Parental Leave: A Benefit or Burden?

To my fellow professionals, two questions: Do you have a gut response to taking parental leave? Do you fear the impact parental leave may have on your career if you were to take it?

As any human, I acknowledge that my perspective is limited to my own experiences – those as a male professional and as a father comes with its own lens. However, what I have witnessed and have been told is alarming and requires attention. Specifically, I want to focus on women's challenges when returning to work after maternity leave.

What was your initial reaction when you were faced with deciding who would take the leave? Were you worried about the career impacts and not potentially securing a promotion or stalling? For those of you who didn't take the leave, why?

In Canada, the federal government has set the parameter for leave, which is that parents are entitled to a minimum of 17 weeks to a maximum of 78 weeks of leave (or shorter if they prefer) (Canada Labour Code (justice.gc.ca) ). Some employers top up their employees' salaries for a defined period, which is incredibly helpful so parents don't rely solely on employment insurance. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual and their family to decide what works best for them. ?

Many executive positions are currently held by the previous generation, who also needed access to or support for parental leave, just like parents do today. It's understandable how that generation may have an attitude of indifference, irritation, or even resentment (with a sprinkle of jealousy, perhaps?) towards parental leave. “Well, this is how we did when were having a family, and we made it work,” is a common sentiment. However, there are better frameworks to build from than personal bias for those creating corporate policy and governance parameters.

Becoming a parent working in Canada, has had me reflect further on what reintegration into the workplace is like. This has prompted many conversations with friends, colleagues and classmates to hear their situations. Specifically, I have inquired about women’s experiences and how they are treated when they return to work after maternity leave. Since most women take longer leave from work (Family Matters: Parental leaves in Canada (statcan.gc.ca) ), they are more likely to be negatively impacted. I have heard horror stories from women who returned to work only to find their positions filled by someone else or they have been transferred to an unfamiliar area, all without proper communication from management.

These types of stories are disheartening and all too common. One manager-level woman went on maternity leave and discovered during her leave (from a colleague) that an external hire filled the executive-level position she had been on track for. There was no communication about the potential for her to interview for the job, and she missed that opportunity for an executive position. Another woman had no contact with their manager until two weeks before her return (to which she had to reach out) and found that her manager had backfilled her job and that she was transferred to an unfamiliar area on the day of her return. Lastly, a female manager on maternity leave was pressured and made to feel guilty by her executive to return to work a few months earlier than she was entitled to. This was right after she announced to her executive she was expecting and months before her leave was even set to begin. Once she returned to work, she found herself in an environment of "prove yourself" all over again.

Various articles have reported on this topic (Canadian employers failing mothers returning from parental leave: report | Benefits Canada.com ), but they all pull the same statistics: "33% of respondents reported they were discriminated against due to becoming, or being, a mother in the workplace." That's 1 in 3 women feeling actively discriminated against because they chose to start or add to their family. Women who have children sacrifice their bodies and seemingly sacrifice their careers simultaneously.

Having a family is a personal choice, but it’s also incumbent on society to continue reproducing to offset the birth rate decline we are witnessing in Western society; corporations will need a continued pipeline of talent to pull from. Leaders must be aware of some of their employees' difficulties when returning to work after parental leave. Not only are women not being supported, but they are being actively punished. As men, we need to do a better job of understanding and voicing our support on these issues.

If you want to debate the merit of 12 to 18 months of parental leave being too long, that's fine. However, until the federal government changes that policy, why are parents (and statistically, women) being treated poorly by taking the entitled-to-benefit of being Canadian?

Please take a few minutes and think; would you be in your current professional position if you had taken leave to care for your child? Would that have negatively impacted your career trajectory with your company or boss? For women, this may not be a thought exercise, it may be reality.?