For the employer

Career counselling

A specific unit of an organisation or person responsible for the organisation’s personnel may provide career counselling services to the organisation’s employees before and after a break in an employee’s career that may occur for the purpose of caring for children or other persons, or due to health problems, or for the purposes of learning and professional development. During career counselling, the employee receives advice on how to prepare to take a break from work and return back to work smoothly, by also discussing the employee’s expectations and future plans.

During career counselling before or after a career break, a plan may be developed in which the employee and the organization agree on the following:

• More flexible organisation of work upon the employee’s return to work (e.g., flexible work schedule, individual work schedule, remote work);
• Development of professional skills and improvement/renewal of qualifications during, at the end of, or after a career break;
• The need of the employee to voluntarily participate in the activities of the organization, socialization events, and regular business meetings during his/her career break;
• The need of the employee to retain access to the organization’s information systems (e.g., document management system) and communication channels (e.g., newsletters, intranet);
• Potential career prospects and expectations of the employee in this organization after returning from a career break;
• The organisation’s readiness to respond to the employee’s new needs to balance work and personal life after a career break (e.g., the need to work in a workplace adapted for people with disabilities or health problems, for persons raising or caring for young children, etc.).