Yes, it’s possible to take maternity leave, even if you’re a contract worker
First, you made your own career and now you want to make a little person – congratulations! Getting pregnant is (hopefully) the easy part.
But, nurturing a newborn and a freelance or contract career can sometimes feel like you’re caring for two babies. Don’t worry, there’s hope.
Your career, your plan
Just as every pregnancy and every baby is unique, so is every career – particularly when traditional job security doesn’t apply. Your parental leave won’t be the same as your other contract and freelancing friends’ and it will definitely be different than your traditionally employed pal’s. Strategize your leave to suit your job. But, be forewarned, babies have a way of disrupting the best laid plans – and by “disrupting” I mean pooping all over them, and then just as you’ve cleaned up the mess and are ready to finally leave the house, pooping again.Still, if you’re ready to make a human, surely you can customize a parental leave.
Here are some actions to consider first:
Create a timeline
“One of the first things babies do to show they’re in control is they come when they want to come,” says LinkedIn spokesperson Julie Dosset.
Ensure your plan can be kickstarted a few weeks before baby’s expected arrival, then tailor it to your needs. “You can’t just assume you’re going to take a year, as in a more formal job in the Canadian market. Some of us can only take a few weeks or a couple of months – we all have to come up with the plan that makes sense.”
Finances and childcare are big factors to consider, but so is the baby. You won’t know until your bundle arrives whether he’s a good sleeper or a fussy eater, a colicky crier or a constant cuddler, but you can think about the kind of relationship you want with him, and how much time you’d like together. And don’t beat yourself up if that changes.
I considered becoming a stay at home mom, but three weeks into my mat leave I remembered how much I love writing and hate housekeeping. Instead of my planned yearlong leave, I was happily balancing baby with blogging within four months.
Be realistic
It’s often called “mommy brain” but sleep deprivation or torture are more accurate words to describe the total physical and mental fog that occurs when you’re waking up every hour to serve an irrational master. To gauge how much work you can realistically accomplish during the first three months, imagine how you’d feel after spending all night consoling a drunk and dramatically emotional friend. Multiply that feeling by 30 nights in a row, subtract the coffee or booze that would normally get you through and add a screaming soundtrack – this is your brain on baby.
Note: All babies are different, but don’t count on yours being one who sleeps for eight hour stretches from the get-go. Do count on meeting that child, and hating his parents.
Communicate your plan
“It’s so much easier to keep a client than to find a new one,” says Dossett. “Communicate in advance about timing, when you’ll be working again and how you want to be in touch while you’re on leave.” And don’t forget to touch up your website and LinkedIn profile now, she adds. Once you’re on leave, staying in touch can be as simple as emailing a baby picture or commenting on LinkedIn posts.
Also try to keep communication with your peers. If you provide a service, like freelance writing or website design, consider referring your clients to a trusted colleague while you’re off. Bonus points if you can find a freelancing friend who will do the same for you during her planned parental leave.
Budget
You’ve probably already heard this, but babies, bless their cute toes, are terrible employers. They’re irrational, demanding and don’t pay a dime. Caring for one is costly, particularly when you don’t have automatic employment benefits to buffer your budget. In Canada, you have a few options. Either save money to fund your own leave or apply for EI special benefits for self-employed people.
This relatively new program can be helpful, but it isn’t for everyone. You have to sign up in advance of a leave, and once you’ve made a claim you can never back out of the program.
I used it to fund my mat leave, and regretted it. I was back to work earlier than I expected, and nearly every dollar I earned writing was deducted from my claim. And unlike traditional EI recipients, self-employed beneficiaries have to file every few weeks to keep their claim going – a not-insignificant task when you’re already balancing work and baby.
Sunny Widerman is a tax advisor who specializes in preparing returns for freelancers, and she says the rules don’t work so well for writers or similarly flexible contractors.
“You can pick your hours, you do it sitting down, and increasingly all you need is a computer and an Internet connection,” she explains.
“Consequently most writers who take maternity leave can and do keep working, so they end up not getting or entirely needing that mat leave EI to begin with.”
Still, she says parental leave can be a good reason to opt in, since it’s one of the few claims you can (kind of ) schedule.
“In other words, you can opt in strategically because you are planning to have or adopt a child, and start paying in exactly one year before. That’s not as much of an option for the other kinds of leave (sickness and compassionate care), where you suddenly need it without having a year’s advance warning to start paying premiums.”
Widerman says the people best served by the program are likely earning enough income that the loss would be a household hardship, are unable to work during their leave or do work that’s difficult or impossible to complete at home or at odd hours.
“So I’d say that leaves us with photographers who work on location, people who work in film, people who need to be on-air (visible or audible), consultants who have to work on-site with their clients, some touring performers, or people whose particular collection of gigs makes it impossible to telecommute,” she says.
Child care
As a freewheeling single, I’d assumed the nightmarish headlines about Canada’s child care crisis was an exaggeration. Because I didn’t seek a spot until I was eight months pregnant, I learned it was unlikely my (still unborn) Toronto baby would have a place by his first birthday. If the idea of putting your child in day care is even remotely interesting and you happen to live in one of Canada’s urban centres, start calling day care centres as soon as you get a positive pregnancy test.
But day care isn’t the only option.
Many freelancers create their own patchwork.
“I started a small photo booth company with my brother while I was still pregnant,” says Toronto mom and MagneTree founder Josie Elfassy. “When I went on mat leave I basically spent the year working one-handed on our photo booth company while nursing my baby in my other arm.”
Like many freelancing moms I spoke to, she finds it difficult to separate the ‘leave’ from working.
“I think we started my son at a half-day, home day care around eight months,” she says.
Often balancing part-time project work with part-time child care is the most organic option – particularly in the first year. While few registered day cares offer part-time spots, you may need to do one or a few of the following: enlist family help, juggle schedules with a partner, hire an occasional nanny or send your child to a home day care.
Lynne Newman is a registered occupational therapist who’s been through two self-employed maternity leaves and her advice for balancing work and baby is simple: “Adjust expectations, ask for help, hire a cleaner (if you can), prep meals and simplify as much as you can beforehand.”
