I'm gathering material for a study paper and would love to hear from other mums who have returned to their same place of work after mat leave but maybe on reduced or flexi hours. Based on my own experiences has anyone else found that they've suffered feelings of:
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Feeling like the new girl again but without all the support/induction/leniency shown towards newbies? (We'd had new people in the team, office moved round, new systems, etc. It was a jolt to find I no longer had my own phone!)
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Someone was sitting in your shoes? (I came back to find my colleague with the same job title/role as me but clearly only room for 1 to do the job. We both felt equally uncomfortable until things were sorted about a month later)
- Stress of trying to justify your salary when perhaps your responsibility/knowledge and influence has diminished or been re-distributed?
(I felt quite a lot of things that explained my rate of pay were no longer down to me and that my colleagues were wondering now that I'd swanned back in, just what it was I did!).
Do you think employers should plan 're-entry' more carefully or as mums who have 'disappeared' for up to 12 months are we expecting too much and should we be more tolerant?
Sorry, lots of questions but would love to just hear stories about whether going back to work has been what you expected it to be or not!