How to take care of employees on parental leave as a company

Nov 8, 2024 5 min reading

We recently addressed the topic of the rights that parent-employees have at work. What kind of time off can you take when you have a sick child, is it necessary for you to go on business trips, etc. But what is often forgotten in companies are parents-employees on parental leave. They often don’t even exist for the company. You go on maternity leave = you are no longer our employee. Yes, we send you money, but we don’t care about you because who knows when you’ll be back. You will get a second child or you will definitely start somewhere else.

Why is this approach wrong? Here are a few reasons.

5 reasons why you should take care of employees on parental leave

They are your employees and the company takes care of the employees

Every employee needs some care. Giving an employee a salary is not enough. And just like that, it is not enough to send money to an employee on parental leave. It is necessary to communicate with employees, build a company culture with them, motivate them, reward them, take an interest in their needs. And this also applies when they are drawing parental allowance.

She can work for you

Now we lost her for three years. Let’s not count on her. Sentences that are unbelievable clichés. Employees on parental leave are busy and their desire to work is high. 93% of parents on parental leave want to get involved in work. However, only half and only a quarter of them work for their employer. If you take advantage of this and offer them a job, you will easily get an employee who knows the company, has insight, understands company processes, and you will save on hiring and training.

You will retain an experienced employee

When you let parents overboard on parental leave, the risk of them leaving the business entirely increases. You will lose skilled employees and you will be faced with hiring and associated financial investments.

You will gain a competitive advantage

According to a survey by the Byznys pro společnost organization, only every third company in the Czech Republic fully caters to parents. When you pay attention to employees on parental leave, the people around you will find out. The employees highly value flexibility and the possibility to combine parenthood with work, so you will have no shortage of applicants.

You will increase their loyalty to the company

Parental leave is a crisis period not only for the partner relationship, but also for the employee-employer relationship. But if you do your best to get through this ordeal, you’ll end up with an incredibly loyal employee who will thank you for supporting them through the difficult time of parenthood.

Did you know that the Czech Republic has one of the lowest ratios of short-time work to total employment in the EU for a long time? While the EU average is 19.9%, it is only 6% in the Czech Republic.

How to take care of employees on parental leave

And how to take care of mothers or fathers on parental leave as their employer? The following 5 tips can inspire you.

Stay connected

Do you send a newsletter to employees? Why leave out of them those who are on parental leave. They can still receive news from the company and know what’s new. According to surveys by Mumdoo, which deals with the issue of women’s employment on parental leave, 44% of parents would like to receive information about what is happening in the company, and even 50% during maternity leave. But only 14% of them receive automatically sent messages and e-mails. Not contacted and no communication between parents and staff in 37%. In many other cases, however, it is tied to the parent-employee initiative. Therefore – do not be afraid to send news to your employees on parental leave. And if you’re afraid of spamming, it’s enough for HR to ask when leaving whether to send the information to the person in question or to the person in question.

Invite them to events

Are you hosting a Christmas party or company beer? Why should parents sit in the corner? They are your employees and should have the same chance and opportunity to participate in events as others. Parental leave is not sick leave. Meetings help maintain relationships and increase employee loyalty to the company. You will relieve him of the feeling that he is no longer important to the company. We explained why this should be your goal at the beginning.

Offer them a job

There is no need for you to invent a job for a job or to deliberately remove work from the agenda of this parent. Just ask if he would be willing to work in another, similar position. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a long-term collaboration either. Just offer to help on a time-limited project.

And an important note, don’t be afraid to open the job offer topic repeatedly.

Just because the employee-parent rejected you doesn’t mean they won’t change their mind in half a year. The child grows, his needs change, and with it the possibilities of the parent.

In order for mutual cooperation to work, you must not forget the most important thing – communication. So don’t be afraid to ask and look for ways to do it together.

According to the Mumdoo survey, women who care for a child up to four years of age would like to work an average of 17 hours a week.

Offer to babysit them

The availability of babysitting is one of the basic factors that affect a woman’s ability to work on maternity leave.

According to the Mumdoo survey, 38% of respondents who have childcare do not work, but 77% of the group of parents who do not have childcare.

The possibility of putting the child in a daycare center or children’s group or providing care for him in some other way significantly increases the chances that the parent will start working. If there are more employees in the company, one of the solutions can be the establishment of a children’s group. Another option is the possibility of working from home or, if conditions allow, taking the child with you to work.

Offer them an education

According to Mumdoo, 49% of parent-employees desire education and training. So many of them ticked the answer that they would like to receive information that the company is planning an educational event. Training is not a cheap thing and it is a shame not to invite those who are interested in it. Thanks to the fact that you offer education to parents, you will not only get more participation in the training (which is a secondary issue), but above all you will maintain their qualifications, they will not lose contact with the field, and their subsequent entry will be much more flexible and easier for them and for you.