Every business leader knows that moment. A top performer shares they’re expecting. You’re genuinely happy for them—but then the internal panic sets in.

Short-term leave can disrupt company productivity, make extra work for teams and spawn insecurity for the employees taking time off. By temporarily filling roles with qualified professionals, all sides have much less to worry about. 

There’s a difference between stepping in for someone and taking on a vacant role or freelance project. A big one.

Parental leave is one of the most impactful—and vulnerable—moments in an employee’s career. But for many managers, navigating these conversations feels uncomfortable.

Even when companies have generous policies on paper, many parents still carry a heavy, quiet guilt. Not just for being away, but for feeling like we owe something in return.

In this powerful episode of the Female Fractionals podcast, Amanda sits down with Beth Wanner, to talk about Mother Cover.

After a 15-year climb through Canada’s tech sector, Beth Wanner reached the executive level – but found herself confronting a challenge many women face: balancing career growth with family planning.

The secret to being a working parent has never been about balance. It's about juggling. And this juggling act starts right at the beginning.

A national survey, revealing that 15% of Canadian mothers who gave birth in 2022 or 2023 were laid off, dismissed, or had contracts go unrenewed during pregnancy, parental leave, or upon returning to work.

Let’s talk about choice, equality, and what changes when dads take parental leave.

Returning to work after parental leave can feel like a second cliff. Most companies pour all their effort into offboarding and the transition into parental leave: the checklist, the handoff, the farewell lunch.

What about re-onboarding?

Beth’s story includes IVF, executive-level layoffs, workplace discrimination, and being fired just weeks before giving birth. But instead of giving up, she built something powerful: a company that’s changing how employers support parents.

Beth Wanner and Hannah Castle are two mothers who started businesses to support women, parents and businesses through the maternity process.

Since we work with companies across both the U.S. and Canada, we’re often asked: Are the challenges with parental leave the same in both countries?

As all eyes turn to working mothers ahead of Mother’s Day, workplace experts and organizations are weighing in on how employers can best support working moms.

Let’s be clear: parental leave is not a perk. It’s not a “look how generous we are” moment.

It’s business infrastructure.

This article is adapted from a 5-part series unpacking one of the most pervasive, yet rarely spoken, challenges facing working parents today — the fear of what parental leave might cost them.

For many women in leadership, there's spoken and unspoken pressure to take shorter maternity leaves, even when a company has a generous parental leave policy on paper. 

The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards celebrate individuals who have demonstrated vision, creativity, and perseverance, making a lasting difference in their fields and beyond.

Parental leave isn’t just about the person taking leave. The ROI of an interim leader who keeps work moving without overburdening the team is clear.