Should Office Call or Email you when you are on Maternity Leave
Your office should not be calling you or emailing you when you are on maternity. Your boss should completely not get in touch for work purposes.
Maternity leave is strictly a time for the mother and her newborn. It is her time to recover from birth and bond with her baby before she can go back to work, if at all. It is hence time off work and should not be used by the employer to still get the mother to work.
The only exceptions or reasons the office should seek you out when you are on maternity leave is when it is absolutely necessary and no one else can address the matter at hand. For instance if only you has access to crucial information that is needed urgently.
However this should happen if there is proper transition and handing over when you were starting out your maternity.
Should you Ignore or Pick Office Calls when on Maternity Leave
You are not obligated to pick offices calls or respond to office emails when you are on maternity. As such you can absolutely ignore that call or email that is coming from the boss or the office and you are still on the maternity leave.
However some context makes it reasonable for you to pick the office calls. Depending on your role and position you can judge the ability of your office handling things on your absence without consulting.
However if you are very senior decision making position, you might consider picking the calls and hearing out what the issue is. From then you can guide them on what to do or who to contact about the matter.
Can you be Fired for Ignoring Work Calls or Emails when on Maternity Leave?
No you can not lose your job because you failed to pick an office call or reply to an email when you were on your maternity. You employer can not fire you for being unreachable. Should this happen, consult a lawyer on how to proceed by taking your boss to court on wrongful termination.
As a mom on her maternity leave, here are a number of ways you can prevent having to still ‘work’ while on your maternity leave.
How to Avoid Work Calls/Emails when on Maternity Leave
1. Train your Replacement Before Leaving for Maternity Leave
One of the major things you need to do in preparation for your maternity leave is to make sure your replacement at work is settled. The training and orientation is crucial to successfully prevent your employer or colleagues from calling you or emailing you for work issues while you are on your maternity leave.
Depending on the nature of your work, make sure you set aside ample time to orient and train your replacement. There is no best time to train them than when you actually find out your are expectant. The goal of this training is to ensure he/she can handle your duties efficiently and effectively while you are away.
Your replacement needs to be a capable person and you must invest in making him or her independent of handling your workload without the need to call you. It may be a new employee or an old colleague from your department.
Nonetheless, there may be a necessary call here and there but mainly you want to ensure your work still goes on efficiently in your absence before you actually go on your maternity leave. The trick will make sure you are left alone to enjoy your maternity leave with no work calls.
2. Only Help on your Terms when on Leave
For some roles, your position can too sensitive and crucial. As such there may be answers that only you can answer. If you are on paid maternity leave, and in this predicament, set your helping terms. Remember you are not obligated to help, pick calls or reply emails but can choose to entertain some small requests.
To ensure that your employer and your colleagues respect your time off work, state the time, scope and channels under which you are available for questions. For instance, give your office a day within the week for any work related questions. You can also have them call on certain hours of the day only.
Another way is setting the communication channel such as via leaving a message only. Also let your employer know you are not in a position to make any physical presence at the office whatsoever.
Let them understand you are not available under any other terms other what you are offering. It sets a respectful and healthy way in which you can help your office transition the work in the office.
Importantly it saves you the mental and emotional strain of having to think and handle emergency work calls unexpectedly during your maternity leave.
Read: Different Ways of Spending your Maternity Leave
3. Don’t Answer Work Calls or Reply Emails
It is very unfair for employers to expect new mothers to continue working during the time they should be recovering. It is especially so for employers whose policies do not cover maternity leave.
Simply ignoring your employer and colleagues’ work calls and emails is a professional muted way of dealing with such intrusive work calls during your maternity leave. Legally you are not allowed to work on your maternity leave and you are within your rights to ignore the work calls and emails. You cannot lose your job because of this.
However you need to make sure your office is capable of handling day-to-day operations in your absence without asking for direction.
If you choose this approach it is very important to be consistent throughout the maternity leave. If you open your availability and willingness for small tasks, your colleagues and employer will take advantage and expect you to handle everything they ask you to.
