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So not quite that scenario, I was told I would not have access and I should not log on for the short term disability reason. I was of the mindset to log on to keep up with the emails but frankly enjoyed being disconnected.

When I came back, my computer had essentially been derecognized since I never logged on and they had to build me a whole new laptop. It was a lot of fingering point, if we are lucky enough to have another I will have to figure out what is allowable since it set me back a few days upon my return.

My email stays active and I can use it but the only emails I receive are from HR about job postings. All my other accounts get deactivated for the time I am off

I don't know if it's a smart idea for you to broadcast you are planning to leave. Perhaps you can focus on things you would like to see change for you to stay.

Typically, everything is supposed to be shut down, because companies can get in serious trouble if employees are working. While you may want and welcome doing some work, your employer cannot be seen as requiring you to do so. In my case nothing changed and thank goodness because I waited till the last day to make my benefit changes. If I hadn't had access I would have had to wait 7 months until open enrollment.

My situation is different because I'm Canadian so I get a year and they hire somebody to do my job while I'm gone, but I had to turn in my laptop and blackberry. However a colleague is on mat leave now and they let her keep both.

@erinbaderin: @Banana330: same! I hand over my iPhone and have no access to my email or our internal system

I had access to anything I wanted but didn't touch any of it
For 12 weeks. Took a full work day when I got back to answer or delete all the accrued emails. Totally worth it.

I only log in to do my timesheet. We don't have remote email access (weird, I know) and I have only checked in out of curiosity!

Nothing changed while I was on leave. But my boss was very supportive and encouraged me not to work. I simply checked email via my phone and deleted all of the newsletters and spam so that I didn't have to wade through it all when I came back. (I imagine I would have tried to be more engaged if the company was going through a major reorg though!)

In Canada, one year mat leave, and for both, we had the option of keeping our laptop home with us or handing it in. I kept mine and stayed on top of clearing out emails and on top of office news while gone. It helped me feel not so out of the loop coming back. I didn't do any actual work though.

@runnerd: Same here. I worked for a large consulting firm, and this was protocol. It isn't where I work now.

That happened with my second maternity leave, but for different reasons. I work for the gov, and since I hadn't logged on in awhile, they deactivate it for safety/privacy concerns. It was a pain in the butt having to get them all turned back on.

My Director gave me the option of keeping access to email or not. He didn't want to bother me while I was off but also wanted to keep me in the loop if I wanted it. I kept access but no one 'cc's me or anything. My out of office states that I'm on mat leave and directs the sender to my secretary who can redirect appropriately. I'm in Canada and will be on mat leave for 18 months. I'm not too worried about keeping up with what's going on as so much will change before I go back.

I'm in IT and the only female on my team. My corporate credit card got turned off while I was gone (which was annoying) but everything else initially stayed active. Certain accounts that I did not log in to within the 4 months got deactivated so I had to call to deactivate on my return. I had email, VPN the whole time.