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Company 'return from maternity leave' program

29 replies

OneMoreChapter · 23/06/2021 15:22

Hi,
I'm part of a women's business group at work and want to put forward a plan to develop a program that supports women returning from maternity leave. It's 11 years since my last maternity leave but I remember very clearly the anxiety, loss of confidence and general overwhelm. I'd be really grateful if anyone could share anything that their company did to make the transition back to work easier, or anything they could have done differently, that we could look to incorporate.
Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
MsFogi · 23/06/2021 21:23

@MsFogi

The company I worked for after DD1 used a company called Talking Talent to run a programme for returners - it was both group work and some one to one coaching. It was excellent.
Oh and now I think about it, what was particularly good about the programme was that half of it was run before mat leave - ie prep for thinking about the "after" mat leave time. That was a bloody brilliant move - pre-empting the issues.
Cannes12 · 23/06/2021 21:25

Also make sure you say "please do come and see us when you're ready, we'd love to meet baby name" when the baby is born and you're sending the congratulations message when they're born.
Then back it up a few months later with a repeat message if they've not come in yet.
Most women want to show off tge baby but it feels pushy unless you're invited.

flowersatthecastle · 23/06/2021 21:33

Great idea. I might even suggest it where I work, thank you!

The company I work for allow for a three month handover with maternity cover person before and after mat leave - I felt it was a bit much and like I was being pushed out early and on return I just wanted my job back after a couple of weeks as I knew how to do it! Thankfully it was a flexible arrangement so I was back in role sooner than they planned and my cover moved on to another job.

Someone to go over IT changes would have been helpful. Also relevant staff changes.

I would have liked my boss to send an email to those who needed to know I was back instead of people not realising and still contacting my cover for a while. I ended up doing it myself but I felt a bit strange doing it, like I was trying to assert myself (bet no man would have worried about that Blush)

Before I went on leave I was sent a clear spreadsheet of my mat leave pay calculated by week and monthly pay. Very helpful in planning!

Someone to tell me my options for using accrued holiday (including bank holidays which I think they'd have happily not mentioned I accrued if another working mum hadn't told me about) - either take in a block to extend leave or phased return. Seems obvious now but I didn't think the second option would be an option with my company to be honest.

Somewhere to pump on KIT days / on return if required. Not the toilets!

A bit of emotional intelligence / support / understanding from supervision about the fact I'd just left my child to return to work.

A review of the risk assessment that they were supposed to do in case I was still BF - that got neglected. (Maybe industry specific?)

OneMoreChapter · 24/06/2021 20:04

Thanks so much everyone, some great suggestions and ideas here. It’s nice to see not all companies have so far ignored this important transition!

@FtmNov22 good luck with whatever happens next week Flowers

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