r/ParentalLeaveAdvocacy

Hello redditors. So grateful for places and communities like this. My wife and i had our daughter July 1st. She was induced due to preeclampsia and had a tough labor. I am trying to figure out my leave from work as the father. I want to use FMLA and take off 12 weeks if possible. My wife is still having blood pressure problems and post partum anxiety. My company uses Absencesoft to request leaves from work. Under the options for leave it gives baby bonding, family health condition, pregnancy/maternity, and self health condition. Do i use the family health condition option, the pregnancy option, or the baby bonding option? My company offers 6 weeks paid bonding time, but i believe that should be used after the 6 weeks of leave for the birth? i'm just very confused and HR never returns calls, only emails. and are not helpful when emailing. Thanks for any help you all can give.

I just found out today on a call with my manager where HR came and basically told me due to "restructuring" I was being laid off. I was offered 3 months severance. My insurance benefits end today and I get 3 months of COBRA. Here's the thing though I was the only female on my entire team, and I had been there for almost 4 years (09/2026 would have been 4 years) and I have never been put on any PIP or gotten anything back other than good reviews. In fact, I was discussing at my December 2025 call a promotion for December 2026.

I just found out early this month I'm pregnant. I never told them, but I had been going to a fertility clinic and became pregnant through IUI which I was using through company insurance. I don't know who else they fired, but last time there were lay offs there was a mass company email, this time it was just me and my manager and the HR lady came in to talk. I saw on my managers calendar he had no other 1:1 meetings scheduled today so I wonder if I'm the only one who was let go? I had not told them I was pregnant, but that doesn't mean they didn't know since I used a lot of their resources such as insurance, fertility coverage, and HealthJoy concierge for pregnancy related questions. Do I have any legal case here? Should I ask for more than the 12 weeks severance and ask for insurance coverage with premiums paid until EOY or Birth (Due date 2/25/27)? I'm trying to navigate this but am completely gutted and have been crying (thanks hormones!) all morning. Appreciate any insight, thank you!

ETA: Thank you everyone for the advice, I had read through all of it and it has given me a lot to think about. First, I’m sorry to everyone who is/was pregnant and went through this - I know firsthand how awful and scary it is. I hope we all find ourselves in a better place afterwards.

Second, I wanted to add a little more context: there were 8 people on my team, 4 of them (all men) were hired after me. 2 of them (men) had the same role and title as me (SWE2). I was the only one cut.

Even without the pregnancy, this might be discrimination because as a woman I am still a part of a protected class and I was clearly singled out. My manager and I signed my review in March which discussed promotion and what 2/5 metrics I need a little improvement in to get there. I had thankfully taken pictures of the review and sent it to AI so I have them despite being locked out. I’m going to talk to a lawyer today.

Not eligible for maternity leave since haven’t been at the company long enough, but am eligible for Short Term Disability.

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i am looking for advice after being terminated by Amazon. I worked there for 3 years. I have a 2-year-old son, and I returned to my night-shift role 6 months ago after my maternity leave.

Recently, my son started suffering from severe health and behavioral issues (aggression, hitting his head against walls) because he was struggling with me being away at night. His doctor explicitly advised me to stay home with him for 1–2 months to see if he improved, and provided a doctor's note.

I immediately applied for a medical leave for child support. It took DLS (Disability and Leave Services) 2 weeks to approve it initially. Then, they demanded a second, more specific form from the doctor. When I went back to the doctor, she pointed out that the form Amazon required was for a "critically ill" dependent, which my son didn't technically qualify as under their strict definition. Amazon never told me this criteria beforehand.

Because of this paperwork loop, the process dragged on for a month. Amazon retroactively denied my leave, slapped me with attendance points for the time I missed, and terminated me. I tried talking to site HR, tried applying for a Personal Leave of Absence (PLOA) instead, and went through the formal Amazon appeal process, but they denied it and upheld the termination.

