Arranging your Maternity Leave

It’s Mat Leave Monday! I know it’s my most favourite day of the week, and I’m sure it’s yours, too. Today I’m talking about making arrangements with your employer for your maternity leave.

I am a planner by nature. Nothing makes me happier than having a plan, executing a plan, writing up a plan, plan gumbo, pan-fried plan, you get the picture. I’m pretty much completely neurotic. You may not be. But when you’re pregnant or adopting a child you still need to decide what you would like to do for your leave, and set it up with your employer. Nothing would make me happier than to help you devise a plan of your own.

Here are some steps you might take:

Learn how maternity and parental leave work in Canada
I’ve written a couple of brief overviews of maternity leave as part of this series. You can read those here and here. You can also check out the federal government’s website here. At the most basic level, you need to determine if you will qualify for EI, if your partner will qualify for EI, and what your benefits level will be. You also need to understand how maternity and parental benefits work – how long they are, and how they can be shared. This will give you a starting point to work from.

Find out all you can about your employer’s policies
Once you have a bare bones understanding of how maternity and parental leave works in Canada, you will want to find out what other benefits you may receive from your employer. For example, do they offer any supplemental pay? How do they handle your medical and other premiums while you are away? Can you use any sick or vacation time in addition to your government-paid leave? What provisions exist for changing your duties if necessary while you are pregnant? These are all good things to know.

Some companies (like mine) have internal websites that outline all of their benefits and policies. You can often find info about maternity and parental leave there. If you’re in a union the agreement may outline what happens during pregnancy and maternity leave. Some moms search out a work friend who’s recently gone on leave, and who won’t spill the beans prematurely. Or you can usually speak with an HR or union rep in confidence, to get the scoop.

Find out all you can about your partner’s benefits
Some companies offer additional benefits to partners, as well. Examples include supplemental pay, the option to take an unpaid leave of absence, using banked or flex time, or even specific paid parental leave (my husband gets 4 days). And, of course, your partner may save up vacation time to use as well. Knowing what is available for your partner can help you decide how you will handle parental leave. It will also guarantee that your partner doesn’t miss out on any opportunities to spend more time with the new baby.

Decide how you will share parental leave
Once you understand what benefits you qualify for, and how much you will be paid, you are in a better position to decide how (or if) you want to split your parental leave. Remember, you can take leave at the same time or one after the other. If you do decide to share leave, you should also decide if you want to spend the time together, or if you want to take turns. It’s important to decide this up front, so that you can both arrange for the appropriate amount of time off with your employer.

Determine your last day of work, and your first day back
Once you know how much leave you will be taking, and whether you will be using any vacation or other time, you should decide when you will go away. It says here that you can start receiving benefits as early as 8 weeks before your due date, or as late as the week your baby is born. Your employer will want to know when your last day at work will be, and when your leave will actually start. You should also determine what your first day back at work will be, at least approximately. Everyone understands that pregnancy is unpredictable and the decisions you make early on may change. But having a rough outline is helpful for everyone.

Decide if and how you will make yourself available during your leave
Some parents decide to check in with work periodically, or to make themselves available for the occasional question. Others feel that they want to take the time completely away from work to focus on their new baby (or babies). It’s up to you, but you should be up front with your employer about what your plans are. In any case you may want to make provisions for a backup person who understands your role and responsibilities, and who can answer questions that may come up during your leave.

Don’t assume that your boss understands how maternity leave works
I am the only woman from my team who has gone on maternity leave that I am aware of. Certainly, there hasn’t been anyone else in at least 10 years. I assumed that my boss would understand the ins and outs of the system. He didn’t, because it really hadn’t come up for him. So he asked me a lot of basic questions that I wasn’t prepared for. Understanding how things work and being ready to share your knowledge may prove valuable if you work in an environment where there aren’t a lot of women having babies. A pregnant engineer, as I discovered, is something of an oddity.

So, that’s my guide to planning your maternity leave. It’s hardly authoritative, but I hope it’s at least a little bit helpful. It would warm the cockles of my type A heart to believe that even one person out there is making a plan because of me.

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