Read: How Much Work is too Much Work
4. Charge for Work Requested During Maternity Leave
Another effective way of keeping your employer from asking you to work during your maternity leave is to charge them for it. It is especially so if you are on unpaid maternity leave but still your employer expects you to help with work.
If you are in such a situation, charge your employer for the time you are helping out. You should ensure that you clock in for all those hours so that you can be paid for them.
Many moms are afraid of having trouble with their employer so they just give in to the office work demands yet they are on maternity leave. The trick will stop the employer from asking you to work. You will notice work calls drop once you have this discussion with the office.
I assume that you had a well-trained replacement and the office is capable of running well without you.
Read: What to do when you are On Unpaid Maternity Leave
Secrets on Completely Disengaging with Work During Maternity Leave
1. Do not Open or Use your Company Work-related Accounts
The best way to avoid work matters when you are on leave is not log in or access your work accounts. Leave the office line at work, do not open your emails or log in into any work platform for the entire period you are on leave.
Technically your employer should have your work accounts disabled so that you are not able to access work while you are on your maternity leave. This includes work systems, work emails, office phones, etc. Therefore you should be able to access any of these when you are still on maternity leave. Your access should be blocked or inactivated for the entire period of your maternity leave and reactivated when you resume work.
When you go on maternity leave, you should become non-contactable and it’s not an option for your office to call you for work. Doing so helps you to completely disengage from work and enjoy your maternity leave.
2. Comply with your Contract Terms & Company Policy
Look at the terms set in your employment contract and its provisions about work during leave. Also look at the company policy what it guides you in approaching this matter.
Other aspects to consider are the law and associated implications so that you can devise an effective approach in handling office work calls or emails during maternity leave.
The best way to decide what to do when you are in a dilemma is to ensure you are within what you are obligated to do. It is the safest way you can stay away and disengage completely from work until your maternity leave is over.
3. Set at Automated Work Emails Reply
Let anyone trying to contact you especially clients and co-workers that you are not available. It is a very effective may of staying away from work matters until you complete your maternity leave.
Some phrases such as “Hey, I’ll be unavailable for work-related questions until (date). I left instructions for all of my duties (location), or you can try to ask so and so for assistance” are effective.
It will serve to reinforce your boundaries when your colleagues try to email you.
Set work your email to automatically respond you are not available. It can be something like “I am out of the office for maternity leave. The email is currently not be monitored at this time. For immediate help call or email so and so”
Being mindful of consistency and remember that communication is important when setting expectations. Once you’ve established an expectation of some level of responsiveness, you need to keep or update your new boundaries should they change.
4. Maintain Professionalism when Contacted
Be professional and polite while declining work during maternity leave. Decline work firmly but politely. Use phrases such as “I already have a commitment so I am unable to participate”, “I’d love to help but this would violate the terms of my leave. Please reach out to X as I’m sure they’d be able to direct you”.
However depending on your contract, be accommodating of emergency crises that only you can handle. Asking a quick question can be reasonable in some cases. It could be a question specifically about you that no one could answer.
5. Let Go of Guilt
Do not feel guilty about declining to work on your maternity leave. It’s totally within reason to decline to participate in work while on maternity leave.
6. Plan Ahead
Do your share of preparation and handovers for maternity leave. It is your best defense when you decline the office calls and emails. Your employer’s failure to prepare adequately for your leave is not your responsibility.
Before your maternity leave , have very detailed plans of what needs to be done in your absence. It will give your replacement enough direction to carry on work without contacting you. It is important for crucial tasks and details as no one knows what might happen at work in your absence.
Leave a section of your maternity detailing what you can be contacted for. Have a document that covers what you do day-to-day, and who is filling in for you among other things.
6. Switch Off Personal Phone
As an option you can decide to switch off your personal phone. Some moms have gone to the lengths of changing their numbers so that they remain completely out of reach by the office or the boss. Your office does not require you to keep your personal line open.
As such you can completely eliminate the chances of the office reaching out to you by switching off your line until you are back at work.
On the side you can keep open a different line for family and friends.
