testimonials and advice to succeed in this course

Will my job be saved? Will I be up to it? What will happen to my business? The law protects women (and men) who take maternity leave. Even if, in fact, efforts are still needed to ensure that the recovery takes place in the best conditions. According to a survey report about returning to work after maternity leave from Issence, a training and counseling agency for balancing parenthood and career, 81% of women returned to work without benefiting from their rights. And 55% of women believe that their employer did not listen enough or was judgmental about their professional abilities, even discriminating. In addition, 66% of mothers see a negative impact of their maternity leave on their work and 78% of them believe that this impact is beyond their control.

Returning to work after maternity leave: what the law says

Maternity leave is automatic and compulsory. It must be taken partly before delivery (prenatal leave) and partly after (postnatal leave). During this period, Social Security pays compensation to the mother-to-be/new mother. The duration of maternity leave varies (from 6 to 26 weeks) and the leave can be brought forward or postponed.
What about returning to work after maternity leave? The law provides that women returning from maternity leave resume their previous job or a similar job with at least equivalent remuneration » to that which they had before their maternity leave (art. L 1225-25 of the Labor Code). The Court of Cassation specified in a judgment of 2011 that the employee should be reinstated in priority in her previous job if it is available (Cass soc, 25.05.2011, n° 09-72.556). In addition, the employer is prohibited from dismissing an employee during the 10 weeks following her maternity leave (art. L 1225-4 of the Labor Code).
A return to work visit is mandatory and must be proposed by the employer within 8 days of returning to work. This visit takes place with the occupational physician, during (paid) working hours. The purpose of the return to work visit is to verify the conditions for return to work: ability to return to work, compatibility of the workstation with the state of health, adjustments and possible adaptations of the workstation, etc.
Direct or indirect discrimination with regard to family status is (of course) prohibited (art. L 1132-1 of the Labor Code) with regard to remuneration, training, reclassification, dismissal… A 2019 judgment of the Court of Cassation specifies that the absence of reinstatement in employment or in a similar job at the end of parental leave is prohibited discrimination (Cass soc, 14.11.2019, n° 18-15.682).

Manage the waltz of emotions

It seems to be a stereotype, but the arrival of a child really changes the life of the parents! After several weeks of merging, the mother entrusts her child to a third person (nursery, nanny…). It is a difficult separation that often engenders guilt and even a little pain. Furthermore, the return to work causes stress : fear of feeling overwhelmed, fear of judgement, fatigue due to the baby’s broken nights, accumulation of things to catch up on at work, concern about his ability to manage his work and his new family life… To this must be added the sometimes disappointing conditions of the resumption… We speak of the “fifth trimester”, this period of return to work following maternity leave.
For Morgane, if the return to work went well within her company, it was in her head that it was complicated. “Between the impression of having forgotten everything and the new organization, I had the feeling of no longer knowing what to do. I no longer felt legitimate about my work and thought that everyone had forgotten me a bit (customers and contacts). After a few months, I can say that it was more of a feeling than a truth and everything recovered quickly, but the beginnings were complicated. »

Finding your place… or changing jobs

The “similar job” that employers are required by law to give to women returning to work after maternity leave can be very disappointing and the work sometimes takes place in unpleasant conditions.
The investigation report about Issence’s return to work after maternity leave is sobering… The investigation reveals that 28% of women have not found the job they had before their maternity leave. And only 19% of them were aware of this change before resuming. The changes are mainly as follows: modification of the job description, relocation of the physical office, change of place in the organization chart.
Annabelle, on her return from maternity leave, changed her position for an equivalent position – according to her manager. “I am in dispute over my 2022 rating, down from 2021 and 2020. No justification from the employer. But the manager agrees with me on the inconsistency of this downgrade. Next episode at the Administrative Court! »

Between the impression of having forgotten everything and the new organization, I had the feeling of no longer knowing what to do. I no longer felt legitimate about my work and thought that everyone had forgotten me a bit (customers and contacts).

