This is one sure to rouse strong opinions - following maternity leave nearly two-thirds of employers don't expect female employees to return to their job with many citing previous experience as the reason for their viewpoint. While this is clearly the case in some circumstances, from my experience most women do return to work within eighteen months of giving birth and many return far earlier than that.

Business need to be careful about making assumptions otherwise they could end up facing claims for discrimination. Employers also need to think about their return to work policy - or lack there of. Important issues such as working hours will need to be discussed and company policy made clear from the outset to avoid issues between employer and employee when it comes to returning to work.