The Case for Rest Conscious Parental Leave: 5 Ways to Make Parental Leave Better for Everyone

Supporting parents through thoughtful, rest-conscious policies isn't just good for them — it's good for the whole team.

Photo: Rachel Zieleniec & family

By: Rachel Zieleniec

Parental leave is a time of major transition — joyful, exhausting, and often overwhelming. Amidst it all, one thing is almost always missing: rest. At R&R, we asked a bold question — what if, instead of adding to the exhaustion, workplaces could help restore some of that rest?

This question was a perfect fit for R&R: The Rest of Our Lives, where I serve as the Chief Program Officer. We are a laboratory for the future of work. We pilot, experiment, test and evaluate policies and practices that we believe could and should be normalized for healthier, thriving workplaces across the nonprofit sector and beyond. 

So, we put our policy and practice values to the test when one of our team members (me!) went on parental leave. The experience gave us all valuable insight into what a supportive, collaborative, and rest-conscious leave could look like.

Here are five strategies we used — ones that other organizations might consider to better support their teams during and after parental leave:

1. Make Preparation a Team Effort

Instead of leaving it up to the employee to tie up every loose end, we made leave preparation a shared responsibility. Together, we set a clear, manageable team goal for my absence: "Let’s maintain it and sustain it." We collaborated on a parental leave plan, distributing key tasks, pausing others and removing the pressure to "do it all." This created shared ownership and reduced stress for everyone. During this process, we constantly worked toward eliminating the false urgency that tends to arise during planned leaves and other moments of big change in the workplace. 

2. Return to an Empty Inbox

We piloted an “inbox zero” return — having the team manage my inbox while I was away, so I came back to a clean slate. This helped me focus on current work rather than getting buried in a backlog once I returned. It’s a small shift that truly fostered a forward-looking mindset and made the first days and weeks back less overwhelming. Pragmatically, this meant that the day before I returned, a colleague “archived” all my messages with the exception of a thoughtful, supportive ‘welcome back’ email from my team. 

3. No External Meetings Right Away

For the first two weeks post-leave, we held off on scheduling any external meetings. This allowed time to ease back into internal work, reconnect with the team, and catch up at a comfortable pace — all without the pressure of outside demands.

This practice also allows the employee to start mapping out what their days need to look and feel like upon return. This might include carving out time for lactation needs or doctors appointments. Without the integration of external meetings, it gives some extra time and space to do this in the first weeks back to work. 

4. Mid-Week Return Start

Instead of coming back on a Monday, I returned mid-week. Starting on a Wednesday made the transition feel much smoother and allowed for a shorter, more manageable first week back. We also arranged my return to coincide with previously scheduled organizational days off, which is extra helpful to plan around if there is flexibility to do so. 

5. A Supportive Return with Built-In Rest

We embraced a gradual return schedule that included rest breaks and shorter hours to help ease the adjustment. This approach recognizes that transitioning into working parenthood is both physical and emotional, and it deserves flexibility and care.

Due to personal circumstances, our supportive R&R policies allowed me to flex my hours after my twins were born due to their unexpected, lengthy NICU stay following their birth. This flexibility provided me with the opportunity to engage in my full parental leave once they were actually home from the hospital a few months later. 

The fluidity of my return was also in service of our organizational culture as a whole, which promotes the exploration of effective time use, avoiding ‘clock in/clock-out’ pressures, and providing employees with the autonomy to manage their multiple responsibilities in and outside of work. 

To wrap it up…

There is immense importance in approaching a parental leave (and return) through a human-centered lens, taking into account the unique needs of each individual circumstance to the extent possible. Entering a leave of absence with the recognition that it’s not a one-size-fits-all experience ultimately alleviates unnecessary burden, stress and anxiety for all parties. 

Supporting parents through thoughtful, rest-conscious policies isn't just good for them — it's good for the whole team. By making space for flexibility, collaboration, and recovery, organizations can create psychologically safe environments where people feel supported, valued, and able to thrive. Not just during parental leave, but long after it ends.

——-
Rachel Zieleniec is the Chief Program Officer for R&R: The Rest of Our Lives. A builder and creator, she’s most energized by using her decade of nonprofit experience to manifest great ideas - big and small - and helping bring them to life. You can reach her at rachel@restofourlives.org if you have any thoughts on this piece, would like some support in (re)thinking your own policies and practices!