If you’re a new mom, you probably have mixed feelings about returning to work: You need or want to. Or do you? Yes. No. Maybe. Partly. What? How? Aghhh! So confusing.
To help you sort it out, here are five major return-to-work options for new moms. You can mix and match them to suit your needs, or use different ones at different times. But first, know your options. They are:
1. Gradual Return to Work
You can ease back into your full-time job over a period of several weeks after your baby’s arrival, whether you’re eligible for FMLA or not.
2. Flexible Return to Work
Lots of new moms prefer this option which combines flexibility with full-time hours (through telecommuting or a compressed workweek) or reduced hours (part-time or job sharing arrangement).
One way to approach this is to propose a flexible work arrangement as part of your maternity leave plan. Find specific language to use for doing this in the Max Maternity Leave Proposal Template & Negotiation Guide.
3. Work FROM Home
Also known as telecommuting or telework, this option would fall into the Flexible Return to Work category above. But you may want to ease back into work by performing some of your duties from home before stepping into the office regularly. Propose a part-time telecommuting arrangement, making it clear you are, in fact, returning to work, but part-time, from home.
4. Stay at Home
Before or after your return to work, you decide this is the best option for you and your family right now. But understand the long-term career and financial impact of this decision before taking the leap. Consider proposing a flexible work arrangement as an in-between step to see if that delivers the work and family fit you need. Do an online search for “stay at home calculators” to gauge if it’s an affordable option for you.
5. Work AT Home
Stay-at-home moms often morph into work-at-home moms (WAHM) to earn supplemental income and to keep their skills fresh. WAHMs earn money from home without a traditional job. There are many roads to go with this option but many of them filled with potholes (i.e., scams) and dead ends, so proceed with caution.
If leaving your job and full-time income for a home business is too risky for you, start by blending flexible part-time work and a home business. As your business builds over time, you may reach the point of being able to leave your “regular” job. This is the strategy I used when starting this website.
Take Your Pick
With these five options to choose from, consider and choose the best return-to-work road for you and your family. If you have questions, please let me know how I can help.
More Return-to-Work Advice
Find more Return-to-Work articles and advice at my “baby” website, Maternity Leave Mentor.
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These are some great tips. It’s really hard to go back to work after having a baby and knowledge is power. In my experience, employers are reasonably flexible when you have young children, but less so when they reach school age. This is very difficult because you don’t have the same care options when kids get older
Thanks for your input, Vanessa. One way to address this conflict is to present the *business* case for the flexible work option you want. What has worked for others is to propose flex based on its merits for the employer, without the personal “why” as part of the proposal. I wrote more about this here: http://www.workoptions.com/dont-get-personal