Oh the joys of being laid off & pregnant!

Hah!

Okay, disclaimer: I recognize that I am very lucky. I am in a good position. I do still get to take up to 12 months off after I have this baby*. And I will find another job - I'm young enough and employable enough. Yes, everything will work out. I get that. Really.

Back to being ungrateful.

This sucks. Let me list the ways:
1a. My severance is being paid out while I am on mat leave. This will mess up my mat leave payments and I will lose out on almost half of my entitled employment insurance payments. (And I should get it, darnit, I paid into the EI system for years!)

1b. The purpose of severance is to provide a salary while you look for a job. Great. So it really makes sense to collect my severance while I am at home with a newborn. Because I'm really going to hit the job search hard and bring my infant with me to job interviews. NOT!!! My severance pay should be paid out when my leave is complete.

2. I will have a year-long gap in my resume. Yes, I can explain why, but that means I have say 1) I was laid off (not such a bad thing) and 2) I was on mat leave. Telling them I was on mat leave really sucks. It's none of their business that I was on mat leave. Telling them I was on mat leave means that I'm telling them I have at least one child. And because I am a woman, if they are stereotyping (and so many people do, myself included), they will assume that means I will be off more if my child is sick. It introduces an entire topic that has no bearing on my ability to do the job.

3. Part-time work.
When I returned to work after my mat leave with LC, I was able to come back 4 days a week for 16 months. It was a fantastic balance of work/home. I was very happy with the arrangement. Unfortunately it did end after 16 months, but man, what a difference that 16 months made. The odds of me being able to find a similar arrangement with a brand-new employer with whom I have established zero credibility? Very, very slim.

4. I actually like(d) my job.
I liked working for my current employer. I liked the variety, challenges, etc of my job. I was good at it. I like the people. I find myself tearing up a lot as I say goodbye to colleagues and begin packing up. This sucks.

And that's enough whining. It's not even Wednesday...

* Very grateful to live in Canada, where we get up to 52 weeks of maternity/parental leave. Very, very civilized. Humane, even. Unlike other countries *cough* the U.S. *cough* where I have no idea how moms go back to work after just six or eight or maybe if you're luck twelve weeks.