Has anyone dealt with DLS denying a child-care medical leave like this? Do I have any options left, or should I look into filing a complaint with the labor board/EEOC for wrongful termination? (I am based in Canada).

My California SDI claim was extended through **8/1**, but my benefit balance will be exhausted around **7/17**.
Has this happened to anyone?

Were you able to apply for PFL the day after your last SDI payment, or did you have to wait until the return to work date? Did you have to call EDD or submit any additional paperwork?

Thanks for any responses!

I'm hoping folks in here might have some helpful experience that can help with my current situation:

I just accepted a new job at a small company (fewer than 5 employees) in California. I'm not pregnant, but am planning to be in the next 2-3 years, so during the job negotiation phase, I asked about their parental leave policy. I'm the first person they've hired, so they needed time to develop a policy. I'm also the first woman to work at this company (but one of the partners has young children, so I imagine they went through this in some form once before).

They just presented me with my employment contract to review. In the contract, they're offering me "4 weeks of full salaried time off for parental leave, plus an additional 8 weeks at half compensation." It also stipulates that an "employee is welcome to take as much time off as desired, and their position will be guaranteed for a period of six (6) months"

So now, I have a few questions:

1. First, I'm wondering whether this is a fair policy, given the size of the company, or if I should try and advocate for any changes.
2. Second, I'm aware that because the company has fewer than 5 employees, I'm technically not protected by FMLA/California's Family Rights Act, and I'm ineligible for the state's Pregnancy Disability Leave, HOWEVER, if my employer saying in the contract my position is guaranteed for 6 months, does that mean I'm getting the same if not better protection through my Employer's plan?
3. Finally, I just want to be able to understand: Would I in theory be able to stack their 4 weeks of full paid, 8 weeks half compensation, PLUS the 10-12 weeks offered to me by SDI and 8 weeks of PFL at 70–90% of my wages—for a combined 30 weeks/almost 7 months of paid leave in some form?

Hope there's someone out there who has been in a similar situation who can offer some insight!

Location: Around Philadelphia, USA because I do what I’m told what to do)

I’ll keep it short, wife works for a large food company, multibillion dollar, she had a FMLA Claim that was up for renewal. First thing to admins; she abused the hell out of it. To the point it caused issues with us, but that’s beside the point. She knows she fucked up and put a target on her back. The 3rd party management co for the FMLA claims was late in submitting her paperwork for a renewal. Not her fault. The “co” fired her based upon attendance. Tallied up she would be next up at the gallows. It’s been months and I mean MONTHS, without her income, and it’s put a severe financial strain on us. They just came back with a second offer; first offer was new hire, no seniority, keep vaca; we said we want seniority (it’s the life blood of your personal time to have seniority). This offer is no back pay, keep seniority, keep vaca, get a better shift. We spoke to a lawyer we’ve become friendly with, but he won’t say without looking at the details if he would suggest we fight. We need her income, but we also need her back pay. This offer is essentially admitting fault so they are demanding the she sigh her legal recourse right away to accept the new offer. They also are putting a clock on it, in what I assume to be a don’t ask too many people you’ll realize we’re f’n you.

Question; decline the role since the need is there and it would show the employer really needed the money or accept to the role take a gut punch from JornFraser

Unredacted details; FMLA = USA; state doesn’t really have a take on the situation. State sucks anyways when it comes to employee protections.

Any thoughts or suggestions

we recently had a baby and my husbands PFL was just denied. we’re in CA and he’s been paying into SDI so we’re unclear why it would be denied. anyone go through this? has anyone appealed it?

I have started my shots (Day3) and I have coverage through my job, but I wanted a separate short term disability insurance to ensure additional coverage for myself assuming I have a live birth.

I am told I need to find one that considers IVF because some companies wont cover IVF since you need to get the coverage before pregnancy and IVF is considered planned pregnancy by some companies. Ridiculous companies but at the same time makes sense.

Do you all have any suggestions