From my perspective: it really sucks being a colleague of someone who has just come back from one year's maternity leave. It's hard for everyone at stake.
Here's the story, she comes back and she doesn't want to work full time any more but she wants the same role. While we think it's not possible but because we love her we divvy up her work and try to make sure everything goes on as normal. At the same time management tell us the extra workload will not be remunerated because that's how it's going to be if we want her back into the workplace, and they are putting all their resources into making sure she is supported, not us. Is that really fair on us? We don't want her to not come back but the truth is she can't work at the same capacity and it affects everyone else in the team, but she's the only one it seems that will get the support, not us, so management tells us.
So what does the workplace do to accommodate all these costs and intricacies of facilitating a working mother's needs? What do we do to accommodate/accept the decisions made?
What is right and just for her is the opportunity to actually be a mother and still work. And we want that for her because it means something for us too in our future with the organisation. But, somehow nothing was planned and everything is so haphazard now for her coming back. They really should have thought about this 12 months ago when she left to have her baby. Sigh. Mind you, settling in with the manager of the maternity contract was not even that easy and now we go into turmoil again readjusting to yet another change to the team.
Here's my notes for myself:
1) As soon as I fall pregnant, really start thinking about the current workplace and putting things in place so that I can go and come back with minimal impact to the team
2) Don't take that long off work because it makes it harder to come back (Separation anxiety with your kid apparently is easier to deal with when they're much younger) and harder for the team to adjust twice plus it stagnates their progress.
If you've been incredulous reading through this and maybe a little upset, I apologise, but I am noting these feelings because one day I will be on the other side and I have to remember what it was like for my team members now for when it's my turn then.
Also, I was raised very differently. In Asia, Maternity leave was a foreign concept. You get your confinement period to recover and then off you go again. My mother didn't have to worry about the business stagnating or adjusting to change. The mentality is Work is important and she has to put work first so we fitted around her time-wise and priority-wise. And it was acceptable. It was the way it was and it instilled in me a good work ethic myself.
My mum sent me this photo recently. I think she means to say she missed those days when we were little and still clung to her. I was surprised as I had never seen these photos before. I didn't remember ever taking breaks and family trips with my parents when we were little. I assumed they were so busy working that we never went.
So the decision is mine, What will I do when it comes my turn?
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