FMLA

So, you’ve told your boss your pregnant.  Which probably means your family, friends and co-workers are now clued in to your big news as well, or will be very soon.  Inevitably, you’ll soon be setting up baby registries and trying to avoid the silly diapering or toilet paper-based games at your shower.  While you’re busy planning your nursery and picking out baby names, it’s also important that you’re preparing appropriately for your maternity leave at the office – and this can be a daunting task.

We all like to think that we are irreplaceable and that no one else can do the job that we do.   While it may be true that no one else can do the job just like you do, if you do it right, your co-workers SHOULD be able to bridge the gap for you during our leave with little disruption to their own roles.  As career driven women, who have spent years climbing the ranks, this may be hard idea to accept – I know it was a scary prospect for me.   You’ve spent how long building up your capital and respect at work and now you’re just going to hand it over for three-ish months to somebody else? What if they find out I’m a fraud or decide I’m not good enough? What if we lose a major client because I’m not there to steer the ship?  I’m due on Opening Day – my entire team is going to hate me – how will I make this work?

Well ladies, I’m going to tell you a little secret – with proper preparation, NOTHING WILL BE IRREVERSIBLY DAMAGED WHILE YOU ARE HOME WITH YOUR BABY.  Yes, you are awesome and work your butt of every day, and they’ll be glad to have you back, but they WILL BE FINE WITHOUT YOU! In fact, planning for your maternity leave is an amazing opportunity to show your company just how much value you really bring to the table.   You can demonstrate your delegation skills, plan for the long-term, and put your rock star status on display.   Think about it – not only will you be forced to prioritize your time leading up to your leave, you’ll also have to think about projects three to six (or more) months past your due date and try to determine how to best prepare your team for success with that vision in mind.

Even though the few months leading up to the birth of my son were hectic (he was also born at the tail-end of our busiest time of year), I honestly enjoyed the opportunity to take a step back and take a look at the big picture.   So, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the key things I did to make sure I left my book of business in the best position possible. I wanted to spend my leave focused on my fresh, sweet, screaming small human – and not on my cell phone (this is also probably going to show just how much I like to plan, make lists, etc. – so I hope this isn’t overkill for any of you more “go-with-the-flow” gals).

This isn’t an all-inclusive checklist, more questions to ask or things to think about in the months after you announce your pregnancy.  Every company’s maternity leave policy is different and it’d be impossible to come up with a checklist that can be applied so broadly.  However, thinking about some of these things early in your pregnancy can help you build out your own checklist and make sure everyone on your team knows the plan during your time out of the office.

Do not take these bullet points as gospel.  I am by no means a FMLA expert (at least not yet – I hope it’s something that’s a by-product of this blog), so please be sure to confirm all of your company’s requirements with your Human Resources office.   These suggestions are based on my personal experience and conversations with other Sports Biz Moms.

