Trying to help parents going back to work. What else can employers do?

[stretched2thelimit]

I had twins nearly 2 years ago and returned to work after 10 months. Because of the nature of my job I ended up working for a new manager in a new team and with new clients and found this really tough.

As anyone who has returned to work knows you are twice as exhausted, racked with guilt and feel like you are not giving your best to either role.

It got me thinking about what else an employer should/should not do to ensure a mother/father returning to work should get support on. What has your employer done to ease you back in to work? Excellent keep in touch days? Buddy system?

I have had an on-the job retraining after both pregnancies, even though I was back in the same team, doing the same job. Sometimes I was teaching the trainers stuff! But it really made me feel much more confident and valued. Making my apply for my own job while I was on maternity leave didn't make me feel valued.

Similar to 2dd. Constant threat of redundancy/restructure/pay cuts/ not bothering to give me all the info =bad
Gentle restart =good