Im due to have a baby in June - Its our first. Ive done the planning on Excel and my husband has prepped the necessary decks. My employer has politely asked I only take two weeks off work - how do i reply?

1) Politely tell him / her to get stuffed2) Read the small print in your contract3) Apologise if necessary4) Get the number of a good babysitter....

Hand in your notice. If you go back to work after two weeks you'll never forgive yourself for the physical and emotional impact it has. That's besides the impact on your child and partner.I'm the biggest critic of excessively family-biased HR policies, but when you do make the decision to have a kid in the world, you need to do things properly.At the end of the day, you're one of thousands of consultants. The world will not fall apart if you aren't there, but the rest of your personal life might fall apart if you are at work.

Hand in your notice??? Why??Can't actually believe any employer would be so stupid as to actually ask you this.Suggest you check out your employment rights, e.g. for babies due after 1/4/7 (NB due not actually born!) mothers are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave from day 1 of employment. Denying you this, or creating an unfair environment which leads to your position becoming untenable and you subsequently leaving is likely to cost them.....a lot! (make sure you record everything and follow any internal policies around raising issues with your employer)Sounds more like some numpty of a manager not realising what position / financial risk he has put the firm in!Sod 'emPS baby no.2 due in June also, believe me life changes, even if you were mentally up for going back chances of you being up for it physically are pretty poor, plus the little darlings start being more awake at 2 weeks so any chance of sleep will go down the drain......worth it though

Situations like this really infuriate me.Employers might or might not know about the law. But to say to anyone "hey, come back in a couple of weeks after giving birth"would make me think that either that person is retarded or just plain mean.You know what I would do? I would go to his/her office and talk it through all again while recording it with my mobile. Make sure you get that person to say exactly that again, that they want you back in two weeks or else you will have problems.Then let them know that you have that on tape and that both the firm and your boss are in huge huge trouble. Screw them. Take all the juice you can from them. This is one of the few situations where I would be willing to play hard-ball here with my employer all the way.

Was he/ she joking? Given the tone of the post I rather suspect so.Anyway, if you are being serious then they probably were joking, given the level of public knowledge about the unfeasibly long time that new parents are allowed off.How much time do you want to take off? Have you thought about what work commitment that you want when/ if you come back?

that she's pulling a fast one !!

pulling as fast one? why?

that she's pulling a fast one !!

Enthusiastically agree to come back after two weeks, but continue with a description of what you'll be like with when you have post-natal depression and are leaking uncontrollably at both ends (I won't upset people's dinner, but anyone's who's had a baby knows what I'm talking about). Still, if you're working while child-rearing see if you can get some of the more expensive baby stuff on expenses. After all, it's integral to you being able to do your job that you have the necessary equipment to keep your baby amused and avoid them interrupting your conference calls with their screaming.