Can you freelance while on maternity leave?
Guidelines dictate that you can work for up to 10 ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days whilst claiming Maternity Allowance, which gives you the opportunity to do everything from tick-off tasks to stay connected with clients. If you work for more than 10 days you can be disqualified from receiving Maternity Allowance for a period of time. The Department for Work & Pensions will assess this according to the amount of additional work you are doing, reviewing each case on case-by-case basis.
If you do work any more than the 10 allowed KIT days, it’s probably worth keeping a note of any KIT activity you undertake, even if just for your own records.
If you’ve passed the reins of your business over to someone else while you’re on maternity leave, you might not need to consider this. However, if you’re planning to take advantage of KIT days, you could use the time to:
- Check your inbox: respond to emails from clients and prospective customers, and ensure your out-of-office message is still accurate.
- Catch-up with clients: update them on when you’ll be back and what you’re looking forward to working on for them next.
- Continue work on existing projects: depending on the physicality of your job, you could use the time to continue (or begin) project work.
- Schedule content: be it on your blog or social media platforms, lining up more content to go live over the coming weeks and months is a great way to create the appearance of an ‘active’ online presence.
- Refresh yourself: what’s new? If you’ve not looked at LinkedIn for a while, have a scroll, and also bring yourself up to date with any industry news, too.
- Write a to-do list: it might sound a bit trivial but the reality is that making a list of everything you need to do when you get back to work will allow you to hit the ground running. Having a to-do list that can be updated between now and your return will allow you to ease yourself back in rather than flounder.
How can you prepare your self-employed business for maternity leave?
Of course, readying your business for any period of leave - whether it’s maternity leave, a much longed-for holiday or even just a Christmas break - will vary according to what exactly it is that you do. That said, there are some fundamental steps every self-employed parent-to-be can take.
Creating a plan well in advance of your leave beginning will make things easier for everyone: you, your clients, any colleagues or peers you work with. After all, knowing where you stand makes everything that bit easier.
Communications consultant Isabel Johnston decided to pause her sole trader business, IJ Communications, as she prepared for the birth of her third child. “The month before I went on leave, I basically didn’t seek any new opportunities and a few of my clients came to a natural stop point,” she explains. “A couple of clients on retainers said they were happy to pause the work and pick it back up when I was ready.”
She continues: “Towards the end, people could clearly see I was pregnant and I did find some reluctance to work together from clients. That was a hard pill to swallow but I turned it into something positive and as I got closer to my due-date, I’d opt for shorter contracts - such as one-off media work and training delivery - which meant it wasn’t an issue that I wouldn’t be around in the coming months.”
For Katie Byrne, planning-in work ahead of her imminent leave has proven helpful. “My clients have thankfully been great and have told me to take as long as I want and need, and just asked that I keep them informed,” she says. “I’ve got some work scheduled already for whilst I’m off, so will continue to get bits done in advance as and when I can.”
If you like the idea of preparing work in advance - whether it’s for your own business or on behalf of clients you look after - start with the basics:
- Ascertain what does (or doesn’t) need to be done: Work out what’s essential to keep your business active, and what can be paused while you’re off. Similarly, decide how much of it you need to do yourself, or if there’s someone else you can hand the responsibility over to temporarily.
- Plan social, blog and newsletter content: A tool such as Hootsuite will allow you to get social posts lined up in advance, whilst drafting blog posts means you’ll at most need to press ‘publish’ if a schedule function isn’t available. If you’re creating content on behalf of client(s), give yourself enough time to get their approval, too.
- Decide if you want to hand work over to anyone else. If you work on your own, could there be value in passing work over to a friend or contact you hold in high esteem? The answer could well be ‘yes’ but make sure you’re clear about boundaries and time frames to ensure there’s no scope for resentment or even client poaching.
- Settle on the message you want to give new leads: For example, you could create a new email address purely for contact from potential clients that can be monitored by yourself or a trusted peer; equally, you could ensure your ‘welcome’ email to new sign-ups contains appropriate CTAs and insight to satisfy newcomers to your brand.
- Be selective with how you can be reached: Make it clear how you can (and can’t) be contacted. Whether you’ll still be checking emails or will be taking a total break, adjust social bios, website contact pages and your out-of-office accordingly.
When should I start thinking about heading back to work?
Whether you’ve got a rough idea or a precise plan for how much time you plan to take for your maternity leave, there’s a strong chance that the dates you’re thinking of will change.
After all, while it’s easy to idealise your ability or desire to get back to work, the reality is that you have no idea how you, your body or your baby will feel post-birth. Trying to imagine yourself back at your computer after just two or three weeks might sound completely doable now - but be fully prepared for having to re-estimate that down the line as your new life sets in. Instead, a slower return could be preferable.
As well as setting a rough date, it can also be helpful to think ahead and consider the tasks you’ll be doing when you get back to work.
“Flex your to-do list,” suggests Laura. “Whilst you’re still pregnant, take some time to plan the first six months post-birth if you can and create two to-do lists: an 'I can do it with my eyes closed’ list and an 'I need to be with it' list. The first is for those slightly easier essential tasks that don’t require much brain power - do those jobs when you’ve had a terrible night’s sleep and when your brain is fogged.”
“The second list is for the jobs that need a little bit more brain power. Save these tasks for the days when your baby miraculously slept for an hour longer than normal or when you have some extra help and can shut yourself away properly. Trying to do the big jobs on a day when you’re just not up to it will only make you feel awful and won’t help anyone.”
Of course, being your own boss has one big advantage that employment doesn’t: you can play by your own rules. “Enjoy the flexibility of the situation,” says Isabel, “not having a set ‘return to work’ date can allow you to slowly build work back up, and that’s a real benefit. You don’t have to choose between returning to work full-time or being a full-time parent - it can be gradual and allow you to do both.”
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