Your maternity leave and maternity pay checklist
Article
Oct 23, 2020
5 mins
It might seem a while away, but once you’ve made your pregnancy announcement, it’s a good idea to begin maternity leave preparations and find out if you’re entitled to maternity pay. Here’s a maternity leave checklist to help.
- Tell your boss your big news. It may vary depending on where you live, but you normally need to let them know by week 25 at the latest.
- Find out if there’s anyone else you need to tell at work. In some companies there are HR reps who can help.
- Ask for a risk assessment in your workplace, things like your workstation and posture may be looked at, as well as exposure to any chemicals.
- Ask your healthcare provider (HCP) about when to get a maternity certificate. The timing and process may vary in different countries and with different HCPs.
- Ask your HCP how the maternity certificate works and who to show it to.
- Think about how long to take off before baby arrives—you may be able to start your maternity leave before your baby is born, depending on which country you’re in.
- Consider how long to take off after baby arrives—there may be a minimum amount of time required, depending on where you live in the world and what you do as a job.
- Work out how much maternity leave is affordable based on maternity pay available.
- Compare how much daycare will cost versus your salary.
- Consider when the best end date for work is.
- Think about when the best return date to work is.
- Speak to colleagues who have been on maternity leave before for advice.
- Ask about any return to work bonuses that may be offered.
- Consider paternity leave and shared leave, if it’s available where you live.
- Check eligibility for shared leave. If it’s limited, how about dad settles baby into daycare for two weeks so mom can ease back into work smoothly?
- Ask about keeping-in-touch days, or ‘KIT’ days, if your work offers them.
- Now you’ve got that admin out of the way, you can reward yourself with a fun task—baby names?! See our checklist for ideas. [LINK TO Baby names help]
