Quitting law firm to go in house immediately after maternity leave
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Anonymous
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So I am currently on paid maternity leave for 5 more weeks. During maternity leave, I received a job offer from an in-house position that I applied for a while back. Although it is a small pay cut, the work/life balance will be great with the baby and I no longer have to deal with my d!c& of a boss. I would start at the in-house position immediately after my maternity leave ends at the firm (there's no room to move the start date whatsoever). Should I go back to work at the firm 2 weeks early to have enough time to give them my 2 weeks notice, or just let them know I won't be coming back a all?
Luckily, all my cases were transferred to others prior to my maternity leave, so I maybe have a few hours of closing up/tidying up matters. Maybe I give 1-week notice since I won't have 2 week's worth of work to do? I don't want to be rude and quit without a full 2 week notice, but it really is the perfect time since I wouldn't have to transfer matters. I checked HR docs regarding maternity leave benefits for attorneys, and there is nothing about having to pay back maternity leave pay if I don't come back (ie silent). However, the handbook for other employees (staff) says that employees must return to work after maternity leave, or will be required to pay back. It does not give a day limitation, so I presume if you work for 1 day, that counts as coming back to work. Since the attorney handbook is silent, I'd like to at least clinch that 1 day of work to be on the safe side. Any advice would be appreciated. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Give two weeks notice while you're on maternity leave. Be prepared to go in on the last day of mat leave. |
Anonymous
| If there is a payback requirement, one day of work won't satisfy it. Tell them now and expect some bridges to be burnt. |
Anonymous
| Do the right thing and tell them now. |
Anonymous
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Also, especially for my second, I didn't really realize how bad baby brain was. During my second pregnancy and afterwards, I was really out of it. I was let go because of some errors I made during my second pregnancy, that were made because of baby brain.
I would be hesitant about starting an entirely new job (in-house is much different than merely switching firms) with a newborn at home. Certainly women do it successfully. Other women are not so successful at it. I've heard that the hormones causing baby brain are very strong and only go away slowly, after a year or two or more. |
Anonymous
+1 Let chips fall where they may. Best in the long run. |
Anonymous
OP here, do you think they can revoke my maternity leave if I give them that much advance notice? |
Anonymous
| You're the one revoking your maternity leave. If you want the other job, you have to give up the paid leave. Simple as that. |
Anonymous
Why do you think you are entitled to paid leave if you have no intention of returning? For someone who has gone to law school, you seem entirely lacking in common sense. Tell them immediately. The longer you wait, the more bad feelings there will be. |
Anonymous
This is all a matter of contract, not common sense. She is entitled to whatever her contract with her employer says she is entitled to. At this point, OP doesn't seem to know what that is. That's what she really needs to know. If it were me, I'd let them know as soon as possible because I wouldn't want to owe my soon-to-be-former employer money. I was pretty stretched thin after my maternity leaves and paying back several months worth of pay would have wiped me out. |
Anonymous
OP here. Why should I be treated differently (worse) than someone that got another job and waited a while to give their 2-week's notice? The maternity leave is a benefit I receive because I put in at least a year of working with them (5 years to be exact). |
Anonymous
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I think you should go back for a week or two and give two weeks notice at the end of the week or two, so that you're back for a month. If you haven't been fully transitioned yet back onto your cases/clients then you may not even have to work the entire two weeks notice for.
I wouldn't tell them now - why risk that they terminate you immediately or that you are terminated as of your departure date for leave? I don't know that they could do either of those things, but why risk ANYTHING? Don't listen to the bitter people above who are harping on about how you "owe" the firm something. I bet the firm wouldn't feel that they "owe" you anything when they need to cut their ranks and do layoffs. First and foremost: DO WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU, not the firm. Don't be foolish. |
Anonymous
| Give two weeks' notice. That's the standard minimum, and you'll look bad if you give less. How you do that is up to you -- you can give notice two weeks before you're scheduled to return (and accept the risk they'll terminate you immediate and you'll lose two weeks of pay, if you're getting paid leave), or give notice immediately upon your return but accept that it might delay your start at the new employer by two weeks if your currently firm does want you to work those two weeks. |
Anonymous
| Do what is ever best for you. The firm is not family. They will cut you in a heart beat. So work the system. This means you may have to go back before your ML is up |