113 WeeAgents and counting: how FreeAgent supports parental leave

When a new person joins FreeAgent, they’re given a hoodie in their welcome pack - a wardrobe staple often seen around the office. But an even bigger (and adorable) hit is the ‘WeeAgent’ hoodies we send out when a little one is born or adopted. Since we started this tradition, 113 WeeAgents have ‘joined the team’. For each of those new additions, FreeAgent has supported a parent with their maternity, partner, shared or adoption leave.

We appreciate that expanding a family is a unique experience and with a growing number of the FreeAgent team being parents, we’re invested in being flexible and accommodating every individual’s needs.

‘Consider different options and ways of spending your leave, and what’s important to you’

Alex, one of the Engineering Managers at FreeAgent, initially planned to take six weeks of partner leave when his baby boy was born, then a few months of shared parental leave at the end of the first year when his partner, Sara, went back to work. However, a few weeks into partner leave, they decided to change their plans significantly.

“Management were, I would say, unreasonably supportive… I think there’s a lot of places and a lot of people who wouldn’t [be as accommodating of taking additional leave at short notice] but my manager and the rest of the engineering team were super supportive of it and did a lot of stuff to make that work.”

Alex ended up taking seven months of leave, through a combination of partner leave and shared parental leave. “It’s really valuable to consider different options and ways of spending your leave, and what’s important to you,” says Alex.

“For a lot of people, the reason to take a year or more of leave is to delay putting your child in nursery or whatever, which is totally legitimate. But for us, we were happy with him starting nursery a bit earlier if it meant that we both got more time off together at the start.”

‘Being able to do it together was amazing… it set me off on a really good footing for being a very equal parent’

Shared parental leave gives both parents the option to take time off work within the first year of a baby’s life by allowing the birthing parent or main adopter to share leave with their partner. Parents can choose to take leave separately or at the same time - which is what Alex and Sara did.

“We could tag-team in and out of things so much more and just be able to give each other a break all the time,” says Alex. “We also didn’t have to deal with the difficulty of balancing one person looking after a baby and one person being at work all day - and then having to do the mental calculus of who needs a break more.

“Being able to do it together was also amazing and felt like it set me off on a really good footing for being an equal parent when it comes to child responsibility.”

‘Financial planning can play a big part in the decision around when to have a child and how long to spend with them’

For Mhari, a People Team Manager at FreeAgent, working up to her due date and then taking a year off for maternity leave allowed her to make the best use of her time. “That was the ideal amount for me personally. I enjoy working so I didn’t want to be on leave for too long, and I also got the benefit of spending lots of time with my wee one over that year,” says Mhari.

Like Alex and Sara, Mhari and her partner enjoyed the benefits of overlapping leave. “I most enjoyed the time when my partner was off too because it meant there was a balance of responsibilities and my little one has a good relationship with both parents… If others have the option financially, I’d encourage all caregivers to take as much time off as possible,” she says.

Growing a family comes with financial responsibilities and decisions, which is why FreeAgent has expanded our policies over the years. Mhari explains, “FreeAgent has had a generous maternity leave policy from the early days, giving much more than statutory pay, to provide extra support. And we’ve added to this over the years with shared parental leave, partner leave and now neonatal leave [fully paid leave if a baby is in need of neonatal care within 28 days of their birth].

“Financial planning can play a big part in the decision around when to have a child and how long to spend with them, so the impact this can have on people’s life choices is huge.”

‘Having freedom was fantastic’

There’s no one-size-fits-all for parental leave, so it’s worth considering how spending that valuable time will work best for your family, says Mhari. For her that meant having the time to concentrate on her role as a mother. “I valued having one continuous block of leave as it meant I was able to focus on one thing.”

By sharing their leave, Alex and Sara were able to take a trip to the Highlands as a new family, as well as make the most of visiting family across the UK and sharing Christmas with them. “Having that time off together meant we could do all of that without having to worry about the logistics of traveling and taking time off work… having the freedom to do those kinds of things was fantastic,” says Alex.

‘Everyone has different experiences during leave… an encouraging manager can make a big difference’

Support from both their managers and teams was vital for Alex and Mhari so they could plan their leave and have a smooth transition back to work.

“Everyone has different experiences during leave,” says Mhari. “For some it can be an exceptionally difficult time… Having recognition and understanding can be helpful, as well as acknowledgement that the return to work might involve unpredictable challenges, like childcare issues.

“Some people might even feel like they’ll be judged for needing to take time off. Having an encouraging manager who shows openness to flexible working options can make a big difference.”

For her part, Mhari makes sure the People team are “continuously listening to feedback and making improvements”. It really makes a difference when people openly share their experiences, feedback and concerns. “I’d encourage anyone to do this so they can get the support they need for their return to work,” she says.

“I’m proud to be part of a company that puts a focus on supporting people.”

Hitting the ground running for a return to work

When parental leave ends, it is just as important to get support for a smooth return to work.

Keeping In Touch (KIT) days - up to 10 optional paid working days you can take while on parental leave - can help. Some people choose to use a few or all of them in the lead-up to their return to work.

Both Alex and Mhari used KIT days before returning to FreeAgent as a way of staying in touch with their teams and preparing to return. “I found KIT days especially useful for getting up to speed in advance of officially returning, as it felt like I hit the ground running when I came back,” says Mhari.

To help people navigate the balance between work and family, FreeAgent also offers a returner coaching programme to anyone planning to take parental leave. The programme includes a group session to help people prepare before they finish up work, a 1:1 coaching session towards the end of their leave and another group coaching session when they’re back at work.

Alex took part in the programme and found the experience particularly valuable. “The 1:1 session was really interesting and helped us think about how we would handle the balance of parenting and work… while keeping parity between what Sara and I were contributing,” he says.

“Even simple things like what to do if there’s a call from the nursery saying that your child needs to be picked up because they’re sick? How are you making sure that’s a shared responsibility? It’s good to be able to talk through those types of things and think about how those interact with work, care and other things.”

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