I also want to delve into the issue with the employer.
Sorry to my colleagues, but this is a very interesting line of thought: having flexibility for people in their lives, because lives are not always uniform. We don't all have nine-to-five jobs.
Are there provisions in the law that force employers to accept someone's parental leave? If someone applies for parental leave and they say they are taking 36 weeks, is the employer obliged to give them the 36 weeks?