Estelle has a position of responsibility. She took 9 months maternity leave. “Just before I left, my N+1 left. During my leave, my team completely changed. In the meantime, there has been a change of strategy. In this context, the recovery was very complicated, my scope was reduced, and therefore my responsibilities. A person was recruited, with whom I had to be in pairs. I had learned about the life of the company during my leave but I was far from imagining all these changes. Finding your place when everything you built before no longer exists is not easy.I had to gradually redo my place and gain the confidence of my team, to deal with a new, slightly omniscient boss. With hindsight I think that there was no desire to dismiss me on the part of my manager. Simply, he did not know how to welcome me and did not take enough time for me. I regret that the new priorities and the reorganization were not clearly explained to me. I had no disparaging remarks, people were happy to find me. And I did have an interview, but HR being so new, she didn’t know my background. This interview was therefore not very useful. In short, I would say that I felt alone, not sufficiently accompanied by my superiors. »

Time needed to readjust

The same study, still, indicates that 40% of mothers return to work without feeling confident with the chosen childcare mode. A concern to add to the difficult return to work. Besides, 30% of women need 1-2 months to feel fully back to work . 23% need 3 to 5 months. 22% of women need 6 months to 1 year. 4% of women even need more than 1 year to feel fully back at work. And 8% of women never feel 100% back at work.
While women have the right to breastfeed during their working hours, only 1 out of 2 breastfeeding women continue breastfeeding after returning to work. And 25% of them stop in the face of the difficulties that this entails.

Returning to work after maternity leave: our advice to prepare for it

Returning to work after maternity leave can be strewn with pitfalls: strong emotions, fatigue, fear, dissatisfaction due to the conditions of recovery… In order to try to limit disappointments, it is therefore better to prepare your return well.

• Anticipate to be well prepared

Start by contacting your employer 1 month before you return to work. To indicate the precise date of your return, to hear from your company, your colleagues (and also a little to do something other than change baby and feed him, at least during the time of a phone call). This call can also reassure you: your employer has not forgotten you, the job will be there when you return…
1 or 2 weeks before returning from maternity leave, put your nose in your emails. Find out about ongoing cases from your colleagues. This information taken will save you some time when you return to business. Also test your childcare mode a little before your return date from maternity leave. You will be reassured and will be able to concentrate on your work (less than before the arrival of your baby perhaps, but that is normal). And of course, rely on the co-parent. This new organization must be done by two people.

Hélène bet on anticipation to resume in the best possible conditions. “I first contacted my director 2 weeks before my return so that we could hold a brief information meeting. I then took the time to go through my mailbox to note the important topics that needed to be addressed when I returned – it saves waiting for someone to come to me, I prefer to be notified at least to feel in the bath . You have to be clear, a maternity and childbirth resets the counters to zero, the brain does a lot of sorting so it’s normal to forget and to see your bearings renew themselves. I lived my two pregnancies like that, it was a new start every time, but with more experience. Once at work I warned that the organization with the crèche no longer allowed me to be present at late meetings. From then on, I planned two options: to be represented or to participate by Teams. As I was still breastfeeding in the evening and in the morning at that time, I chose to be represented. And then, little by little, I organized a few video meetings. Everything fell into place gradually. My management and my colleagues have welcomed this change positively. This positive and caring environment was ideal for reconciling this return to work which will last until kindergarten in fact. What I remember from this period is that you first have to prepare and anticipate. This allows for a smooth recovery. Then it takes humility, because you can have memory lapses and forgetfulness in your professional practice because of short nights and hormonal swings. And you have to communicate to reassure those around you, especially your management and your colleagues. Finally, you have to prioritize your work. Less time, more fatigue and more mental load that only leaves room to do the essentials. So you have to delegate the rest. »

• Be indulgent with yourself

When you resume, if necessary, ask your superior for an arrangement of your work allowing you to reconcile your new family life and your professional life. It is in his interest as in yours that your working time is optimized, without stress and at times that allow you to be operational.
At last, don’t be too hard on yourself.It’s obvious that it will take you a little time to get back into the swing of things. Don’t feel guilty about your child cared for by a third person or your employer for whom you give yourself a little less trouble than before your maternity leave. You do like all women who return to work after maternity leave: do your best.