This article contains advice on how to make your parental leave transition smoother and effectively manage the expectations of others and yourself.
As your bump continues to grow putting some plans in place will help you feel relaxed and prepared for your impending leave. This will make the transition process smoother and allows you to effectively manage the expectations of others, and yourself, as you navigate this exciting stage of your life.
To start with, some considerations to determine how long you take parental leave for include:
- Advice from your obstetrician/doctor
- Your financial position
- Paid leave available (parental leave, annual, long service)
- Planned childcare arrangements
Most employees will inform their manager around 3 months into their pregnancy or when they have confirmation of a child arriving into their family.
Working together with your manager will make for a smooth transition into your parental leave. It will also give you greater confidence to communicate your needs and or any special requests you may have during this time.
Once you have communicated with your manager about your pregnancy or adoption, there are a few details you will need to work through together:
- The timing of your impending leave and how long you would like to take off
- If/how working arrangement may need to change during your pregnancy so that you can maintain your health and comfort
- How your workload will be managed while you are on parental leave and who you will be handing over your workload to
- What steps you need to take to formally submit your leave request and apply for any workplace benefits with HR
- How you will manage medical appointments so that you do not feel stressed on these days
- Any work that may be performed whilst you are on parental leave
If you are not ready to make a broader announcement about your news, make sure you communicate this clearly to your manager to ensure confidentiality remains until you are ready for the news to be shared with your wider team. You may wish to inform your close colleagues and clients yourself in which case you should also discuss this with your manager.
If you are a same sex parent your chosen path to becoming a parent, whether it is via intrauterine insemination, surrogacy, fostering or adoption is your personal choice. You have a right to privacy regarding your parenting journey and should not feel pressured to share.
It's also never too early to start thinking about how you will manage your childcare arrangements around work once you return from leave. You can choose a mix of childcare options to suit the needs of your family such as long day childcare, family day care, an au pair, nanny, family support or share days with friends.
Costs and social interactions are all considerations for choosing the right combination of care. Choosing the location of your care is also very important as you need it to work in easily with your day, whether the care is close to work or home will vary depending on where both parents work and your drop off and pick up arrangements.