It depends on the length and nature of the absence, and it is a question worth putting to counsel with dates in hand rather than settling by assumption. The requirement is one continuous year of qualifying employment abroad within the three years before filing, and continuity is assessed on the facts.
Continuity is judged, so bring the calendar
The word continuous is doing precise work in the regulation and it does not mean uninterrupted physical presence at a desk. Ordinary vacation and short business trips do not usually trouble anyone. Longer gaps need thought, and the honest answer to most of them is that the analysis turns on details rather than on a bright line.
Hypothetical example: a technologist near Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford takes five months of parental leave inside the year the employer wants to rely on, remains employed throughout, and returns to the same role. The employment relationship persisted; whether the qualifying employment did is the question counsel should answer against current guidance, not one to resolve by reading a forum. The practical response is to build the calendar first.
Set out the employment period, every absence with its reason and duration, and the status under which any U.S. time was spent. A company that produces that table at the start of the matter gets a real answer quickly.
One that produces it after filing gets a request for evidence.