Jessica Chivers (Returning To Work - Post Maternity/Paternity)
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If an employee is on maternity leave, should we invite them to work events?
Absolutely. Think about if you were off and you knew that your whole work team were going off and having a jolly together or a celebration and you weren't invited. That's going to make you feel completely disconnected and out the loop. And just because you're not working in the team at the moment doesn't mean you're not part of the team. You are. So definitely make those invitations and make it okay for her to say no, say, I just want you to know this is what we're doing. We'd love to see you even if you just come for part of the afternoon, part of the morning, part of the day. But if you don't want to come or can't come, no problem, but I'm going to still keep making the invitations unless you tell me not to.
As an employer how we can we support employees that are breastfeeding?
Great question. So what you don't want to do is say, do you plan on breastfeeding? Because if you are, we'll sort something out because that's going to make someone feel awkward. So if you don't already have the facilities, then it's worth going and talking to HR about, or facilities management or both about what space you could create. It'll need to be somewhere that has a door that locks or that privacy can be insured. It'll need to have a fridge so that she can keep that milk fresh before she takes it home. So think about how you can make the facilities work and then go to your team member and say, just so you know, if you happen to be planning on or think you might want to breastfeed when you come back to work, we have got a facility. Do you want me to send you some photos? Do you want me to send you a bit of video footage of it, or do you want to come and have a look? When you're on a kit day, a keeping in touch day, show them around it and they might say, I don't need it. But the important thing is you've made it work before you even go and tell her about it. Just oodles of thoughtfulness and that really makes someone feel cared for and understood.
Who are you
Hi, I'm Jessica Chivers. I'm a coaching psychologist. I'm the author of a book called Mother's Work, how to Get a Grip On Guilt and Make a Smooth Return To Work. I'm the host of a podcast called Comeback Coach, and I'm a founder of a business called the Talent Keeper Specialists, which is home to the comeback community employee experience. We work with businesses who want to give their people a better return to work experience when they've been away for whatever reason. And we're looking forward to answering your questions on how to keep in touch with people, how to help people to have a confident return, should you do phase returns? How can line managers help someone to come back on in.