Returning from Maternity Leave: The Rules to Follow!

Properly organizing maternity leave

The announcement of a pregnancy is very often synonymous with good news. However, it is not uncommon for the good news to turn into a nightmare for future parents in the workplace. Fear of wrongful termination, work overload, not getting annual bonuses....Fears are many

Nearly 1/3 of women feel that announcing their pregnancy bothered their manager.

These all-too-often heard reactions can break the bond of trust between employees and the company in a lasting way and be at the origin of desires to change jobs, loss of motivation and engagement or even burnout.

The best way for the company to avoid a bad welcome to parenthood is to prepare and support its managers. A company that trains its managers on its parental policy shows that it is committed to supporting future parent employees by making the announcement of parenthood simpler and more serene and guaranteeing them a reassuring and non-discriminatory framework. This includes educating managers about labor law and specific parental protections existing in France.

Next, the company must absolutely anticipate maternity leave. It is essential to clearly establish the start and end dates of the leave to avoid any confusion and allow effective resource planning.

For the company, managing a maternity leave departure is not something to improvise. Indeed, managing an employee's absence as best as possible requires the employer to anticipate the date and duration of maternity leave in order to organize business continuity. This may include temporary recruitment or redistribution of tasks within the team.

When an employee goes on maternity leave, the company is very interested in having prepared her departure to avoid a drop in productivity. By planning in advance the projects on which the employee is working, the company can ensure that they are completed on time and that the most important tasks are not left pending during her absence.

The employer can choose to replace the employee or reallocate tasks internally.

There are several solutions to deal with the employee's absence:

• Fixed-term contracts
• Temporary work
• Internal work distribution

Anticipating maternity leave also means reducing the apprehension the employee may have about leaving. Breaking away from work is not experienced the same way by all employees: ambivalence, guilt about stopping, desire to drop everything, fear of leaving projects hanging, fear of the future and return, negative impact on career, etc.

Another point not to be overlooked for the company: it is essential to become familiar with the laws and regulations governing maternity leave to ensure that the employee's rights and duties are respected. By anticipating this, the company avoids any violation of labor law that could have legal or financial consequences.

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Things to do during maternity leave

Maternity leave also means rules to be followed by the company to avoid breaking the law.

• Do not terminate the employee: The law protects women against any form of discrimination based on pregnancy. Thus, it is impossible to terminate an employee who exercises her right to maternity leave. During maternity leave, she benefits from full protection and cannot be terminated. As soon as the employer becomes aware of an employee's pregnancy, they can only break the employment contract on the condition of proving serious misconduct or proving their inability to maintain the contract for a reason outside the state of pregnancy. At the end of maternity leave, the employee cannot be terminated during the 10 weeks following the end of maternity leave or the period of paid leave taken immediately after maternity leave.
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• Respect the duration of maternity leave: The employer must respect the duration of maternity leave which varies depending on the number of children to be born or already in care. Although the employee is free to choose the dates of her leave, it is impossible to employ her during a period of 8 weeks before and after delivery.
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• Guarantee the employee's pay and its evolution: During maternity leave, the pregnant employee receives daily allowances paid by social security. In order for the employee to receive these allowances, the employer must provide a wage certificate. This statement will allow the Health Insurance to calculate the daily allowances the employee can benefit from. Moreover, your industry's collective bargaining agreement may require you to supplement these allowances up to salary level.
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• Maintaining the connection: Once on leave, nothing prevents the employee and her colleagues from staying in touch informally. A lunch together, a call to check in, the purchase of a birth gift are all friendly actions that allow the employee to not feel forgotten or isolated and that forge a team cohesion at the same time.
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• Organize a return-to-work medical visit: Once maternity leave is over, it is crucial to organize a medical visit with the occupational health physician within eight days of return. This visit aims to verify the employee's fitness to resume her position under good conditions.
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• Plan a professional interview: The law requires the employer to offer an interview to the employee upon her return from leave to discuss her career development prospects and training needs. This interview, which is not a performance evaluation, allows the employer to show that it takes into account the employee's ambitions and aspirations.
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• Implement accommodations to facilitate return to work: for example a nursing room or a space to allow the employee to pump milk during her hours at the office

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Organization after returning from maternity leave

A return from maternity leave or as a second parent is far from trivial and must not be relegated to the background by the company. Between short nights, repeated medical appointments, breastfeeding, childcare and return to work, the father and mother employee who become parents must learn to manage a new balance between private and professional life.

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New parents face a still shaky balance where they must learn to juggle between new family habits and readjustment to professional life, where they must not only find their place but also update their professional profile and integrate back into the team.

Return to work is a key moment for employees and it is essential that their welcome be given as much thought as the arrival of a new person in the company.

The company can help new parents to get through this period as smoothly as possible by recognizing their new reality, then trusting them to find their rhythm and their bearings again.

1 in 2 women feel that their company was not attentive/understanding enough upon their return from maternity leave.

Thus, the employer must comply with certain rules to guarantee a good return: ensure that the employee finds her position or similar employment with equivalent compensation, and recognize periods of work interruption such as maternity leave in the calculation of end-of-contract benefits and other benefits related to seniority.

• The job position: Upon her return, the employee must find her original position, or similar employment with equivalent compensation. This is simply a change in working conditions not subject to the employee's express agreement.
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• Salary increases: Employees returning from maternity leave are entitled to a salary catch-up to ensure they do not suffer career delay due to parenthood. They must benefit from the general increases decided by the company, as well as the average of individual increases received during their maternity leave by employees in the same professional category or, failing that, the average of individual increases in the company.
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• Remember to plan the medical visit: necessary within 8 days of return.