Truth in Maternity
 November 11, 2004

A politically incorrect problem for many law firms is lack of honesty among lawyers and staff members about their maternity leave and post-maternity plans. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us what most firm HR Directors already know, the percentage of new mothers who return after maternity leave has been steadily declining to an all time low of 53.7% in 2003. But expectant mothers are often afraid to be too candid about their plans either because they fear being discriminated against prior to giving birth (e.g., less client contact, fewer choice project opportunities) or due to maternity leave policies that work against non-returning mothers (e.g., paid insurances during maternity leave for mothers who announce their intent to return to work). For many it simply makes sense to keep their options open.

This leaves their firms with the problem of replacing the person and then having them return after giving birth or leaving the position open and not having the incumbent return.

A technique that some firms are using is complete honesty and openness about their predicament. The approach is basically, “we’re thrilled about your having a baby, we would love to have you return to work, but we respect and honor your right to make the choice. "What can we do to help?” Law firm HR Directors who are using this approach warn that it takes the observation of how the firm deals with several pregnancies before expectant mothers are sufficiently trusting to be completely honest. Some firms have created focus groups made up of expectant mothers, mothers who returned to work, and mothers who chose not return to work. The focus groups are designed to review firm policies and look for
areas that may discourage openness and honesty throughout the maternity process. But few firms are willing to talk publicly about their experiences, in part because pregnancy-bias complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are up 10 percent in the past five years.