Freelancers as parental-leave cover: a flexible solution for companies

Published: February 28, 2025
Last updated: 21. October 2026

Guest article by
Anika Schmidt
Co-founder of FreeMOM

In Germany, around 80–85% of employees become parents over the course of their lives. The way companies manage the significant phase of their employees' parental leave says a lot about their family-friendliness. Besides professional parental leave processes, appreciative and inclusive communication during parental leave and good return management, this also includes an answer to how parental-leave-related vacancies can be bridged and existing teams relieved. The latter plays a decisive role in relieving existing teams, taking the pressure off parents and fostering a sustainable, family-friendly company culture.

That there's still room for improvement here is shown by current figures: 66% of mothers have to settle for less after parental leave (1st Frankfurt Career Study). For many women, the return to working life marks a turning point – just under 20% do return to their old employer, but in a different position, and a third opt for a completely fresh start.

From the employer's perspective, for all the family-friendliness, the temporary absence of a team member is often problematic. Due to the tight situation on the labour market, it's often not possible to fill the vacated position on a temporary basis – especially for specialised positions, for which there are often no suitable internal replacements. Temporary vacancies are often unattractive, particularly for experienced, specialised roles. As a result, it either leads to internal structures being reorganised or permanent new hires being made, after which positions are then only available to a limited extent for parental-leave returners on their return.

Especially with short-term “father months”, tasks are often redistributed across the team without structured cover, which increases the pressure on the parents (often precisely on the fathers too) and can lead to overload and frustration of the team in the long run. And one's own fear about the job is great and often overshadows the happy event, the birth of the child.

Freelancers as a solution for parental-leave cover

Companies should view parental leave not only as a challenge but as an opportunity to establish flexible and modern working models. Especially when it's clear from the outset that it's a time-limited assignment and the tasks can't easily be absorbed by the team. An attractive and popular alternative to internal restructuring or temporary replacement hires is the use of freelancers or interim managers as parental-leave cover.

Freelancers are self-employed experts who support various companies on a time-limited basis and contribute their specialised know-how on a project basis. They aren't mere “gap fillers”, but highly qualified professionals who can be deployed flexibly and as needed.

Advantages of freelancers as parental-leave cover

Fast availability: Freelancers can step in at short notice and are often ready to start right away.
Flexible contract design: Companies don't have to commit long-term, but can shape the collaboration individually along the parental-leave vacancy. No employment contract is concluded, but a service contract.
High expertise: Freelancers often bring years of professional experience and need only minimal onboarding time.
Cost efficiency: Freelancers are paid on an hourly, daily or fixed-price basis – without fixed costs for IT equipment, social security contributions or paid absences.

What companies should watch out for when working with freelancers

Despite the many advantages, there are important aspects companies should consider to ensure a legally sound and effective collaboration with freelancers:

Avoiding bogus self-employment: Freelancers work independently of instructions. They decide for themselves on working hours and locations. If fixed working hours, company workplaces or IT equipment are provided, there's a risk of bogus self-employment. Not every role is therefore suitable for parental-leave cover through freelancing. In most cases, it makes sense to look specifically at the tasks and bundle packages of work that can be assigned well to a freelancer.
Clear delineation of services: The scope of the collaboration should be regulated precisely in the contract to avoid misunderstandings and also to steer the freelancer's internal communication and integration.
Efficient onboarding: A structured induction and clear handover processes ensure freelancers are quickly productive. A well-thought-out onboarding process is essential to guarantee a successful collaboration.

A solution that supports both sides: FreeMOM makes it possible

With FreeMOM (now UPYU) we offer a tailored solution for companies that want to design parental-leave cover flexibly, legally reviewed and efficiently. As the first full-service recruiting platform for family-friendly work in Europe, we enable companies to quickly find qualified freelancers for projects, capacity peaks or interim solutions. Our innovative approach also convinced diversity expert Tijen Onaran: on “Die Höhle der Löwen” (the German Dragons' Den) she invested in us because we make “hidden talents” visible and ensure more diversity and sustainable value creation.

Over 5,000 experienced FreeMOMs (now UPYU) are already registered on our platform – with an average of more than ten years of professional experience, especially in the areas of finance, HR, marketing, project management or IT. Companies find the right freelancers within a few days – legally sound and thoroughly vetted through our FreeMOM services. This way, companies can not only bridge parental leave seamlessly but also benefit from highly qualified experts at the same time – and establish a family-friendly company culture in the long term.

Our conclusion – win-win-win: why companies, people on parental leave and freelancers benefit from FreeMOM

Parental leave poses challenges for companies – but with a freelancer from the FreeMOM talent pool there's a smart solution for everyone involved.

✅ For companies: They bridge parental-leave vacancies flexibly and without long-term staffing costs or overloading the team. Projects continue, and after parental leave a return to a stable environment is possible.

✅ For people on parental leave: Their job is preserved, without the threat of a permanent replacement. They can devote themselves to their family in a relaxed way and later return seamlessly.

✅ For freelancers – often parents themselves: Many talents registered on FreeMOM are themselves mothers or fathers looking for flexible jobs. They bring valuable experience and benefit from well-matched projects.

Conclusion: companies stay agile, parents can go on parental leave without worries, and freelancers receive exciting assignments. A solution that works for everyone!