u/Both-Hat-8557

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We spoke to an employment lawyer but we are looking for second opinion before we pay anyone else. Please no hurtful comment. We are already pretty down.

My husband and I are expecting our first baby anytime now but on the last day of work before my maternity leave which was two weeks ago, he got laid off from his job.

The company was going through a legitimate restructuring that required to lay off 2 workers. (Their new contract with their client requires 2 less positions) Obviously he talked to his boss about the leave before he requested parental leave at the beginning of April. I guess the company nor did my husband knew layoffs were on the way.

He was quite upset because his company follow quite straightforward and rigid layoff process when determining which team members get let go (bigger layoffs happened at the beginning of April the day before he requested the leave, and he made the cut. All the people laid off were at the bottom of the ranking plus one person who has been written up in the past) and my husband has always been top 5, had perfect attendance, and pretty good seniority, too. Always doing extra work, and even got a team leader training for the future. He talked to his team leader as well as HR for the reasons for selecting him (I know they don't have to disclose and just terminate you without cause), and both said he didn't do anything wrong and that he had always been great. They went through company protocols for multiple factors, even brought it to the director because they couldn't decide, and my husband was one of the two to be laid off. The other guy had the second worst ranking.

He wonders if he hadn't requested the leave, he would have probably not picked to be laid off. The new training dates conveniently fall during the time he would be away, and they probably thought it's easy to just let him go.

Here we are, supposed to be super excited for this baby to arrive, but now for the past two weeks we have been stressed trying to figure everything out. I know we will be ok. We are trying to think it's the universe's way of telling us to spend time together. But it just sucks so much that it happens to a dad-to-be who put his family first, and taking the financial burden to go on parental leave, only to lose his job in the end.

So much for Canada's parental leave entitlement. No wonder no dads around us take parental leave. Maybe we should have clued in, too.

Anyway, thank you for reading this post. Even though the lawyer told us that employer can lay you off for whatever reason, I thought the parental leave was protected grounds. If anyone has insights into how this relates to human rights, or how hard to prove it, please let me know.

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Just wanting to rant and not looking for advice or certainly not "you should have seen this coming." We are pretty hurt already.

My husband and I are expecting our first baby anytime now but on the last day of work before my maternity leave which was two weeks ago, my husband got laid off from his job.

The company was going through a restructuring that required to lay off 2 workers. Obviously he talked to his boss before he requested parental leave at the beginning of April, and I guess the company nor my husband knew layoffs were on the way.

He was quite upset because his company follow quite straightforward and rigid layoff process when determining which team members get let go, and my husband has always been top ranked, had perfect attendance, and pretty good seniority, too. Always doing extra work, and even got team leader training for the future. He talked to his team leader as well as HR for the reason for selecting him (I know they don't have to disclose and just terminate you without cause), and both said he didn't do anything wrong and that he had always been great.

He wonders if he hadn't requested the leave, he would have probably not picked to be laid off. The new training dates conveniently falls during the time he would be away, and they probably thought it's easy to just let him go. We know there's nothing we can do now.

Here we are, supposed to be super excited for this baby to arrive, but now for the past two weeks we have been stressed trying to figure everything out. I know we will be ok. We are trying to think it's the universe's way of telling us to spend time together. But it just sucks so much that it happens to a dad-to-be who put his family first, and taking the financial burden to go on parental leave, only to lose his job in the end.

So much for Canada's parental leave entitlement. No wonder no dads around us take parental leave. Maybe we should have clued in, too.

Anyway, thank you for reading this post. I hope no one will ever have to experience what we have been going through.

[edit] Thank you for all the supportive comments. We do feel this is wrong. We did talk to an employment lawyer, however he basically said due to the legitimate restructuring (contract change of their client that required 2 less people) and he wasn't the only one to be let go, employer can do whatever. I thought it can't be based on protected grounds, but I'm not a lawyer so I don't know.

Hi! My husband and I are planning to move to Sapporo, Japan from Canada next year with our soon to be born baby.

A bit about us:

I am Japanese, born and raised, and moved to Canada 13 years ago. I speak fluent Japanese and English. My husband is Canadian (Caucasian if it matters at all), speaks English and very basic Japanese. We are both in our early 30s.

My career is mostly in education, early years to middle school. My husband has a horticulture diploma, experience in landscaping, greenhouse and some outdoor farming. For the past couple of years he has been working in tech related field. We will both need to find jobs there, but I'm mostly wanting to ask about my husband's situation.

My mom lives in Sapporo so we will live with her once we move. We have some savings so I'm not too worried about my husband's visa or our survival for a year or so.

Because I have been away from Japan for so long and feel out of touch (big time) , I would love to ask for tips and questions to those who have moved to Japan.

-just in general, what are some preparations that were helpful for you or you wish you had done before moving there?

-What are some good course to take or skills to gain for my husband while we are still in Canada to make job hunting somewhat easier? If it's English teaching related, which course do you recommend? ( there are so many TESOL and other courses.....!)

-anything else we need to know? Things you were surprised or didn't know? Life? Custom? Tax implication? (I'll prob have to ask int. accountant for this but if you have any experience pls share!)

I have been away from Japan for so long and with my husband being Canadian, I'd appreciate all the perspectives! Thank you in advance.