6 useful tips when planning ahead for an employee’s maternity leave

Start preparing as soon as possible

Rules and regulations determine when your employee is legally entitled to inform you about the pregnancy at the latest - In Denmark, it’s three months before the due date. As soon as the employee notifies you, you must consider whether you need maternity cover for your employee or the job tasks can be spread around to the team instead. The most crucial factor in your consideration will be “How long?”. In Denmark, the standard lengths are 6 and 12 months. If you determine that maternity cover is the best way to cover for the employee, start the planning process as soon as possible.

You’ll thank yourself (and your team will appreciate you!) for being one step ahead when the deadline starts getting closer. Nothing’s worse than being one employee short and watching your team scramble to pick up the pieces in the process. Planning ahead of time ensures the best prerequisite for a successful transition for you, your employee and your team - and it’s a definite buzz for your employer brand!

Talk to your employee about the daily work schedule

“But I know my employee’s job tasks,” you say while wondering why this is even a chapter for itself. Well, do you know your employee’s daily work schedule? Do you know how much time each task takes or how she prioritises her duties, and how the team dynamics work? If yes, then you’re well ahead in the process, but if not, we suggest you sit down and talk to her and get a detailed overview. The overview will help you structure the job ad and help you delegate every single task to either the new hire or a member of the team!

Full-time, part-time, internship, student worker or nothing?

Again, this will be entirely dependant on the length of the leave. In some cases, it makes sense to hire a student worker to take care of some of the tasks while delegating the rest among the team members. In other cases, the most sensible thing to do is to hire a full-time employee. In both instances, you must consider the profile of the employee, and the amount of work experience you expect is needed to fulfil the job tasks. You might even end up hiring an international candidate - if that’s the case, you can read how to onboard a foreign employee!

We suggest you also involve your current employee to give her perspective on the profile of the fixed-term replacement. Don’t underestimate the positive signal you’re sending when you give your employees ownership over the hiring process!

Planning for the future

Do you intend to expand your team after the maternity leave? You can consider using the maternity cover as a trial for your new potential employee. It may seem like a cynical move on your part, but on the other hand, you’ll get to know your potential new employee during the fixed-term. Thus, you can regard the maternity cover as an extended trial that benefits all parties involved. 

It’s an arrangement where everybody wins because your new permanent employee will already be a part of the organisation and will be aware of the company culture. Most importantly, you know precisely what skill set you’re hiring!

Ensure a smooth transitional process

Let your employee train her fixed-term replacement. Usually, two weeks of overlap is enough for the new employee to get the hang of the tasks and to get to know the team. At the same time, you allow your employee to hand over her tasks and “let go” of her job for a little while. This setup ensures that there’s a smooth transition between the two parties all while productivity never takes a hit. 

You’ll also eliminate any potential conflicts between the team and the replacement. The transition ensures that all parties get to know each other while making sure the new employee is up to speed in regards to team dynamics and team tasks. Your team will appreciate that you have made sure that they can stomp on the gas from day one.

Stay in touch with your employee

Before your employee goes on maternity leave, you should arrange the terms of contact. The frequency of communication and how you communicate will probably top of the discussion list. Do you call or do you send an email? Do you contact your employee once a month or every three months? Make sure that you’re both in agreement. It must never be a method to monitor your employee! However, it can be a way of ensuring a transparent communication process, where you’re both comfortable when talking to each other about the present and the future. 

What’s the point in contacting your employee when you know the date she will return to work? It can benefit both parties, as you might be interested in knowing how your employee is doing and vice versa. She might be interested in the situation at work, or she might want to know all about the tasks looming on the horizon.

Staying one step ahead of the future is a sure-fire way to maintaining your team’s momentum while showing strong leadership skills. By taking care of everything and getting a fixed-term replacement you show that you want your employee to enjoy her maternity leave. Having everything in order signals to every employee that you take great care of your team!