Parental leave is a pivotal moment that can shape how employees feel about their role, team, and future at your company. With the right support, from pre-leave planning to return-to-work to ongoing support for working parents, it becomes an opportunity to build trust and long-term engagement.
It’s also one of the most common breakdown points in workforce support.
In this blog, we’ll explore the hidden costs of poor maternity or paternity leave support, why the return-to-work phase is so critical, and what great parental leave support looks like at every stage. You’ll also find practical strategies to build a more resilient and retention-boosting leave experience.
The Overlooked Power of Parental Leave
Even with generous parental leave policies, many organizations struggle with implementation and return to work. Managers feel unprepared. Teams are stretched thin. And employees returning after parental leave often come back without a clear plan or continuing support.
The impact of poor leave support shows up quickly: employee overwhelm, uncertainty about their role, and increased attrition. According to Parentaly, nearly 36% of employees who take parental leave exit their company within 18 months, and most go for new jobs, not to stay home.
A strong parental leave policy extends beyond offering time off to creating a full experience, including how employees are supported before they leave, during their return, and as they manage care responsibilities over time.
A thoughtful, people-first approach to maternity leave, paternity leave, or parental leave helps reduce turnover, protect productivity, and create a workplace where employees feel supported and valued.
The Hidden Costs of Poor Parental Leave Support
A weak parental leave experience might not be obvious in policy documents, but it plays out in real time and real numbers. A Parentaly research study shows:
- Coverage gaps lead to delays and confusion. 31% of parental leaves result in delayed projects.
- Team strain contributes to burnout. More than half of parental leaves put added pressure on coworkers.
- Manager uncertainty adds to the problem. 68% of managers say they feel “totally unprepared” to support an employee through leave.
- Post-leave attrition drains resources. 73% of new parents consider quitting after leave, with 36% ultimately doing so.
Even minor breakdowns in leave planning, communication, or reintegration can affect engagement and retention.
Why Return-to-Work After Parental Leave Is the Most Overlooked Phase
Most organizations focus on the logistics of leave: how long it lasts, how it’s paid, and who qualifies. But the riskiest part of the journey is often what comes after.
Returning to work after parental leave brings emotional and logistical challenges. Employees are navigating childcare, new routines, and evolving priorities. Many return to work after leave to a desk full of work, but without clear expectations or needed flexibility.
With no structured re-onboarding or phased return-to-work plan, the transition can feel abrupt. Even organizations with strong employee leave management often miss this moment.
Employees with a re-onboarding plan are 3x more likely to say their return went more smoothly than expected. Yet many companies still lack formal programs to support this phase.
What is a re-onboarding plan?
A re-onboarding plan is a structured approach that helps employees transition back into work after maternity leave, paternity leave, or parental leave. It typically includes check-ins with managers, updated role clarity, adjusted goals, and flexibility to help employees ease back into work.
What Great Parental Leave Support Looks Like
The most effective maternal and paternal leave strategies go beyond policy and paperwork. They create a consistent and caring experience across every stage of parental leave: before, during, and after. This leads to better performance and less disruption for teams.
Here are three key components that make a measurable difference:
Personalized Coaching for New Parents
No two journeys into parenthood look the same. Personalized coaching helps employees figure out when and how to take leave, prepare their teams, and resume work after maternity or paternity leave in a way that works for their career and caregiving needs.
Coaching also helps employees navigate the shift to parenthood by offering emotional support, communication tools, and guidance on balancing work and family responsibilities. That kind of support leads to smoother transitions, stronger confidence, and better long-term retention.
Companies that include career coaching as part of the leave experience see 2x higher retention of women and 2.6x higher promotion rates, according to Parentaly.
Structured Return-To-Work Plans
Returning to work following maternity leave shouldn’t feel like jumping into the deep end. Phased return programs, from flexible scheduling to reduced hours, give employees space to ease into their new routine. They also help managers plan workloads with more predictability.
What are phased return programs?
Phased return programs give employees the option to come back to work gradually after maternity leave, paternity leave, or parental leave. Instead of jumping straight into a full workload, they might start with part-time hours, flexible days, or lighter responsibilities. It’s a simple way to ease the transition, support recovery, and boost retention.
These programs recognize that the realities of caregiving don’t stop after leave ends. Things like sleep deprivation, childcare accessibility, and physical recovery all affect re-entry and are taken into consideration.
A gradual, or phased, return can look like:
- Working 60% of hours for 100% pay during the first month back
- Building from 1 day/week to full-time over several weeks
- 4-day workweeks for the first 12 weeks post-leave
Even modest schedule adjustments can boost retention and productivity for those resuming work after maternity leave or returning to work after parental leave.
Ongoing Support for Working Parents
The need for support doesn’t stop when leave ends. Employees bring ongoing parenting concerns and caregiving responsibilities back to work with them, affecting their well-being and availability.
Long-term caregiving support helps reduce burnout, ease decision-making, and improve work-life integration. Cariloop’s Caregiver Support Platform® includes access to finding and managing care, mental and emotional health resources, and coaching to build confidence and resilience.
Our 2024 Member Impact Survey shows that when employees receive this kind of support:
- 83% report lower stress
- 86% feel more confident in their caregiving
- 89% feel more positively about their employer
As hybrid and in-person work models return, childcare coordination has only gotten harder. Offering resources like trusted provider networks, easy care scheduling, and flexible backup care helps people show up at work with fewer distractions and more support.
Building a Parental Leave Policy That Works for Everyone
According to WTW, over 80% of employers plan to improve their leave policies within the next year, and nearly 1 in 5 plan to extend parental leave.
Many organizations already offer strong policies: 86% provide maternity leave, and 82% offer paternity or adoption leave. The foundation is there. Now, it’s time to improve the experience around it.
A strong parental leave strategy prioritizes:
- Pre-leave planning: helping employees and managers prepare together with coverage plans and manager training
- Coverage clarity: reducing burnout through better communication and transitions
- Structured returns: giving new parents flexibility and predictability as they return to work
- Ongoing working caregiver support: sustaining performance post-leave with comprehensive support for caregiving responsibilities
With the right support, parental leave becomes more than just time away – it becomes a moment of care, clarity, and connection.
Learn More: The ROI of Parental Leave
A strong parental leave experience can drive measurable business results when built intentionally.
Watch on demand:
The ROI of Leave: How Intentional Support Reduces Turnover & Drives Engagement
Don’t miss this conversation about creating a seamless leave experience and why it matters now more than ever.
Featuring research and insights from Cariloop and Parentaly, including:
- New data from Cariloop’s 2025 Employee Caregiver Needs Report
- Benchmarks on parental leave support from thousands of employers
- Practical strategies to reduce attrition, increase engagement, and build manager readiness