Several Essential Tips For Using KIT Days To Your Advantage No comments yet
The Work and Families Act was lauded as being advantageous to mums-to-be when it was introduced in 2007. Up to a year off work could be enjoyed, with nine months of statutory maternity pay. Families celebrated that they would be able to allocate more time and attention to the vital task of preparing, accepting and then raising the child during this critical period. Maternity leave is seen as a basic human right in our caring society, although it can put pressures on both employer and employee as part of an ongoing working relationship. Employers must take into account that pregnancy is possible among the female employees and they must be able to work within the law, by taking on temporary staff as needed to cover for any women that might be on maternity leave. This is bound to cause a certain amount of disruption, but in the majority of situations, this is taken in stride.
For the mum on maternity leave a new clause entitles her to “keep in touch” by taking advantage of 10 legislatively allocated days, allowing her to attend work and receive payment accordingly. This element of the legislation was introduced by Parliament to try and smooth over the disruption and the disconnection that could otherwise occur between employer and employee over this lengthy period of time.
Mum can take advantage of keeping in touch days from several different perspectives. Mum will be able to keep on top of those latest trend changes. It is certainly possible to do a lot of research while remaining at home and to get all kinds of e-mails and other notifications when on leave, but there is nothing to replace that feeling of actually being at your work place, talking and interacting with other staff members and seeing how new policies and procedures are actually working. This is a strategic way of keeping in touch and when time approaches to return to work, the employee should be “up to speed” and ready to be highly productive, once more.
When baby came around, Mum may have been particularly busy with a challenging project. Those keeping in touch days would be particularly advantageous for her in this case, allowing her to continue to follow through and to impart her valued skills. Otherwise, the business may suffer or in certain circumstances, mum may be at somewhat of a career disadvantage when she returns simply due to the fact that she had not been available to work on a pivotal project. In this case, she may simply be “behind” in terms of time spent progressing.
Keeping in touch also will allow mum to interact with her temporary replacement and that could potentially help to smooth over any issues or problems that may arise without this type of informal supervision.
The good thing about each “keeping in touch” day is that it is paid by the employer and is not accounted for, from maternity leave pay. This can be a little boost, financially, when it is much needed.
Make no mistake about it, sometimes an extended period away from work can be very challenging and you may need to seek out professional coaching to help you understand how to handle it. These days, online life coaching, specifically online life coaching for women, is a service dedicated to helping us understand how to cope with every distinct phase of our personal lives and business careers.
Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!