Wife wants to return to work part time after maternity leave

Submitted by mightybangbang t3_ygncu1 in personalfinance

Hi all,

My wife and I had our first child in May and my wife’s paid maternity leave is ending soon. At the company my wife works for, they sometimes allow mothers to return at a reduced workload with pay reduced equally (I.e. 60% workload and 60% salaried pay) and she wants to look into doing that.

She also would accrue PTO at the same rate, etc.

Is anyone aware of what impact this might have on other benefits like Health Insurance (increased premiums?). She currently carries herself and our son on her plan and I’m on my own employer sponsored plan.

Additionally, if we wanted to have a 2nd child our time window is pretty short due to our age. Would being part time impact the maternity benefits she would receive? I realize a lot of this is probably employer specific but was just wondering if anyone had any general info or similar experiences about pursuing this. Money-wise we should be okay in the short term at 50-60%. We’ll save less and have to make some cuts but for 6 months or so we should be okay.

One other question would be if asking about something like this would hurt her career advancement opportunities, particularly if it’s piled on with another maternity leave shortly after.

She’s already chatted with a few people at the company who did similar things but wasn’t able to get all of these details so I figured I’d check here.

Thanks in advance.

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Loutro-Fift t1_iu9moy7 wrote

She’s needs to talk to her HR department. They have all the answers. As far as career limiting impacts, in theory, shouldnt be an issue

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debbiewith2 t1_iu9n76p wrote

Well, sure it would. Other than discrimination, it’s the main reason people who care for children make less money than others. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth it, but I think it’s disingenuous to claim otherwise.

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mightybangbang OP t1_iu9nkfk wrote

Yeah she was worried even asking HR about it would be problematic. But it seems she really needs to.

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debbiewith2 t1_iu9o5nl wrote

She can talk to them about part-time, since that should be in a handbook. But she need not bring up other family planning issues.

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mightybangbang OP t1_iu9oduq wrote

Yeah we are just concerned about taking more mat leave during this temporary part time period.

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debbiewith2 t1_iu9ok8t wrote

That question should be answered simply by asking what benefits are available to part-time employees.

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mightybangbang OP t1_iu9ow2v wrote

True. Plus I think she has the option to go back to full time whenever she wants. So could do that before taking more mat leave. Thank you for your advice.

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debbiewith2 t1_iu9oz6j wrote

You are welcome! Congratulations on your growing family!

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Second_breakfastses t1_iu9zegh wrote

Theoretically it shouldn’t impact her career. In practice it’s rare that it wouldn’t, especially if she’s hesitant to even discuss it with HR. That said, the career sacrifice is something she’ll need to decide; some women think it’s worth it. She may also face the same career growth limitations just from being a mother and taking parental leave.

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debbiewith2 t1_iu9ndw5 wrote

Benefits will be available at a certain percent of full time - could be 50%, might be 75%.

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mightybangbang OP t1_iu9nzt8 wrote

Yeah I think she needs to talk with HR. The best option might be to save this for after potential child #2. Her job is WFH so we may be able to get by, and MIL will be here too. It’s just feeding that concerns us.

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LeisureSuitLaurie t1_iua8ygw wrote

My wife, a high performer with a good motor, did this after we had twins - 3 days a week working from 600-230 as an engineer.

This lasted 3 months before we figured that the difference between what she earned and what we paid the nanny wasn’t worth it.

This was 7.5 years ago, and she hasn’t worked since.

I think much of the success of this plan depends on the individual’s role. In my wife’s case, she was very much client-facing, and they didn’t care about regular days off.

Asking questions will not hurt her career, by the way. Things have really improved in many organizations for new parents in the last decade.

Good luck to you both!

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Sunny_Hill_1 t1_iub2wj6 wrote

All depends on her company's policy. Ultimately it boils down to the fact which one of you earns more and whether the salary outpaces Nancy's fees. Is there any way you yourself can take paternity leave next time so that she doesn't have to take as long of a maternity leave?

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