We build the space between HR policy and manager behavior when it comes to parental leave.
HRCI Recertification Provider · Approved 2026 · HR credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and related certifications
The Protected Leave offers professional development for HR leaders and facilitated training for people managers, all built around one problem, building the process between parental leave policy and what managers actually do
Most HR leaders can describe their parental leave policy in detail. What very few can describe is the standard governing how their people managers execute it, because in most organizations, that standard does not exist.
Managers operate on instinct, outcomes vary, and HR is responsible for results it has no mechanism to control. Let’s fix that.
Three Ways To Work Together
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Courses for HR professionals, taken on your own schedule or taught live online.
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Private, facilitator-led sessions for your HR leaders and people managers, built around your policy and your people, with hands-on help building the standard alongside your team.
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Ongoing fractional support that keeps your people manager standard current as your organization and the rules around family leave change, without the cost of a full-time hire.
Our Services
Training
For HR leaders who want to build the standard themselves.
Open enrollment courses for HR professionals, taught live online or taken on your own schedule. You will assess where your organization’s execution gap sits across the full leave lifecycle, build the components HR can own, and leave with a method you can start using the same week. Each course stands on its own, so you can begin wherever you are.
Facilitation
For organizations that want the standard built around their own policy and their own people.
Facilitator-led cohort sessions designed for your organization. The HR Leaders Build Session takes up to ten HR leaders through an assessment of the full leave lifecycle and the start of the standard your team will own. The People Manager Training equips up to twenty people managers to carry that standard out, from the first disclosure conversation through the first 90 days after re-entry. When you want hands-on help finishing the build, we work alongside your team using your policy and your people manager population as the foundation.
HR commissions the engagement and owns what it produces. Discovery call required.
On Retainer
For organizations that need someone to own it without a full-time hire.
A fractional arrangement that keeps your people manager standard current. A base retainer covers ongoing availability and quarterly reviews as programs like FAMLI expand and the rules around family leave continue to shift. When something specific comes up, such as a regulatory change, a large group of employees going on leave, or people managers who need training or retraining, that work is scoped and handled directly. You get the working knowledge of a dedicated leave specialist without the cost of a full-time hire.
Engagements are limited to two to three organizations at a time, and a discovery call is required.
live webinar
“This session was very insightful and informative. I walked away learning several new facts and appreciated the engaging way the information was presented.”
— 4/22/26 Webinar Participant
“The session helped me understand the importance of having standards for parental leave.”
— 4/22/26 Webinar Participant
When parental leave goes well, HR should get credit for it.
What HR can prove
Right now, when a leave transition goes smoothly, there's no paper trail that says HR built something that made that happen. When it goes badly, HR gets the escalation. This system changes that. Every engagement builds a documented, trackable record HR can report upward.
free diagnostic tool
Not sure where your gaps are?
Most HR leaders can identify a problem after it surfaces. This assessment helps you find it before it does. The free 10-point Parental Leave Risk Assessment takes five minutes and gives you a risk score you can act on and share with your leadership team.
See where your current process is most vulnerable.
Identify whether the gap is in policy, process, or manager execution.
Get a practical starting point your organization can act on.
Get Your Risk Score
common questions
What HR Leaders Want to Know
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No, and that is intentional. I am a former people manager with nearly a decade of experience leading teams through parental leave transitions in an organization where I also went on leave myself. I build operational systems that prevent the manager behaviors that create compliance problems. I teach what works at the manager level in real conversations, not just what the law says in theory.
For specific legal questions about your organization’s obligations under PWFA, the PUMP Act, FMLA, or state laws, I will always refer you to qualified employment counsel. My role is to reduce the situations that require that conversation in the first place.
Nothing in The Protected Leave™ materials, training sessions, or assessments constitutes legal advice. Organizations should consult qualified employment counsel for guidance specific to their circumstances.
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HR designs policy and ensures compliance at the organizational level. Managers make the day to day execution decisions.
Most organizations assume managers know how to handle leave transitions because policies exist. In practice, many managers are navigating these conversations for the first time. This training supports HR by giving managers structure so HR is not pulled in after a problem has already escalated.
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Engagements are cohort based and interactive. Sessions are delivered live, virtually or in person, depending on your needs. Modules typically range from 45 to 90 minutes and include practical application, discussion, and scenario work so managers can practice the frameworks rather than passively receive information.
Cohort size is intentionally limited to preserve discussion quality and ensure managers can apply what they learn.
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Strong policies still require strong execution.
We do not rewrite your policies. We build the operational layer that helps managers carry them out consistently. The gap between what is written and what happens in a manager’s first conversation is where resignations, complaints, and performance disruption often begin. That is the gap we address.
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Even a small number of transitions can have outsized impact.
If one return goes poorly, the cost of replacement, disruption, and lost productivity can exceed the investment in building a consistent framework. The systems developed in this training also apply to other protected leave events, not just parental leave, which increases the return over time.
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Most compliance training focuses on awareness. Managers learn what not to say and what laws apply.
This training focuses on execution. Managers receive specific scripts, structured frameworks, and decision tools for disclosure, leave management, reintegration, and post leave performance calibration. The difference is not knowledge, but operational structure.
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The frameworks are consistent, but the examples, toolkit language, benefit mapping, and manager tools are tailored to your organization. Managers receive materials aligned to your policies, your benefits structure, and your operating reality rather than generic scenarios.
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This engagement is most impactful in organizations where managers independently oversee performance and workload decisions and where parental or protected leave events occur regularly enough to require consistent handling.
It is particularly valuable in mid sized and enterprise environments where inconsistent execution across departments creates uneven employee experiences.
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Organizations typically see:
More consistent disclosure conversations
Fewer informal arrangements during leave
Structured and documented re entry plans
Reduced post leave attrition
Fewer reactive escalations to HR
Stronger documentation practices during the first 90 days post return
The goal is not simply compliance awareness. It is consistent execution.