How to Support Employees Returning from Maternity Leave: A Practical Guide for Line Managers

Most organisations have a maternity policy. Far fewer have a maternity experience worth talking about. In this episode, Anna is joined by Zoe Duce, founder of MoveThru, a former Projects Director who spent over 15 years managing large teams in media, advertising and at Amazon before becoming a mother herself and turning her experience into a practical resource for professional parents and the companies that employ them. Zoe explains why the return from maternity leave so often goes wrong, and the answer is almost always the same: a combination of silence, assumption, and a process that is designed around the organisation rather than the person coming back. Managers assume the employee knows what to expect. Employees assume the manager has done this before. Neither is usually true. The conversation covers the practical steps that make a genuine difference: how to use keeping in touch days properly rather than treating them as a casual coffee, why a 90-day return plan created together by manager and employee removes the anxiety on both sides, and why flexible working requests should never come as a surprise on day one if the right conversations have been happening throughout leave. Zoe also challenges a widespread but rarely examined problem: companies that have excellent policies nobody knows about, or worse, policies that exist on paper but that employees feel they cannot actually use without being judged for it. She shares what it looks like when culture quietly overrides policy, and what organisations can do about it. For line managers specifically, Zoe is clear: do not avoid. More regular check-ins, a shared plan, and an open conversation about what both sides need are the things that keep talented people in the building. Find out more about Zoe’s work with individuals and organisations at movethru.co.uk. Her free Maternity Leave Project Plan, a shared resource for managers and employees covering every stage of the process, is available to download at https://www.movethru.co.uk Connect with Anna Got a question or a topic you’d like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you. Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr Instagram: instagram.com/practicalmanager TikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager The People Expert: thepeopleexpert.co.uk