Are there any issues leaving a company after completing a lengthy maternity leave? What's the most polite way to approach this without burning bridges? Is a two week notice sufficient, or is something else expected? I'm afraid of approaching HR to get info in fear of them preventing any merit increase for me should I decide to stay. I'm on my 10th paid week of leave.
Don't bail too soon. It sort of makes it worse for the other women. Company will start expecting ladies to be shopping around during the leave, and then leaving soon after return. Could affect policies around that benefit.
Although this is a fair point, I don’t see why OP needs to represent all women in the company. If indeed a significant portion of women don’t come back from Mat leave, then policies might be impacted. Even so, the HR / company would need to investigate why women are leaving instead of penalizing others with a change in policy. I wouldn’t think a single person leaving the company after a Mat leave adversely affects the HR views. Especially if the exit interviews are well done.
Company won't care if you are on maternity leave or not if they wanna fire you. Why should you? Do what's best for you.
Well that's not true. You legally cannot fire someone on maternity leave, unless there's some insane reason but even then it's a bad idea because you'll almost certainly lose in court still.
Linkedin, you're mistaken. Company can easily include you in a layoff. You'd need to prove it was because of you being pregnant not the other way around. Have seen plenty of women get eliminated while they were in leave.
Nope, you probably doing it for better TC or WLB with the new baby around. Your family comes first.
Literally 100% of the guys I know who took paternity leave at Amazon left nearly immediately on their return.
This ^ is very common. They know you have enough time to look around.
I suppose the upside to quitting immediately following your maternity leave is that you likely won’t have any work items to hand off so your transition will be easier
Men quit after they take their company-sponsored sabbaticals and no one ever bats an eye. Come back for a few weeks then put in notice.
Question is in the right heart. When do we think about being grateful for such accomodations that helps parents to bond with newly borns. I would recommend not to look for other jobs while in the parental leave if the company has been fair to you in the past. If company is bad then this is a good way to say screw you. For eg: Microsoft is relatively a fair company so I would not do that to them whereas Amazon you can screw it!
Thank you for the responses. The new gig just fell into my lap. Will I have to pay my employer back?
Pay your employer back for what ?
Why not stay for a month or two to avoid burning bridges?
A month and then a month notice maybe?
Giving more or less than the 2 weeks notice is weird IMO. Also be prepared (as always) for walkout on notice day. Don't risk vesting or bonus for it