Ask the Expert Randy Prange is a business advisor and CEO of Insights, Inc., a nationally recognized strategic planning and business development firm. Recruited While on Maternity Leave Q: I am currently on maternity leave from a company that I have spent 2 1/2 years with. Since I have been on leave, another company has recruited me and has given me a exceptional offer. I want to leave my current position but I don't know when the appropriate time to tell my current employer would be. Do I tell them now and loose the rest of my maternity benefits or do I wait and give them my two weeks notice on the day I return from leave? Rita A: Your question is not a new one. In today's business/employee atmosphere of "it's all about me" many times I'm asked about how to "get the most" out of the company or out of the employee. From observation and experience I've seen two approaches in the business world. 1. Grab what you can and bail and 2. Take the high road of professionalism and honesty, even if it costs you in the short-term. If you choose Road One … opt to take the remaining maternity leave, then announce your first day back that you are turning in your notice, it will be obvious to all, including your new employer what you were up to. In anyone's book, that is a mark against you in the trust and professional conduct category. If you contact your employer now and inform them that you have just been approached by another company and have decided to accept their offer and feel it is only right to terminate the remaining portion of your leave, you will at least be sending the right signals to each employer, current and future. You may also find that your current employer may want to counter their offer. One thing for certain, you should feel better about yourself and move forward into your new job with a greater degree of confidence and self-worth. Both keys to future success. Also, it is likely you will leave with few if any bridges burned with your current employer, which from experience we know may well prove invaluable in the future. The remaining question is the "loss of benefits?" Obviously you are a career-conscious person. You must determine how much the benefits are ultimately worth if keeping them taints your career history with something that may follow you for years. Submit your questions for Randy Also see: Interviewing while pregnant Disclaimer: The information in this column is intended to provide the reader with general ideas or concepts to be used as part of a broader base of knowledge they collect to determine their own best course of action and solutions most suitable for solving their workplace challenges. The information in this column is not guaranteed to be the appropriate solution for each individual. The information provided is based on personal observations and experiences of the writer that have been garnered over years as a business manager, owner and executive business coach and counselor.