- A former Salesforce employee wrote on LinkedIn about discovering she was laid off during maternity leave.
- McKenzie Gregory said she was surprised find out maternity leave didn't protect her from layoffs.
McKenzie Gregory was on maternity leave when she found out she was laid off from Salesforce.
Gregory, who worked as an internal communications specialist at Salesforce, posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday about her surprise at being let go four months into maternity leave following the birth of her son.
She said she thought being on maternity leave meant she was "protected" from losing her job.
"I wasn't heads down or knee deep in some project and the rug got pulled out, but rather I was washing baby bottles while humming a damn Wiggles song stuck in my head (those guys really get ya) when I got the news," Gregory wrote.
"I was shocked, I thought I was protected being on maternity leave ... and obviously I was wrong. You can indeed get laid off on mat leave. Noted," she added in her post.
Gregory worked at Salesforce for over two years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
A source familiar with Salesforce told Insider that laid-off employees on leave will have their leave time honored, and notice and severance terms will be applied after their leave period, which includes six months of parental leave.
Yes, you can be laid off while on maternity leave in the US
Amid layoffs at other companies, personal stories and questions have cropped up among employees about being laid off while pregnant, or on medical or parental leave. While it may come as a surprise, it's not illegal for employees who are on leave or pregnant to be laid off in the US, Insider previously reported.
With layoffs hitting many tech companies, personal stories and questions have cropped up among employees about being laid off while pregnant, or on medical or parental leave. While it may come as a surprise, it's not illegal for employees who are on leave or pregnant to be laid off in the US, Insider previously reported.
Gary Martoccio, an employment lawyer on the employee side with Spielberger Law Group, said that being on leave doesn't grant an employee immunity from being laid off by their employer.
"Most companies will let you finish maternity or medical leave before informing you. But there's nothing barring a company from laying off someone on leave, assuming that they had a legitimate business reason to do so," Martoccio said.
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, companies that employ at least 50 employees must offer workers a minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid parental or medical leave. While the FMLA doesn't protect employees on leave from company-wide layoffs, it does protect against employees being fired simply because they are on leave.
And most state laws across the country don't expand protections beyond what's stated in the FMLA, Martoccio, who is licensed to practice law in Texas, told Insider. Nor do these state laws require that companies offer paid leave, Martoccio said. Offering pay and more than six weeks of leave then falls back on what the company is willing to offer employees, said Martoccio.
In the case of a mass layoff, "if your entire department is let go, everyone who has your position is let go, everyone in your division is let go, and you happen to be on maternity or medical leave, it would not be unlawful to let you go," Martoccio said.
But a layoff could be considered unlawful if the employee on leave is the only person in their department, position, or division to be let go, Martoccio said.
'I wouldn't trade these past 4 months for any amount of money'
Several stories from laid-off workers circulating social media and LinkedIn echo Gregory's, including one from a married couple who were both laid off from Google while one parent was on parental leave.
Gregory was part of the most recent wave of layoffs to hit employees at Salesforce, part of the company's plan to cut 10% of its workforce — which amounts to around 8,000 employees. The company first announced the layoffs in January as part of a cost-reduction restructuring plan, Insider previously reported. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff previously said in an email to employees that the decision was in part due to over-hiring during the pandemic and the current economic environment.
Major tech companies, including Google, Meta, and Amazon have laid off tens of thousands of workers this year. Many of the companies have pointed to economic uncertainty, pandemic-era hiring sprees, and slowing sales as reasons for trimming their workforces.
Gregory wrote that the "experiences I gained at Salesforce these last few years are unmatched," and that she doesn't regret taking six months of maternity leave, as the time spent with her son was invaluable.
"When I look into his eyes and he smiles, I'm so glad I'm present and with him in that moment," she wrote. "I wouldn't trade these past 4 months for any amount of money or job."
Were you recently laid off by Salesforce or another tech company? Contact this reporter at gmayer@insider.com.