Checklist: Before You Go on Maternity Leave

Before your actual departure, you’ll want to sit down with HR to outline all your leave logistics and fill out any required paperwork. 

  • What forms do I need to fill out and when? 
  • How will I receive my paycheck? If I’m eligible for commissions or bonuses, how will those be paid out in my absence?
  • How do I add my new baby to my health insurance?
  • How do I sign up for a flexible spending account for childcare?
  • How do I add my baby as a beneficiary on my retirement or life insurance policies?
  • When I return, where will I be able to pump? 
  • What happens if I or the baby have complications and I need to extend my leave?

 Get as much as you can in writing from HR, even just by sending an email saying, “I’m writing to confirm what we discussed today regarding my leave . . .” Include every specific detail you can; if your company’s handbook is vague (as most are), this is the closest you’ll come to an official and comprehensive policy.

 

 

Want more? Order Here's the Plan: Your Practical, Tactical Guide to Advancing Your Career During Pregnancy and Parenthood on Amazon.

 

For many women in their 20's and 30's, the greatest professional hurdle they'll need to overcome has little to do with their work life. The most focused, confident, and ambitious women can find themselves derailed by a tiny little thing: a new baby. Here's the Plan offers an inspiring roadmap for working mothers steering their careers through the parenting years. Author Allyson Downey—founder of weeSpring, the “Yelp for baby products,” and mother of two young children—advises readers on all practical aspects of ladder-climbing while parenting, such as negotiating leave, flex time, and promotions.