Your options for maternity leave cover: Finding the right fit

So, you’ve had an employee notify you that they’re expecting… on a personal level, you’re really excited for them! But with your business head on, you’re now wondering how to replace them whilst on maternity leave. 

It can feel overwhelming if you’ve never been through the process before of finding the right maternity leave cover for your employees. Especially if they play a key part in your growing company’s day-to-day life. 

We’re here to share your options, discuss the pros and cons of each, and highlight how working with a virtual assistant (VA) might be the perfect answer you didn’t know existed…

UK legal entitlements when on maternity cover

As an employer, it’s vital to understand your employees’ entitlements, so you can effectively plan for their leave. 

From the day they begin their leave, your employee will be entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave. 

Most expecting mothers begin their leave a month or a few weeks before their due date. However, if their circumstances require them to take their leave earlier, maternity leave can begin as early as 11 weeks before their due date. 

• For the first 26 weeks, it’s classed as Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and the second 26 weeks are Additional Maternity Leave (AML).
• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance is typically provided for up to 39 weeks, with specific eligibility criteria.
• Employees have the right to return to their original job if the leave is 26 weeks or less. For longer leaves, they should return to the same or an equivalent role. 

For the full details of legal considerations, look at the UK government’s maternity pay guide for employers.

Returning to work after maternity leave

In many workplaces, employers assure employees who are going on maternity leave that their role will be secure, encouraging their happy return to work. The more flexible and empathetic you can be to employees regarding maternity leave cover, the better.

For example, many new mums will request flexible working patterns – whether reducing or changing their working hours, asking to work from home more, or both. 

As an employer, accommodating these requests and working with employees will pay off in the long run, as you keep your great team members, improve company culture, and increase employee retention rates. 

3 most common maternity leave cover options 

The average new mother in the UK takes 39 weeks of maternity leave, and 45% take more than that. Many expecting mothers plan to return to work after 6 months, only to realise they want more time, so they extend their leave. 

As an employer, it’s best practice to prepare for your employee to be away from work for a year to be on the safe side. To cover your employee for a year of maternity leave, you have a few options: 

1. In-house maternity leave cover

You might approach the maternity cover by moving your internal existing team members’ roles and responsibilities around to cover the person going on maternity leave. If you have a large team or flexible employees who perhaps can switch from part-time to full-time for the maternity period, this might be a great option for you. 

However, the reality is that most businesses are only just managing their existing workload, so to pile on more work is not a sensible option. It may be suitable for short-term sickness, but maternity cover is likely too long to put added pressure on your staff. 

If you do choose this option, it’s important to clearly define who in the team will be responsible for the additional duties, and allow them support and time to adapt. For example, if they are taking on certain roles, they might not have as much time for their existing responsibilities – you must ensure everyone knows their priorities so the most essential tasks aren’t left. 

2. Temporary fixed-term contract covering maternity leave

One of the most popular routes to attain maternity leave cover is to work with a recruitment agency to find a suitable candidate for a fixed-term hire. 

For maternity positions, this usually includes a one-year contract, ideally finding someone before your employee leaves to improve the handover period. This can often be a good choice for companies that need maternity support. 

However, due to the temporary nature of this approach, there can be a difficulty with reliability, as our client John Ellerman Foundation found out when an initial fixed-term hire left early in the contract. After a lengthy hiring process to find a suitable candidate, their temporary person left unexpectedly, leaving them in a tricky situation whereby hiring another temporary contractor was not an option. 

3. Hire virtual assistants for maternity leave cover

The final option is to work with expert contractors or freelancers. Depending on the support you need, you might choose to hire a hybrid remote team of people with different specialisms, such as marketing experts alongside skilled virtual assistants (VAs). 

Working with a skilled VA is a great option for covering maternity leave, as you can delegate a range of tasks to a VA, providing support across a range of areas such as finance, admin, and marketing. 

Working with a VA agency is more reliable than the route of fixed-term contracts, as if a VA’s circumstances changes, your agency can source another suitable person and will arrange the handover to ensure streamlined support. 

For example, when you hire Virtually Priceless, you’re working with a VA agency that can match you with the right people, which can sometimes mean using multiple VAs to fulfil your needs. 

Our VAs are proven to “hit the ground running” while providing maternity leave cover. The huge benefit to using a VA agency like ours is that our support, unlike a fixed-term hire, is flexible. If your employee decides to extend their leave, you’re not left without support. 

Working with a VA to cover maternity leave also opens the doors to a more flexible working arrangement when your employee does return to work. If required, a VA can continue to work with your business to cover any adapted hours and allow your employee to return smoothly. 

You might consider working with a VA as a more expensive option. On paper, their hourly rate may be much higher than your employees. But once you factor in employee benefits and their efficient manner of working, you will realise how a great VA is of incredible value.

Hire Virtually Priceless for seamless, reliable maternity support

No matter the type of support you go for, the sooner you make the decision, the better. You likely only have a few months between your employee notifying you of their pregnancy and them leaving, and as already mentioned, having a cross-over period is the best solution. 

As you can see, each method has pros and cons. By far the most flexible and reliable support route is working with a VA, as they support you during the maternity leave period, scaling up and down their involvement to suit your employee’s return to work schedule. 

Contact Virtually Priceless now to discuss your maternity leave cover options and create a plan that allows your team to transition smoothly.