- Bear in mind that returning to work after a long period of absence on maternity leave can be a daunting experience for an employee.
- Remember that maintaining contact with an employee on maternity leave can help her to stay in touch with the workplace and ease her return to work.
- Check that you have notified the employee of the date that her maternity leave will end and consider sending her a courtesy letter to remind her of her expected date of return from maternity leave.
- Consider what changes need to be made to her workload if the employee is returning to work from maternity leave on reduced hours and what arrangements need to be made if she is going to be working with a jobshare partner.
- Make sure that the employee’s workstation is ready for her return from maternity leave and that she has the materials necessary to do her job.
- Arrange meetings to update the employee and discuss any training needs or necessary support for her to get back up to speed with her job.
- Ensure that an employee who has returned to work from maternity leave is not treated less favourably because she has been out of the workplace for some time.
- Carry out a risk assessment if an employee has returned to work from maternity leave within six months of the birth of her baby or is still breastfeeding.
- Provide suitable facilities for a breastfeeding employee to rest, and remember that it is good practice to provide a clean, private room, access to a fridge and time off to express milk.
More resources from XpertHR on this topic include:
- How to manage pregnant employees and handle maternity leave
- How to respond to an employee’s notification that she is pregnant
- How to deal with requests for time off for antenatal care
- How to deal with maternity suspensions
- How to deal with an employee who has a miscarriage or stillbirth or whose baby dies after birth
- How to deal with the holiday entitlement of an employee taking maternity leave
- How to deal with keeping-in-touch days during maternity leave
- How to stay in touch with employees on maternity leave
- How to deal with maternity pay, salary sacrifice and childcare vouchers
- How to take disciplinary action against an employee during pregnancy or maternity leave
- How to deal with requests to return from maternity leave on a part-time basis
- How to deal with the situation where an employee becomes pregnant again while on maternity leave
Practical Guidance for all HR Professionals
Pregnancy and maternity rights content on XpertHR
- Pregnancy and maternity rights from the XpertHR employment law manual
- Model policy on varying employees’ hours on return from maternity leave
- Model policy on reintroduction into the workplace on return from maternity leave
- Model policy on breastfeeding/expressing milk
- Model letter to allow an employee to indicate that she wishes to return to work early from maternity leave
- Model letter to an employee returning from maternity leave
- Model letter inviting a new mother to a meeting to discuss removing or reducing health and safety risks
- Model letter suspending a new mother on health and safety grounds
- Model letter to an employee on maternity leave asking her to work a keeping-in-touch day
- Model letter to an employee on maternity leave responding to her request to work a keeping-in-touch day
- Model general policy statement on flexible working
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