• Tell your boss: Before you do anything else, go back, do not pass go, and read this post if you need help.
• Talk to HR: Confirm your maternity leave benefits and filing requirements with your human resources department. If your leave is not entirely paid (which unfortunately in the United States, it’s probably not), you may be able to take vacation days concurrently with your leave.  This is important to think about, especially if you’re able to rollover vacation days from year-to-year. I found out I was pregnant in July and my son was due in March, so I purposefully banked a bunch of vacation days in the year prior so I could have more weeks paid during my leave.  I received six weeks paid through short-term-disability and then used my saved vacation time for another two weeks’ pay.
• Short-Term Disability: Some of you may be wondering what the heck I was referencing in the previous bullet point. Many companies pay their employees during maternity leave through their short-term disability insurance policy.  The exact benefits vary, but in most cases the length of time paid depends on whether you delivered vaginally or via cesarean section.  I thought this article did a nice job at attempting to explain this exciting topic…
• Technology: Talk to IT about their suggestions for prepping your technology for an extended absence. Does your computer need to be logged-in to your internal network/VPN every so often to make sure you’re not locked out of the system when you return?  I learned this the hard way and spent two and a half miserable days being able to only access email through a public desktop that had not been updated in several years.  The worst part of my first few days back at work was not being able to do actual work – it just made it that much easier to remember the small human I left with complete strangers at daycare.
• Childcare: Talk to your boss about your childcare plan and how they would prefer you handle any emergencies. Your partner’s work flexibility will weigh heavily on your options here, but it’s important to consider should you need to pick-up you baby from day care during work or event hours.  Once you get to cold and flu seasons there will come a day when your sweet ball of germs isn’t allowed to be around other babies, and it’s going to be during the playoffs, big pitch meeting, opening day, etc.
• Work Flexibility: On a related noted to the point above, be sure to discuss options for flexible work arrangements with your employer. Your baby’s doctor appointment schedule will put your own social calendar to shame and it sometimes may be more efficient for you to work from home in the morning/afternoon if your doctor’s office is not convenient to your commute.  You may also be able to consider creative ways to fit in time with your child during game nights or weekends when you don’t have direct work responsibilities.  Can you have them with you at the ballpark/arena/stadium if your partner or another family member is able to take over if an emergency pops-up?  On non-event or game days, can you come in early and leave early? Check out my interview with Tiffanne Ryan at the St. Louis Cardinals, as we touched on this topic. Everybody loves a baby in those cute noise-cancelling headphones…
• Mom Network: Are there other Mom’s in your office? Talk to them. Get to know them well. They should be the best resource for you in navigating your company’s approach to working mothers. It’s so important to have an empathetic resource in the office and this can make such a huge difference on the day when you haven’t slept, your babysitter bailed, and you’re on week 3 of the world’s worst cold.  You’ll love your baby, I promise…
• Breastfeeding/Pumping: If you plan to breastfeed, be sure to discuss pumping accommodations and schedules with human resources and your boss. It’s important that you are able to schedule this time throughout your day (in the beginning that life sucker – the pump, not your baby – will probably be attached to you every 3 hours) and that you have clean, private place to do so.  This DOES NOT mean the public restroom.  This means a room with a lock and shielded from the view of the rest of your office.  Ideally, it would also include a sink and a refrigerator.  This is actually a law, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, so please share this link if you need to lobby for real estate.  If you need help with this conversation, I am more than happy to chat at any time and I truly mean this.  Please email me.  I pumped at work for 13+ months and have grown far too comfortable talking about it with anyone who will listen.
• Your Stand-ins:Think about who will cover for you while you’re out. Your boss may have a preference, but I would also recommend coming to this meeting with your own suggestions, particularly if you have a big project that you want in trusted hands. When I was leave, it was during a somewhat busy time of year, so I split my territory among three of my co-workers and that helped lighten their workload and make sure my partners received the best service possible in my absence.
• Your To-Do List: Build a calendar working backwards from you due to date (mine started about 10 weeks out) that highlights important projects, deadlines, etc. and cross things off the list as they’re completed.   This will be help you prioritize your work before you are out of the office, and can also serve as a guide for your co-workers should baby arrive earlier than expected.
• Looking Forward: After you create your plan of work to get done BEFORE you’re on leave, extend that calendar through your time off and your first four weeks back at work. This should highlight projects and deadlines your team needs to keep the ship afloat while you’re out and will help you focus once you get back to the office.
• Status Updates: Schedule regular meetings with your co-worker(s) to discuss status updates and any outstanding issues once you near your due date. About six weeks prior to my due date, I began weekly status updates with my colleagues where I ran them through any major project updates and filled them in on the various idiosyncrasies of my partners.  Depending on the relationship with your supervisor, they may also want to be included in these meetings.
• Back-up: Save all of your important files on a shared office drive. You don’t want to have to crack open your laptop during a precious nap time to send someone a spreadsheet.  I’d also suggest diving into these folders with your colleagues to explain your own system of organization in your weekly status meetings.
• Go-Time: What is the communication plan for when you go into labor? Will you tell your boss and your co-workers when you go to the hospital or after the baby is born? If your experience is anything similar to mine, you’ll have 27+ hours to keep the team updated, but the constant barrage of nurses, doctors and husbands poking around (literally) will make you want to avoid all conversation – figure this out ahead of time.  I texted both my boss and my co-workers to let them know it was go-time and they all received an update after my son finally made his appearance.

There you go folks.  My over-planning tendencies for all the world to see.  If I had to sum up the maternity leave planning process simply, it would be OVERCOMMUNICATE.  You may think your co-worker knows that Mrs. James in Suite 42 likes her popcorn stale and beer served at room temperature, but it’s best not to make assumptions – both in planning for maternity leave and in considering the capacity of your infant’s diaper.

Please do reach out to me with any other suggestions or tips.   I’ve only birthed one human at one company, so I’m sure there’s some things I’ve missed that we can add to the list!