Answer extracted from The Athena Rebels Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
What key onboarding strategy helps parents returning from maternity leave transition back into the workplace?
Keeping in touch days are essential for easing parents back into the workplace, allowing them to remain abreast of changes and maintain connection to colleagues and business direction. These should be part of a comprehensive re-onboarding process rather than a one-day orientation, extending throughout the entire employee journey.
Beyond the first day: structured re-onboarding over time
A single orientation day is insufficient for parents returning from maternity leave. The transition back to work involves far more than a refresh on office procedures—it requires gradual reintegration into team dynamics, updated systems, and organizational changes that have occurred during absence. As discussed in The Athena Rebels Podcast, this is where keeping in touch days prove crucial.
Keeping in touch days allow employees to visit the workplace, reconnect with colleagues, and stay informed about business priorities before their full return. This strategy reduces the shock of re-entry and helps parents mentally prepare for juggling professional responsibilities with parenting demands. The approach acknowledges that returning from maternity leave isn't a single event—it's a process.
Why this matters: the reality of returning mothers in the UK tech sector
The context behind this strategy is stark: 80 percent of UK mothers report that returning to work after maternity leave is very tough. In the tech sector specifically, the challenge is even sharper, with over 50 percent of women in UK tech leaving by age 35. These figures underscore why thoughtful onboarding isn't a nice-to-have—it's a retention and wellbeing imperative.
Parents returning from maternity leave aren't simply picking up where they left off. They're managing changed circumstances—personal, professional, and neurological. Lamara Thorne explores in the episode how structured re-onboarding, anchored in regular keeping in touch days, helps bridge this gap and signals organizational support.
"If a job's worth doing you do it as well as you can to your capacity and your ability and if you can't then you do need to look at is this right for me still."
Lamara Thorne — Team Member, Academy Team at Pax8. As a working parent with three children, Thorne has navigated returning to work after maternity leave firsthand. She took six months off after her first child was born over 13 years ago and returned on a part-time basis of 30 hours per week, eventually progressing significantly in her career at Pax8. She now actively mentors new hires through structured onboarding processes, bringing lived experience and practical expertise to workplace re-integration strategies.
Beyond the immediate re-onboarding period, Thorne emphasizes that organizations must understand the realistic capacity of returning parents. This isn't about lowered expectations—it's about aligned expectations and sustainable workload design. Whether an employee returns full-time or part-time, the keeping in touch days framework ensures they're never operating from a position of total disconnection.
Discover more about how parents navigate the challenge of balancing work and life during this transition in the full episode on Listenly.
Key takeaways
- Keeping in touch days allow returning parents to stay informed about workplace changes and maintain team connection before full re-entry.
- Re-onboarding should be a structured, ongoing process—not a single orientation—to support successful reintegration.
- Organizations must align workload expectations with the realistic capacity of returning parents, whether they work full-time or part-time.
- 80 percent of UK mothers report returning to work after maternity leave as very tough, making thoughtful onboarding crucial for retention and wellbeing.
See also
How does returning to work after maternity leave impact brain chemistry?
The chemical makeup of a parent's brain changes after having a child, a phenomenon that extends beyond 'baby brain.' This neurological change must be understood and managed as part of the transition back to work.
What is the statutory duration of paternity leave in the UK?
Paternity leave is currently only one to two weeks paid in the UK, though the equal parenting leave policy now allows couples to flip roles and have the mother return first while the father takes the longer leave.
How much statutory maternity leave is available in the UK?
Up to 52 weeks of maternity leave is available, with 39 weeks paid. Additionally, equal parenting leave provisions now allow for six months off for the mother and six months for the father.