Case Study: Women Returners - Department for Employment and Learning NI

The Department introduced a pilot initiative aimed at helping women back to work after maternity leave. Their motivation was that there was a significant trend in the number of women who moved from maternity leave to a period of long term sick absence. Not only was this bad for the organisation but it made it more difficult for the women themselves to get back to work.

In consultation with the Department’s Occupational Health Service, a pre-maternity seminar was piloted. The half day event included sessions from the Equal Opportunities Officer, local health visitors, staff from Pay Section and the Managing Absence Team. Guest speakers were also able to distribute useful literature for staff to read at their leisure.

The pilot events were well-received with staff feeling that they were getting lots of useful and relevant information to help them think about their health and well-being, as well as focussing on their work-life balance in terms of a return to work. They also recognised that the organisation was supporting them and many, especially first time mothers, appreciated the opportunity to discuss their concerns with experts.

The evaluation was so positive that 2 subsequent programmes have been run and more are scheduled on a quarterly basis. The event has also been used to promote the Department’s Healthworks Programme, a two day self development programme, aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at female staff, and focussing on nutrition, exercise, stress management and work-life balance Feedback from this programme has been very positive. Even twelve months after the event participants state that their health has improved and that they feel better equipped to deal with both their job and their life outside work.

Long-term absences after maternity leave have been reduced and the Department is planning to run an analysis report to measure the specific improvement