A returner is someone who goes back to a paid job after a long time away — most often a woman who left work to look after her children and now wants to work again. Offices, shops, and government programmes use the word in this way: a “returner course” or “returner programme” helps people catch up on tools, computer systems, and office habits that changed while they were gone. Though actually, a father who stayed home, or anyone who left for years to care for family or for health, can be a returner too; people just happen to say it most about mothers. You will hear it in job ads and newspapers more than in everyday chat. It is not “anyone who comes back from a trip.”