keep in touch days definitely - I did not want to do them - but they were soo useful - and to have a hot drink was bliss.

Do you have any tips for getting back into the swing of your new life?

Plan ahead for both your finances and time. It does take some time, but is worth it so you know what you have and when you have it.

How did you make sure you were still able to have time with family as well as working again?

By having a phased return, and reducing my hours from 37 to 25, there was a drop in salary, but that extra time with family is so worth it.

Do you have any tips or great pieces of advice for how to get prepared on parental leave?

Don't spoil you maternity leave by worrying/thinking about it too much, if KIT days are offered - take them, if they are not - ask for them. Do a dry run of your 'new' timetable.

I return to work in four weeks - I am not going to lie, I am dreading it! I have had the most amazing year off and will never have the chance to do it again - 5 children is my limit!

I have done a few KIT days and they have been really good. I am much less nervous about going back. For me it is purely for financial reasons that I have to return, this extra income will mean that we can have holidays and the odd treat.

I have a great family support network - that really helps! I am also very organised so everything will be prepped the night before. I also give my older children jobs to do

I am looking forward to having a hot cup of tea and adult conversation

Increase your hours gradually if your employer will let you do this

Don't be the one that has to organise everything - have full and frank conversations with your co -parent about ensuring that you have a joint calendar, that you both have the number of the GP/babysitter/childminder/dentist and agree how you are both going to make housework/food shopping / cooking/ packing childs bag work fairly.

I’d recommend that people use their kit days to ease back in (I worked one day a week for 10 weeks to get used to leaving the baby with someone else). I’d also recommend transferring some of your maternity leave to your partner as shared parental leave, as that has really taken away the stress of leaving my 7 month old while I’m at work full time, as I know he’s safe and happy with my husband. It’s lovely for him to have that time with his baby too

I had to
Leave the company I was working for due to lack of flexibility. Becoming freelance and developing a relationship with the company I now work for has helped me to create a flexible role. Not being afraid to take a chance to jump ship was perhaps the most helpful thing I was told.

What helped you return to the workplace after being on parental leave? Do you have any tips for getting back into the swing of your new life? How did you make sure you were still able to have time with family as well as working again? Do you have any tips or great pieces of advice for how to get prepared on parental leave?

I arranged to use my accrued annual leave (25 days) one day per week until it ran out. This helped with the transaction.

I also made it clear that I'd need to leave work earlier to do nursery collection (and spend time with my baby)!

We did nursery settling prior to my return to work so there was less disruption when baby got upset and had to be picked up early.

I Marie Kondo'd our house to minimise clutter and therefore reduce cleaning. We were brutal at downsizing the baby's clothes as he grew, donating a lot of stuff. We can't have heaps of clutter. We also rotate toys in and out of his toybox so he can't throw everything around the house at once (making more mess).

I also connected with other newly returned parents at work, shared stresses and worries over lunch etc. Made us feel less alone!

Be happy with your childcare and get them settled in before you start back. Let house work and fancy meals slide until you’re back into the swing of things. Try to get some downtime and enough sleep. Not always easy!

Aside from the obvious planning which needs to be done in advance (sorting childcare, agreeing working hours, etc) - enjoy every minute of your maternity leave!!
I thought about work very little.. but felt ready to go back to work when I did. It actually felt like a bit of a break to be honest.. being able to focus on one thing at a time & hold a conversation!! :)
Finding the right childcare is key though as you can then relax knowing your child is in good hands.
I would also say keep some A/L back - I used all mine following my maternity leave (to add some extra paid time at home) & then found my child got every bug going at nursery within the first few months & I had to take loads of unpaid leave as I had no A/L left!!
TOP TIP - Make sure you get some early nights!! Starting a full day at work having got up at 4am with a screaming toddler is not fun!!! At least if you've gone to bed at a reasonable hour the night before you'll have a had a decent sleep!

Enjoy the time you have with your children. When you are ready to go back to work if financially viable go part time first and then build up your hours.

Use built up annual leave to ease yourself back into work. Take time to make friends with your colleagues (again). Check the mirror before you leave the house (for randomly placed sick, snot, baby clothes, odd shoes...)

Plan. Be realistic. Consider the bigger picture. Its really easy to put so much pressure on yourself too quickly. Its ok to be good enough for a while, think creativity about how work can fit in your life and what transferable skills you have. The people I know who have the best balance have made big changes and have quite unusual set ups but it seems to work for them better than the standard 9-5.

I agree re the planning. It's hard. Flexibility in my job enables me to just about balance both. I am forever grateful for that. It's a constant pull though.

Have a plan but be prepared to change it! Don't expect too much and keep lines of communication open.

It was a long time ago now for me but I made sure I didn’t rush and took my time. I didn’t go full time until my son was 9 and that was the right choice for me as I was a single parent. I would have missed out on too much otherwise.

Be organised and make sure enjoy the time with your family. Don't feel guilty about leaving you dc, you are going to work to provide a better future for your family. Don't feel guilty for enjoying being away from your children either.

Try not to go aback too early, and don’t let the thought of going back to work loom over you. Take time to find the perfect setting or person to take care of your child, giving you confidence and the ability to concentrate when you get back to work. Don’t worry if you feel a bit behind when you go back, it won’t take too long to get back into the routine again.

Plan in advance and don’t go back too early if you can. Use the kit days to start off slowly if you can and do as much research as possible into childcare if your going to need it as well as doing it earlier than you think you will. I was lucky enough to only go back 15 hrs a week but it wasn’t till just before I was due to go back that I heard about fixed flexible working for parents. If I’d known about this before I would have had many less sleepless nights

My advice would be that if you're hoping to reduce/change your hours start thinking about what you'd like it to be, how it could work for the business and what options you could consider - reduced hours/compressed hours/WFH etc.

Be prepared to have a formal discussion and possibly compromise. Read up on flexible working requests - just because Brenda went part time last year doesn't mean that you'll automatically be granted the same working pattern.

In some cases it's easier to work full time but with lots of flexibility than to work part-time but with no flexibility. Also consider who will be doing your work on the day(s) that you're not there - I see a lot of women working 4 days a week and being paid for 4 days whilst still effectively doing 5 days worth of work.

Never feel guilty for working while leaving your children in childcare - not only are you instilling in them a good work ethic, you are also doing everything you can to keep a roof over their head. There's no way I could ever afford to give up work to be a SAHM and I'm OK with that.

When I went back to work part-time I had to make it clear to my manager and colleagues that I had no-one else to look after my child so unfortunately I couldn't work extra days or occasional evenings. I stopped feeling guilty because I was putting my child first. I had coffees and lunch on my own, stayed out of office politics and gossip as much as I could. This really helped me get back to work! I'm friendly with everyone but I have nice quiet time on my own which is lovely and re-charging.

I took my time in going back to work, then eased in by doing part time hours and flexible working - it suited me to get a lot done from home, when the dcs were in bed. That meant I could always focus on my family when the dcs were awake, and then give my full attention to work later in the day.

I stayed in contact with work colleagues and would still meet for coffees or after work drinks. It wasn't as daunting going back when I still had links.

Having good support helps. Be realistic in your expectations. Don't be too hard on yourself.

try to lose the guilt. I felt awful for my kids when going back but have seen what a great role model I'm being to my children so that has helped. Just enjoy the moments together more - the weekends, the holidays. It has helped my own self confidence going back.