Returning to work from maternity leave

Feature

Returning to work from maternity leave: tips for employees and employers

Amanda Bell

Clare Baker

Amanda Bell is a Senior Associate in the Family Law team at WithersWorldWide. She has three children, twins aged 3 and a 1 year old.

Clare Baker is Counsel in the Investment Funds team of Linklaters. She has two children aged 3 and 1.

Having done it before, both Amanda Bell and Clare Baker felt confident and positive about the prospect of returning to work after a second period of maternity leave. When their return dates coincided with the spring lockdown of 2020 it became apparent that their experience second time around wouldn't be the same as before. Now as the rollout of a vaccine makes the prospect of a return to normal more of a reality, Clare and Amanda reflect on their experience of being a maternity returner during a global pandemic and what it has taught us about the way in which we can improve the returner experience as we move forward into what is being framed as the “new normal”.

Crossing the threshold

In 2020, maternity returners had a quite different experience with businesses shifting to remote and connected working, overnight. The benefits and drawbacks of working from home have been analysed in detail already; and it is widely acknowledged that whilst flexibility and the lack of commute are positives, many (regardless of whether they have children) also find it difficult to work from home on a full time basis. There is little separation between home and work, and the time gained from the commute isn't necessarily replaced with additional downtime but just a seamless move into 'home'. Without the decompression time of a commute, the day can feel intense.

Maternity returners have also faced the challenge re-integrating into the team remotely after an extended period away, getting to grips with new covid work procedures (such as remote hearings), and the occasional shrieks of young children elsewhere in the home during the working day. It has been a steep learning curve.

Re-connecting from the kitchen table

A big loss of the new remote working environment for maternity returners has been the ability to catch up with colleagues organically. It became quickly evident that it would be important to work out how to replicate this in the virtual world and technology provides some helpful options. Lots of firms instituted whole team Zoom meetings as a way of keeping connected during lockdown. A great way to see everyone in one go and weekly meetings come around quickly. There are also other useful tools – live status updates on instant messaging apps such as Skype give an indication of when someone is potentially available and it's possible to use those messages in a more relaxed way than email to 'drop-in' on someone for a catch up. However good the technology, maternity returners should be encouraged to pro-actively diarise individual catch-up meetings, not just with managers but also with wider members of the team and firm who they perhaps wouldn't otherwise speak with on a regular basis. Just as in the office, colleagues are invariably delighted to re-connect.

Getting back up to speed

The overnight move to remote working has encouraged a flood of live and on-demand webinars which are a gift to maternity returners. Research has again and again emphasised that the return to work from maternity leave is a key career transition point for women, in part because of a dip in confidence. Supporting women to feel up to speed with developments in their area of the law on return from maternity leave can really help with self-confidence in the first few months back at work.

Making the most of agile working

The pandemic has forced an involuntary experiment in widespread working from home and instead of increasing the differences between colleagues, there seems to be an increased understanding of the uniqueness of everyone's personal circumstances. The reality of lockdown for many, especially those with caring responsibilities, has been the need to work flexibility. Over the last few months, it has been proven that the legal profession can work in a flexible, agile way yet still be really effective. Indeed Linklaters and Withers have already introduced long term agile working policies reflecting the reality that working from home can be very effective.

On an individual level, one of the regrets that many maternity returners highlight, especially if they have a long commute and very young children, is that they may have to miss bedtimes. Flexible working has been shown to work for employers and it can also work for maternity returners, enabling them to dip into important parts of the family routine. A very young child's routine changes frequently and flexibly working patterns can be a really good way to be present in both areas of your life. It should go without saying that the establishment and maintenance of boundaries is really important, and flexibility works both ways. This may mean working longer hours in some periods but also prioritising tea time with the children when it is possible to do so.

Top tips for returning parents

1. Whilst on maternity leave, women have the right to take paid 'keeping in touch' days. Using these days to stage a slower return is a positive plan, not only to test the home office set up and childcare arrangements, but also to take advantage of webinars and schedule some virtual catch-ups for the first couple of weeks back at work.

2. Think about how you are going to be able to manage your work and home responsibilities most effectively and, if you have a partner at home, talk with one another about your expectations.

If you are working from home, are you able to have touch points with your children during the day (like eating dinner together) and pick up work once your children are in bed? Have an open dialogue with your manager about this.

3. Schedule one to one catch ups with members of your team, including those who you would have otherwise organically caught up with over making a cup of tea in the office.

4. Seek out a maternity mentor within your organisation. Find out what has worked for her, and what hasn't worked – whether in terms of juggling responsibilities at home, childcare arrangements or business development strategies. These conversations are invaluable.

5. Get involved with parenting groups at work - and if there aren't any, set one up. It is so helpful to speak to likeminded people facing similar challenges.

6. Pick up where you left off with your career and step up to new opportunities presented by the remote working environment, whether that be participating in a virtual panel discussion or attending evening networking events virtually after putting the children to bed.

7. Seek support if you need it. Organisations are becoming increasingly aware that if they want to meet their gender diversity targets, women may need extra support around maternity leave and returning to work. If the support is being offered, take it.

Top tips for employers and managers

1. Build a culture that perceives maternity leave as a 'brief interlude' in a woman's career, as opposed to a 'major disruption'. 1

2. Don’t make assumptions about what returners can or can't do. Foster an ongoing dialogue between the returner and the manager which begins before leave (for example discussing how the organisation will keep in touch during leave) and continues for several months following her return.

3. Have a clear 'on boarding' plan for returners; including thinking about what work they can get involved with upon their return (both client facing and any roles that naturally integrate returners to the activities of the team), supporting them to get up to speed with developments in their practice area and having open discussions about career development.

4. Acknowledge the skills your employees have gained whilst on maternity leave; great perspective, time management skills and life experience.

5. Be open-minded about the ways in which agile working, or a flexible working arrangement could prove beneficial for both your organisation and the returner. If 2020 has shown us anything, it is that these arrangements can be incredibly effective with significant benefits for both sides.

6. Many organisations do not have the budget but consider putting in place maternity coaching for returners.

7. Ask about their children! Or talk about your children. Being a working parent is common, and those of us who have done it have had to learn how to make the juggle work. Talking about how we make that juggle work and normalising the changes that are required once you have children makes the process less daunting and more manageable for everyone. ■

1. DCU Business School research report (https://business. dcu.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DCU-HR-Search- Maternity-Leave-Research-Final-Version.pdf).