Wondering how to return to work after maternity leave? This article provides tips and strategies for a smooth transition back to the workplace.
The Internet is full of articles: “How to work with a child under three?”, “How to combine maternity leave and a career.” The Wordstat service shows that over the past month alone, users have made queries with the words “work on maternity leave” more than 40 thousand times. It all looks as if after the end of maternity leave, the problems in combining motherhood and ordinary life end. After all, you can stop breastfeeding your child and send him to kindergarten. In reality, everything is completely different. Yulia Shubina, the author of the Telegram channel “Shubina did not finish” and a specialist in remote careers, tells what advice can help a woman return to work after the birth of a child.
First kindergarten, then work
According to the law, you can send your child to a nursery from the age of two months. But it is very difficult to find free places for such little ones. The kindergarten must meet a lot of parameters, and not all institutions are suitable – so there are few options. But the main reason why children are not sent to a nursery so early is, of course, not the places. According to the attachment theory of psychologist John Bowlby , separation from the mother at an early age can have strong negative consequences. According to this theory, a child is able to endure separation from parents without much damage to the psyche after three years. In addition, many psychologists believe that it is precisely at this time that the baby develops a need to communicate with peers. And this coincides with the official end of maternity leave. But you should think about going to kindergarten before you return to work.
It is worth starting to take your child to kindergarten at least two months before leaving maternity leave. According to experts , this is how long it takes on average for a child to adapt to kindergarten. Adaptation is a rather unpleasant process that can include a deterioration in sleep and appetite in the child, apathy, aggression and sudden mood swings, regression of skills and more. Therefore, it is definitely not worth combining the first day in kindergarten with the first day at work after a break.
I would recommend sending your child to kindergarten six months to a year before you return to work full-time. Firstly, at first the baby will be away from home for only a few hours; then, if everything is okay, half a day before bedtime. And only then can you leave him to sleep and extend his stay in the kindergarten to 7-8 hours. Secondly, “kindergarten” children get sick, and this is inevitable. According to statistics , most children over three years old are diagnosed with acute respiratory viral infections 3-5 times a year, and this is considered the norm. From 15 to 40% of children, according to various sources, get sick much more often. Doctors even have a special term for this, “frequently and long-term ill children.” Such children are divided into different groups depending on the nature of the disease and its frequency. One of these groups of children gets acute respiratory viral infections 8 times a year. This is once every six weeks.
Finally, another reason to send your child to kindergarten at least 6 months before returning to work is a rest for the mother. I am absolutely sure that a woman who has gone through maternity leave simply needs her six months, when she does not have to combine motherhood and work. Let’s call it a rest from maternity leave, although it will be a rest with breaks for illnesses and difficulties of adaptation. But any mother knows: having 2-3 free hours a day a couple of times a month is better than zero free hours a day zero times a month.
Maintain your career level throughout your maternity leave
In order not to reset in three years, you can and should periodically study and read something on the topic of your profession. I recommend continuing to work part-time during maternity leave. It is not at all necessary to devote a lot of time to work. A small freelance project or at least reading books and listening to courses and marathons a couple of times a week will be enough.
There are a lot of advantages to this kind of part-time work.
The first thing is, of course, money. The maternity allowance is not paid for all three years of maternity leave. If a woman worked under the Labor Code, the employer will pay the mother money until the baby is one and a half years old. After that, the company is obliged to keep the woman’s job, but there will be no more payments. By the way, the payments themselves to those working under the Labor Code during maternity leave will not be equal to the salary.
The second is the opportunity to distract yourself. The opportunity to switch to work can help and become compensation for parental burnout . Of course, if the psychological state is difficult, then you should not force yourself to do it by force.
Third, it is good for your career. Maintaining your skills and adding to your portfolio, even with small and simple projects, is always a plus. It will make it easier for you to get into the workflow.
Ask for help
If a baby under three years old really needs his mother, then an older child can easily spend more time with other relatives or even a nanny. You can choose one of the options below or combine several.
Send your dad or other relatives on maternity leave
Not only the mother, but also the father and even other relatives have the right to maternity leave. This option can be beneficial if the mother earns well or is simply tired and wants “freedom”.
Hire a nanny
You can ask nannies for help. There are many options now: you can search independently, or you can contact an agency. Some agencies offer additional services that can be useful if the child goes to kindergarten, but sometimes still gets sick. So there is a service “substitute nanny” – an agency employee will come in for a replacement in cases of force majeure, if the child suddenly gets sick or the kindergarten is in quarantine. It is also not necessary to select a person for permanent employment, you can agree with a nanny for a few hours.
Make arrangements with your neighbors or parents in the garden
To be able to unload a little or finish some work, you can team up with neighbors or parents of other children. Let’s say, on Mondays and Thursdays you pick up your child from kindergarten plus someone else’s. And on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they pick up your child together with theirs. The main thing here is to warn the teachers that you will not pick up your child.
Choose a convenient format of work
Work close to the garden
Kindergartens are usually open from 7am to 8pm so that all parents have time to get there from the office. But it is much more convenient if the kindergarten is located near work. Pay attention to this if you already know which institution your child will attend and are looking for a job. Many job search sites allow you to specify a specific metro station near which you are looking for a job.
Remote or hybrid
After the COVID pandemic, remote or hybrid work no longer seems surprising. According to Rambler , 44% of companies planned to maintain remote work after the end of the pandemic. Currently, hh.ru has more than 85 thousand vacancies with a “remote” work schedule.
Agree with your employer about switching to remote work
Try to negotiate at your current place of work about switching to a remote format. Prepare arguments and reasons for the conversation. For example, you can calculate how much money the business will save on paying for coolers and coffee beans if you switch employees to at least 50% of office visits.
Find a new remote job in the same profession
You can search for remote vacancies on hh.ru using the work schedule filter “remote”. Don’t forget to delete the region when searching. It is connected automatically.
There are also a lot of Telegram channels and chats where remote vacancies are posted: “Remote 2.0” , “Freelance Tavern” , “Distance” and others.
Many people think that only representatives of the “new” digital professions work from home: marketers, producers, targetologists. In fact, remote vacancies today exist for many areas. For example, for banking specialists, accountants, lawyers, HR. You can check this by entering the name of your profession in the search on the job site.
Adapt your skills to work online
A copywriter or designer can work both from the office and remotely. But this is not true for all professions. If you cannot work in your profession online, you can find a related field. To do this, in the search on the site with vacancies, write the duties that you perform at work.
Learn a new profession, including at the expense of the state
During maternity leave and even after it, you can learn additional skills and increase your income after returning to full-time work. You can study for free, for example, within the framework of the “Employment Assistance” program . This opportunity is available to mothers of children under three years old and mothers of children from three to seven years old.
Don’t blame yourself
It just so happens that women have to combine many more social roles than men. Even experts from the Department of Labor and Social Protection say: returning to work after maternity leave is difficult. So don’t be upset if you don’t succeed the first tim