Google halts maternal, medical leave for laid-off workers

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), which is in the process of cutting thousands of jobs, has put the brakes on payments to former employees who were on medical or family leave at the time they were laid off.

Several former Google (GOOG) employees have reported receiving notices from the company saying that they will not be paid for the leave that had been approved prior to their leave periods for maternity and other reasons. The moves come as Google (GOOG) said last year that it was boosting the maximum amount of parental leave for employees from 18 weeks to 24 weeks.

According to a report from CNBC, more than 100 former Google (GOOG) employees have sent letters to company executives, including Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, asking for their agreed-to payments to be reinstated, but as of March 9, had received no responses.

Like many big-name tech companies, Google (GOOG), and its parent company, Alphabet, have recently implemented large-scale layoffs as part of cost restructuring plans. Google (GOOG) said in January that it would cut about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, and at that time, Pichai said affected workers would receive 16 weeks severance pay, plus an additional two weeks for every year they worked for the company.

Alphabet (GOOG) shares rose about 1% in early trading Friday. The company didn’t immediately respond to a Seeking Alpha request for comment about cutting of maternity and medical leave payments for its laid off employees.

Separately, on Thursday Google (GOOG) said it would raise the price of its YouTube TV service to $72.99 a month from $64.99 beginning on April 18.