Back after the Bump: Difficulties of Returning to Work after Pregnancy

By Elizabeth Harrin (New York)

After a year off, you would imagine that employers would be falling over themselves to welcome new mothers back to the workplace. Apparently not. One in three women report that going back to work after having a baby is difficult, according to a new study by the NCT, UK’s leading charity for parents.

There are vast amounts of legislation aimed at supporting the transition of new mothers to the office, and many companies have their own HR policies that often provide enhancements that go beyond the legal requirements. The research by the NCT, the UK’s leading charity for parents, shows that for many companies, this is all lip service, and many of the 400,000 women taking maternity leave in the UK each year don’t feel welcomed back to work when the time comes.

“Although the Government has introduced incentives to encourage mothers back to work, there is a lack of guidance or support for both women and their employers,” says Liz Morris, who completed the research as part of her Master’s degree at Aston Business School.

The research looked at responses from over 1,500 mothers, two thirds of whom had professional or managerial jobs. The financial services sector was well-represented with 13 per cent of mothers holding jobs in banking and finance.

Wanting to Return, But Facing a Difficult Experience

Emma, a bank office clerk, found her return to work extremely frustrating: “I told the HR department and also my line manager when I’d be coming back, but still nobody was expecting me when I returned. I’ve also seen the same happen with two other colleagues. It’s a bit disappointing really and makes you feel as if you’re not wanted.”

And while that might be the attitude employers portray to new mothers, women themselves do want to return to work. 61 per cent of respondents said that they would return, even if they did not need the money. New mothers want the intellectual stimulus and the social contact that the office provides.

“Mums often want or need to go back to work,” says Belinda Phipps, Chief Executive of the NCT. “Despite changes to the welfare system to encourage mothers to return to work, and a raft of legislation for employers, the reality is many still find returning to work after a baby an incredibly daunting and difficult experience.”

While most women do go back to work after the birth of their child, one in five new mothers surveyed reported that they worried about how they would manage the multiple responsibilities that being a working mother brings. “The demands of caring for a child can be radically different to the demands of the workplace,” says Morris. “Women often face realistic anxieties about juggling their new family and their work commitments.”

Another concern is the relationship with colleagues. A third of respondents were worried about the attitude of their boss and team mates and 31 per cent felt that their relationship with their boss was worse since becoming pregnant and returning to work. In fact, 15 per cent said the deterioration in their relationship with their manager had started or declined once they were back in the workplace: not good news for professional management practices.

Solutions for Returning Mothers

“Returning to work when you have a new baby can be very difficult for the new mother and her manager,” says Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of Working Families, the UK’s leading work-life balance organisation. “But the good news is that problems can be avoided by good communications and good planning together.”

Part of the worry about the working relationship with colleagues is due to the desire to shift office hours towards a more flexible model. In the UK, if an employee has responsibility for caring for a child aged 16 or under, they have the statutory right to request a change to a working pattern that suits their needs. This can be in the form of part-time working, compressed hours or term-time only, for example. However, it is just a right to request, not a right to flexible working by default.

Flexible working for mothers, as you would expect, is a popular choice, with 88 per cent saying they wanted to work flexibly on their return to work. And many of the requests are granted: sixty per cent of first time mothers take a cut in hours when they return to work.

Changes Still Needed to Accommodate Returning Mothers

The availability of part-time working looks positive on the surface, but of those who want to return to work with a flexible hours arrangement 16 per cent have no change to their work patterns – the discussions and paperwork fall on deaf ears and their employers make no attempt to accommodate their requests.

Even if women do return to the office (with or without a flexible hours arrangement in place) they rarely return to exactly the same position or with the same responsibility:

• 13% come back to a position with less seniority than their previous role
• 23% come back to a completely different role
• 20% return to the same role but with reduced responsibilities
• 19% return to a lower pro-rata salary

Nearly one in three women felt that their chances of promotion were worse since having a child – 32 per cent of the study respondents recognised that their prospects for career progression had stalled or declined as a result of motherhood.

The lack of support for women returners does not just affect them. Personal difficulties aside, it also has an impact on team morale and the working culture, which can be costly for an organisation. So there is more than just an moral and legal reason to get the return to work policies implemented correctly. Seven per cent of women denied flexible working end up leaving their company – and, you would hope, finding work with a more enlightened employer. A poor experience of working mothers can also influence the choices of other women looking to join the company. There are also financial costs in terms of lower productivity, and increased recruitment and training bills. Taken nationally, that’s a cost of £13.2 million.

“Research shows companies who adopt a positive and constructive approach to a woman’s return achieve a smooth transition and a happier and more productive outcome for all those concerned,” adds Morris.