RETURNING TO WORK

Why ‘Keeping in Touch’ is helpful

If you are taking extended leave when your baby is born, before starting it is important to discuss with your manager or boss the amount of communication you wish to receive whilst on leave. Keeping in touch with progress and changes in your workplace while you are on parental leave will help you to make a smooth transition when you return to work.

How often should I contact my manager when I am on leave?

It really depends on how long you are on leave for. For a smooth transition returning from parental leave it is important to keep updated with progress and changes at your workplace. As a guide, it can be worthwhile connecting with your manager every 1-2 months. You may also want to tie in your catch up with a ‘Keeping in Touch’ day.

What are ‘Keeping in Touch’ days?

Some countries, including Australia, have a specific scheme where an employee can come to work for up to 10 days during their parental leave, without it affecting their unpaid parental leave entitlements.

Keeping In Touch days may be a worthwhile arrangement to explore with your employer. An arrangement like this can assist you to transition back into the workplace more easily.

Some examples of work activities where you can ‘keep in touch’ include:

Team wide training initiatives
Become familiar with new or changed processes or business updates
Time spent refreshing skills
Involvement in planning discussions or meetings that may affect your role
Providing newsletters and updates
Participation in team days
Participation in workplace events

To stay informed about current regulations around Keeping In Touch days visit the Fair Work Australia website.

Things to consider when you return to work after taking leave

It’s important you feel confident and prepared for your return to work and the changes that will inevitably take place for you and your family.

Some things you may already be thinking about include:

What’s the right timing for you – would you like to return earlier or later than planned?
Do you want to consider flexible working, immediately or long term?
Are you aware of any changes at work with the role you will be returning to?
Will you need any re-skilling, or a gradual return to work after your time away?
How will you pick up and continue your career with your new responsibilities at home?
Have yours or your partner’s career aspirations changed since having a baby?
Do you have any concerns about returning to work? If so, what are they and what could you do to overcome these?
What are the needs and expectation of your manager and employer? Have you and can you manage these expectations?
What would make your return easier?
How will your financial situation be affected if / when you return to work?
What care options are feasible for your family?
What will your day-to-day activities look like when you return to work? How will your family be affected?
What is your main return to work goal?
What is your ideal return to work set up? i.e. the logistics of how you achieve your goal

What should I do before I return to work?

Once you have returned to work, the first few days, weeks and even months will present you with the normal type of challenges you might expect e.g. getting the kids ready for child care in the morning and yourself to work on time, organising meals after a busy day at work, re-establishing work friendships and so on. Be reassured, those initial challenges can be managed, and the initial stress levels will reduce over time as you and your family gradually start to settle into new routines.

Obviously with growing kids and fluctuating work demands, the routine will no doubt need changes and tweaks from time to time. With more demands being placed on your time, being planned and organised is more important than ever.

Here are a number of things for you to consider when you return to work:

Stay connected to your network – this is key to ensuring your confidence isn’t eroded whilst you’re on leave. Feeling isolated or ‘out of the loop’ can be challenging for some, especially if you’re coming back to work where there has been little to no contact with your colleagues for months. Two ways you can avoid this is to ask for ‘work from home’ access to team emails OR organise to meet with your workmates and manager from time to time to ‘Keep in Touch’.
Call, email and attend events with your manager and team – as and when suits you. There is no pressure to do so however it may be a great way to gently introduce yourself back into work or simply just to stay connected with what your team are up to.
Develop a return-to-work plan – send a proposal to your manager about how you see your return-to-work arrangement working. If you send this at least 8 weeks before you plan to return so your manager can give any feedback where needed.
Connect with other parents at your workplace and ask for their insights and learning – how have they managed their return to work?

Working flexibly

Work-life flexibility is the degree to which you have control over when, how and where you get your job done in balance with other important life priorities. Transitioning to a flexible work mindset or working arrangement, doesn’t necessarily mean working reduced hours or from home, it’s about evaluating how you approach your work and life outcomes and designing a rhythm or pattern that will work for you, your job and your family.

True workplace flexibility isn’t just about negotiating part time hours anymore or locking in any other varied work schedule pattern. It’s about understanding two things:

Technology has advanced our capacity to engage in many of our workplace activities anytime and anywhere.
Flexibility is an attitude – it’s having an open mind to how work is completed.

Flexible work arrangements come in all shapes and sizes and are often innovative in design and structure, having both formal and informal elements. When flexible work practices are agreed between an employee and manager, the flexible work approach is made workable by a high degree of trust and with the consideration to the needs of the individual employee, the team, and the manager involved.

To help prepare for your discussion with your manager; take time to self-assess your job responsibilities and own performance.

If you are self-employed consider how you can make changes to your business processes and systems that will create more flexible working rhythm in your day.

Creating a business case for flexible working and negotiating with your manager

Step 1.

Ask your manager for a copy of your workplace’s flexible work policy and find out what processes will need to be followed in order to approve and implement a flexible work arrangement.

Whether it’s your current manager or a new manager you need to approach to agree a flexible working arrangement, a pay rise, or a promotion, it’s important to feel prepared and confident about negotiating a deal that will work for you – preparation is key.

Step 2.

Research your flexible work options; consider what will work for you, your team and manager and what will need to change or be implemented to support your flexible work application.

Plan to talk about realistic working arrangements with your manager, thinking about both of your needs and how it could work to your mutual advantage. Also consider competing a job audit and updating your job description.

Step 3.

Plan the meeting with your manager. Be on the front foot by alerting them as early as possible to explore your options. Be sure you do some research into the type of flexible work arrangement you require and put it into a written proposal. This will ensure your manager has time to consider it before your meeting.

Negotiating a flexible working arrangement

Negotiating a flexible working arrangement is a fantastic way for you to cope with the challenge of balancing family and work.

The following factors will impact on the choices you make in negotiating flexibility:

The cost of your care needs
Additional responsibilities outside of work
The location of your care facilities
The logistics of drop-off and pick-up
The type of work you perform
The needs of your employer

The key to negotiating flexibility is to be considerate of all parties that will be impacted. You will need to consider the implications on your job, your customers, your team, your manager and your overall employer. If you acknowledge any implications and propose a solution, your business case will be more credible and well received.

Although you may propose an initial flexibility arrangement, alternative options may be considered during negotiations. Working with your manager in an open, honest and transparent way will best ensure a positive outcome.

Tips for Making Working Flexibly Work

At home and at work, plan and schedule your day (as best you can) around what’s most important. Make a daily ‘to do’ list and prioritise accordingly – this helps you to focus on what really matters.
Create boundaries for yourself in which you’re going to work, and not work. To support this you can set up “out of office messages” for your email and phone.
Manage expectations – be sure to communicate with others what your flexible arrangements are.
Use positive language around your flexible work arrangements i.e. instead of saying ‘Sorry I’m only in the office 3 days’, you could say ‘I’m available 3 days this week’
Focus on outcomes not hours.
Limit important meetings and tasks to core business hours.
Audit your diary regularly to check you are not overcommitted and outsource help or renegotiate deadlines if need be. Ensure you are starting from a place where you are setting yourself up for success rather than accepting it is just going to be a challenging week.
Ask yourself: How can I achieve my ‘to do list’ this week? Who can I call upon to give me a hand? Do I need to renegotiate timeframes or move any meetings or appointments?
Consider what’s working well and what’s not working so well? Is there anything you’d like to change and if so, how can you go about doing this?
Keep communication open and honest with your partner. Work together on how you will cover all the daily priorities. Your partner is your greatest ally when it comes to juggling work and family commitments.