In smaller businesses, one staff absence can have a significant impact.
Financial pressures, skills gaps and workload pressures can make managing parental leave challenging – especially for specialist or senior roles.
Without early planning, SMEs risk increased pressure on the wider team, reduced productivity and disruption to clients or service delivery.
Managing parental leave well is not just about compliance — it is about protecting business continuity, supporting team morale and retaining skilled employees in a competitive labour market.
“We have one individual due to go on to maternity in the next month, and they are at a senior level, but in a unique role, which is a challenge in itself. Because when they’re off, who else can do that? The answer is no one.” (Magdalena – Employer, 50-249 staff)
How do SMEs manage cover?
What our research found
Redistributing work internally
This is the most common strategy. It can create development opportunities for existing staff – but it can also increase workload pressure.
“We don’t hire replacements, we kind of spread out the roles within the team. Obviously that is…an intense time for the rest of the team to take on those extra roles and responsibilities while someone is out of the business.” (Rachael – Employer, 10-49 staff)
What helps:
- Match tasks carefully to skills and capacity
- Temporarily pause or deprioritise non-essential work
- Regularly review workload to prevent burnout
Multi-skilling and building resilience
Training more than one person to cover key tasks reduces risk and dependency on a single role holder
“We have a very simplistic rule that we have three people trained up on any jobs and then, if you have one on holiday, one sick and one leaves… you don’t get caught out.” (Mike – Emmployer, 10-49 staff)
This approach is particularly useful in:
- Lower-skilled roles
- High-turnover environments
- Operational or customer-facing functions
Multi-skilling strengthens long-term business resilience — not just parental leave cover.
Short-term support or development roles
In highly skilled teams, bringing in temporary support can ease pressure while adding long-term value. Options include:
- University placement students (e.g. sandwich year placements)
- Recent graduates seeking experience
- Apprentices in relevant fields
- Acting up or step-up opportunities for existing staff
These routes can be more cost-effective than hiring experienced contractors and can strengthen your future talent pipeline.
A parental leave cover period can also be used to:
- Offer short-term leadership experience
- Split responsibilities to broaden team capability
Did you know? Employees often worry about how their role will be covered – and whether being away might affect their job security, career progression or chances of returning. Involving them in planning for cover can help them feel valued and reduce anxiety.
Supportive practices
Plan early – especially for specialist or senior roles
- Start handover discussions as soon as appropriate
- Identify business-critical tasks
- Build in overlap time where possible
Use structured knowledge transfer (consider multi-skilling)
- Begin knowledge sharing early
- Document key processes and contacts
- Provide shadowing opportunities
- Clarify decision-making authority during absence
Be realistic about workload.
- Monitor team wellbeing
- Adjust expectations where necessary
Keep communication open
- Discuss communication preferences before leave begins.
- Keeping in Touch Days (KIT)/Shared Parental Leave in Touch Days (SPLIT) – can help employees stay connected and ease transition back to work. However, participation is voluntary — some employees may prefer minimal contact during their leave
