I am about to go off on maternity leave - and technically would have been out four wks before & six weeks after the birth - which would have ended sometime around mid to late April. After that, I was planning to take 6 weeks of family leave (all of which I am eligible for).

I have been informed by my employer, however, that as of the end of March, I will be laid off. I have also been informed that due to a new tax law, the company has recently revised their layoff policy, which now states that I must either come back and begin my 60 day notification period at the time of official notification (end of March, while still on my post-birth 6 weeks of maternity leave) OR else I could opt to continue my leave, come back when my leave is over & then give up any severance package I would have received.

This new law seems strange and unfair to me. Calling a woman back from maternity leave so you can start her layoff period? What about family leave? Would I still be eligible for that? What about the so called "job protection"? Is my company getting around this by giving me the option to come back or forgo my severance package? That hardly seems right.

The job protection provisions of FMLA and the California equivalent do not give you any special rights or protections in a layoff. If you would have been laid off regardless of whether you were on maternity leave or not, the employer will not be breaking any laws by laying you off while you are on maternity leave.

I'm not sure what tax law the employer is referring to? Are you part of a mass layoff that would trigger WARN Act protections?