Providing maternity cover for employers, training & support for women returners

In Ireland, employees have a right to take 26 weeks’ maternity leave if they become pregnant. It’s possible to take up to 16 weeks’ additional leave, if required. Anyone in full-time, casual, or part-time employment has a right to take this time off, regardless of how long they have been in employment with a company.

At WorkJuggle, we understand the impact that this time away from work has on both the employer and employee. As specialists in contract, flexible and remote work, we are ideally suited to meeting the recruitment needs of organisations that are seeking temporary cover staff. Similarly, our involvement in Skillnet’s Women ReBOOT shows our commitment to helping women re-enter the workforce.

Providing maternity to cover to organisations across a diverse range of sectors

Everyone in the WorkJuggle team prides themselves on working closely with you to understand the requirements of the role, and the same commitment applies to your maternity cover vacancies. We work to understand not just the job you want hired but your organisation, your culture, and your values. We want potential candidates to be a perfect fit for you, no matter how long or on what type of contract you’d like to retain them.

The WorkJuggle team have been assisting our clients with their maternity cover requirements since our inception in 2016. We are a full-service recruitment agency (license number 4163), assisting businesses in a broad range of sectors to recruit cover staff in areas such as:

• IT (we love all things tech!)
• Sales
• Marketing
• Finance
• HR

What sort of maternity cover jobs do you assist in recruiting for?

Over the years we have assisted our clients in successfully recruiting maternity cover staff to fulfil a broad range of job roles at many different levels within their organisations. In IT, we have provided everyone from software developers to IT directors on maternity cover contracts. In marketing, we have helped recruit SEO managers through to Heads of Digital Marketing. In finance, we have secured bookkeepers, accountants, and Heads of Finance. In HR, we have recruited HR managers through to Chief HR Officers.

How can I prepare well for a staff member who needs to take maternity leave?

It’s advisable to familiarise yourself with the law surrounding the rights of both permanent and contract employees, long before you start the process of arranging maternity cover for any roles within your business. Ensure you have policies in place to quickly respond to maternity leave requests and that you create a maternity handover plan with your employee. Using a specialist maternity cover recruitment agency such as WorkJuggle will help you to quickly ascertain a selection of qualified professionals capable of taking on the role and hitting the ground running.

What else should I keep in mind regarding maternity leave?

Remember to create an environment that is welcoming and adaptive to the needs of women returning from maternity leave. Provide flexible hours on their return, bearing in mind that more than half of women surveyed on this are worried about being judged for working flexible hours. Make sure your parental employee benefits are common knowledge to staff and provide a phased programme for re-entering the business, with mental health support if required too.

Do you require assistance with your Diversity & Inclusion strategy?

Contact our recruitment specialist, Alison Power, at alison@workjuggle.com or call her in our Dublin office on 01-5649211.