Parental leave affects several aspects of employees’ well-being, including mental health.
A groundbreaking 2015 study published in The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics found that women who took maternity leave longer than 12 weeks experienced fewer depressive symptoms, a reduction in severe depression, and an improvement in overall mental health.
In other words, offering parental leave is vital to the well-being of employees. The more you invest in employee well-being, the more satisfied and your team is productive.
Unfortunately, there is a stigma that makes it difficult for working parents to leave work and focus on the health of their families.
However, your employees deserve the maximum experience of parental leave. Before, during and after taking a vacation, you need to continue with a positive experience.
Make sure that parents always feel that they belong, are important and welcome. If they are offered great benefits before they leave, but they are taken away from them, they may feel punished.
How you manage parental leave can create or disrupt the relationship you have with your talent.
Here’s how to ensure the best experience for employees on parental leave:
Before
Working parents should never be nervous about informing their employer that they expect. Unfortunately, this is quite common.
In fact, it’s a Bright Horizons Family Solutions 2017 survey revealed that more than 25% of working fathers feel in danger of being fired when they tell their employer that they will become parents. Paternity leave is still one of the least frequently used benefits for working fathers today.
Combat this problem by educating your employees about their legal rights and the benefits you offer parents. Also appoint a parental leave coordinator to give expectant parents an overview of their benefits.
By educating them and assigning them a parental leave coordinator, you are sending a clear message to your parents-employees – you are ready to support them in this great life change.
Before they leave, set clear boundaries and show your expectations while they are gone. This should include informing parents that they are banned from working while they are on leave. Instead, they need to focus on enjoying time with their family.
During
When they leave, make sure you follow the rules you created before. It is very unprofessional to address work requirements after you set expectations with them.
In addition, it harms the well-being of employees. They need time on parental leave to relax and get used to caring for a newborn.
In most cases, parents should not be contacted during their rest. If you bother them during their vacation, you will hurt their sense of loyalty to you and the company.
In addition, they feel guilty for taking time off, which leads to a toxic relationship between management and employees.
But don’t let them forget that you care about them. Add a human touch and send congratulations. If your employee shares a pregnancy or birth notification to your team, send a gift with a card from everyone.
After
Your parental leave coordinator should explain the return process to them before their leave. When their return date is approaching, send them a clear schedule to help them get back to work more easily.
There are several ways to manage their return while maintaining the high well-being of employees.
Flexible working arrangements are advantageous. For example, a new parent may return to their part-time role and then slowly work their way back to full-time. Companies like Amazon and Vodafone are using this strategy.
At Amazon, employees go through a “ramp back” program that includes eight weeks in a shortened schedule. Vodafone uses a six-month time frame that allows mothers to work 30 hours a week for a full-time salary.
The possibility of having such flexibility when switching back from vacation will facilitate this transition and will be less stressful for new parents.
Also offer parental benefits to ease the parental burden. For example, provide childcare recommendations and lactation consultants. In this way, they feel supported as they assume the dual role of both parent and employee.
If they decide to leave
Some parents may choose to focus on raising their children instead of returning to work. Although this is not an ideal situation, you need to consider several steps.
First, do your research on them to have an idea of why they’re leaving. This is a good way to measure their levels of morale and engagement.
Then focus on maintaining a connection with them. Although returning to work may not be the best for them now, they may want to come back years later. With a positive relationship, you make it easier for them to return.
In the best case scenario, when they’re ready, they’ll come back and continue to add value to your company. At the very least, they will praise you as an understanding employer.
