The established tendency of Czech women to take long periods of parental leave represent a significant loss of human capital and an interruption of these women’s professional development; in addition, it contributes to a high risk of unemployment when they return to the labour market. In this study we look at the period during which women with young children return to the labour market following parental leave, documenting the development of their unemployment risk by the age of their child and the process through which mothers with young children end up unemployed. The unemployment rate is very high right after the end of parental leave, i.e. when the child is 3 years old; at this point, unemployment among women with high school diploma or more reaches 12% and for those with lower education is as high as 28%. Women often become unemployed immediately after returning to the labour market. Almost 30% of women with two-year-old children and 60% of women with three-year-old children become unemployed as soon as they return to the labor market. Among those with three-year-old children it is likely that this unemployment occurs as a result of the women losing their right to return to their previous employment. Among women with younger children, however, the high share of unemployed immediately when they end their parental leave calls into question the real functioning of the job protection period during which women have the right to return to their previous employment.