Maternity Leave Return

[YouthClub]

I’m covering maternity leave in a school (support role). The person I’m covering for is due back in September, does anyone know if they want to request reasonable changes to their role/hours when they would need to request this by? 🙏🏻

It woul be in their contract with the school and in the school's maternity policy for support roles.

I have looked on the school policies, but can’t see anything. I would like to stay in the position if possible, but need to see when to start looking/applying for positions if the colleague wants to return. 🤷🏼‍♀️

If the position becomes vacant then it would be advertised. You could always ask your line manager or Head, or let them know you'd be interested if an opportunity arose.

For a lot of school-based jobs, you'll need a reference from your current school. So you have a good reason to see the head and say that you'll need to start applying for alternative work for when Mrs X comes back, and are they happy to provide references. That may be the spur for them to let you know if there's a possibility that they might want you to stay on. However if the postholder has not told them yet, there's not much they can do.

If it's the sort of role which gets paid year round but doesn't include working the summer holidays, bear in mind that they could choose to return at the start of the summer holidays. Check what your contract says about when you finish, and whether that can change.