What to do before you go on parental leave

The conversations, records and handover decisions that make leave and return easier

August 18, 2026 · 6 min read

When I was building Carrea, I spent a lot of time speaking informally with working parents. Mostly strangers, all with slightly different jobs, employers and experiences of leave. One piece of advice kept coming back to me because it was both incredibly practical and something I had rarely heard discussed: some of the most useful preparation for parental leave has very little to do with the handover itself.

Most people spend the final weeks closing tasks, briefing colleagues and preparing whoever will cover them. That work matters. But while you are still there, you also have a short window to document what you contributed, make sure important conversations do not disappear into your absence and create a clearer starting point for when you return.

The organisation will move on while you are away. That is not malice. It is mechanics. Projects continue, responsibilities shift and decisions get made. You do not need to prevent that, but you can make sure your work and your return do not become accidental.

Have the performance conversation before you go

The most useful version of this advice did not come from an HR policy or a management handbook. It came from another working parent I interviewed. Someone had given her the same advice before her own leave: have the performance conversation before you go.

It sounds obvious once somebody says it, but many people do not think about it. Formal review cycles rarely line up neatly with pregnancy or parental leave. By the time you return, projects may have moved, managers may be preparing a new review cycle and the detail of what you delivered six or nine months earlier is simply harder to reconstruct.

Four to six weeks before your leave, ask for a conversation about your contribution so far. Focus less on a list of completed tasks and more on the projects you owned, decisions you made, problems you solved and results that followed. If there are open progression, promotion or bonus points, put those on the table too.

And do not let the conversation exist only in the room. Follow it up in writing. That might mean a short email summarising what was discussed, updating your performance record in the HR system, or asking your manager to add the agreed points to your formal review documentation. You are creating a tangible record that can be picked up again when you return, or when the actual performance, promotion or bonus review takes place.

You could say: ‘Before I go on leave, I want to make sure we have documented this work cycle properly. Can we review my contribution, current responsibilities and any open progression points? I’d also like to make sure the key points are recorded so we can refer back to them when I return.’

Write a handover that shows judgement, not only status

A basic handover tells people what is open and who to contact. A useful handover also explains enough context for someone else to make good decisions while you are away.

For each important piece of work, include the current position, the decision still required, the relevant stakeholders, the main risk and what you would recommend if the situation changes. Keep it concise. The point is not to prove that nobody can replace you; it is to make the work transferable without erasing the thinking behind it.

This helps the person covering you as much as it helps you. They should not have to reverse-engineer six months of context from old email threads, and your manager should not have to guess which work can safely pause. A good handover makes ownership clear while still showing the judgement you brought to the work.

Set the starting conditions for your return

One of the people I interviewed returned from leave into a completely new role. She had used the months before leave to think seriously about where she wanted her career to go and started those conversations early enough for the company to plan around them. By the time she came back, the new role was ready.

That will not be the right outcome for everyone, and you may have no desire to change roles at all. The useful lesson is the timing. Conversations that can feel awkward or difficult after months away are often easier while you are still present and your role, responsibilities and working arrangements are already being discussed.

Before your final day, clarify who will brief you on what changed, which responsibilities are expected to return to you and when the first return conversation will happen. Where possible, also discuss your intended working arrangement and any decisions that need to be made before day one.

Treat these as starting agreements, not promises that nothing will change. The value is having something visible to return to instead of arriving back to a role that has quietly been reconstructed without discussion.

Separate the conversations that serve different purposes

One rushed meeting in the final week often becomes a mixture of handover details, leave contact preferences and vague promises about the return. If you can, separate the conversations so each one has a clear purpose.

• With your manager: document contribution, agree the handover, discuss any open progression points and clarify the return process.
• With the person covering your work: transfer context, decision points, stakeholder knowledge and the things that are difficult to understand from a project tracker alone.
• With a key collaborator or senior stakeholder, where appropriate: confirm who owns the relationship while you are away and how continuity will be handled.

A conversation with your manager’s manager can be useful in some organisations, particularly if they are directly involved in your work or progression. It is not a universal requirement. Use judgement: the aim is appropriate visibility, not bypassing your manager.

Set boundaries around contact during leave

Do not leave contact expectations implied. Some people want no work contact at all. Others want to know about a restructure, a promotion process or a major team change. Both can be reasonable.

Be explicit about what you want, through which channel and in which circumstances. Where useful, agree who should decide whether something is genuinely important enough to contact you about. Clear boundaries make it easier for you to step away and easier for colleagues to know what to do.

A practical final-week check

• Confirm your leave dates, return date where known and the correct cover contact.
• Delegate or decline recurring meetings and make changes in ownership visible.
• Create one ownership map for live projects, decisions and deadlines.
• Check access, files and documentation so the person covering you can work without relying on your account.
• Make sure your pre-leave performance conversation is recorded in email, your HR system or formal review documentation.
• Schedule the first return conversation, or agree who will arrange it.

Good preparation cannot guarantee a smooth leave or return. Your employer still carries responsibility for continuity, fair treatment and proper re-onboarding. But the work you do before leaving can create a clearer record, a stronger handover and a much better starting point.

You do not need to stay professionally present while you are away. The useful work happens before you go: leave the right information, agreements and boundaries while you are still in the room.

Sources

• Carrea interview synthesis, working-parent interviews, 2025–2026.
• Frontiers in Psychology, research on parental-leave transitions and return-to-work preparation.
• Acerta, Belgian employment and return-to-work publications.

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