Amidst the recent mass layoffs in the tech industry, stories have emerged of people being laid off while on parental or medical leave from their jobs. This has put some workers in precarious situations as they have had to seek new jobs alongside managing new parent or medical responsibilities. However, as long as there is a legitimate business-related and non-discriminatory reason for the layoff, it is entirely legal for companies to let go of workers while they are on leave. At companies like Google and Meta, there has been backlash for the companies not honoring and paying for workers' remaining leave-time that had been approved. These companies have provided severance packages to affected workers from the layoffs though and claim that they have included generous financial assistance.
See "Workers on parental and medical leave amongst those affected by mass layoffs in the tech industry, causing hardships for those workers ", Andrea Hsu, NPR, April 5, 2023