Maternity leave- managing employers' expectations

[satsumagirl]

Morning Ladies

I'd be v grateful for your advice about something.

I'm 11 weeks+ 4 with first DC so hoping that I'll be taking maternity leave if all goes to plan! I'm employed full time in a fairly senior role in a small company. I love my job and am planning to take about 5-6 months maternity leave. The directors have hinted that I could potentially take on a more senior role in a restructure that's due to take place later this year/ next year...although they don't know I'm PG yet. I'm planning to tell them in a few weeks time.

I'd be grateful for your thoughts on:

• How best to manage expectations about how much they can rely on me when I'm away on maternity leave. I'm happy to take calls/ pick up emails when I can but want to be realistic about what I can offer- and I don't want to end up doing the job full time from home when am meant on mat. leave. I don't know yet what their plans would be for cover whilst I am away.

• How to best make the case that despite being away for a short while on maternity leave I'm a good candidate for internal promotion, i.e. how to get them to take the long term view. I've been at my company for a few years now and I know my work is valued, and they know I'm committed to them for the long term- I just want to reinforce that with them when I tell them I will need to be away for a short while.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

Many thanks,

SG xx

Firstly congratulations on your pregnancy.

It's nice that you are concerned about the company whilst you are on mat leave, but realistically when you are at home with a small baby you may not find it possible or even desirable to do much from home. Plus you won't be getting paid for it.

It's hard to say how you will feel once you have the DC so I would be very careful about making promises and commitments at this stage that you may find difficult to fulfill once the baby arrives. IMHO it is probably better to be completely absent for a period of time,than dipping in and out on the sidelines.

If you are absolutely convinced that this promotion is what you want, then maybe the best way to play it is to go for as short a mat leave as you think is feasible. That way it won't impact hugely on your career, particularly if you intend to go back f/t.

I hope it all goes well for you.

Just go and see the owner / director. Explain what you want to do and say that you think you can still contribute.

How competitive is the job market for what you do? If there are lots of jobs at your level I wouldn't worry, take as much mat leave as you want, be absent apart from KIT (Keeping in Touch) days and either you will get the promotion or you can go back for a while and then get another job somewhere else at the level you want.

If you worry about work while you are heavily pregnant and during mat leave you will not be as happy as you could otherwise be, it can be a real honeymoon period with your child.

This is really good advice- thank you.

I need to worry about my company less and just enjoy being PG and mat. leave with the little one, methinks.

They've been known to moan about people going on mat. lave at my company but it is the law....

Also I don't mean to be alarmist but little babies can come with a fair number of health concerns, so that's another reason to give yourself as much focus as possible on the baby during maternity leave and why I think we have such a fair whack of time on mat leave in this country.

Obviously I wish you the best and trust you and your baby will be fine but even small health concerns can be more of an issue with a baby - for example, colic, exzema, colds, norovirus, asthma, whether testicles descend on time, birthmarks, all the many immunisations for under 1s, some of which you have to reschedule if your child has a runny nose that day, all the checks with the HV to have your baby weighed (pretty much every week for a first baby) not to mention dealing with breastfeeding, weaning, sleep issues etc.

You will be pretty busy! But as I say it can be a lovely time so congratulations and try to relax and look forward to it.

I feel tired even thinking about that brennannboth ;)

You're quite right though that I should take the time and not worry too much.

thanks again all.

Congratulation satsumagirl,

I was in a similar position when pregnant with Ds. I used my 10 keeping in touch days over the 20 weeks of mat leave, so 1 day every 2 weeks. I was paid for this and did slightly shorter days. This enabled me to keep my hand in, appear commited and it helped me feel less alienated on return. It worked for me but it did make me feel a bit like i was never really away from work which was a positive thing but also negative if you see what i mean.

Hope all goes well for you.

Hmmm - I think the only person who can answer those questions is you satsumagirl. It really depends on the personalities involved i.e. the directors, what sort of support network you'll have when you return to work as well as your own situation, aspirations & ambition.

IME open & honest conversations tend to work best - this is a much more mature and businesslike way to tackle the situation and will usually lead to the right outcome.
If it doesn't work out for you then it's their loss - you still get your mat leave and have plenty of time to consider what your next move will be.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy