Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
1–10 of 229 posts
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#2I really feel so terrible for Jennifer. It was bad enough that her child had passed away, but it was pouring salt on her wounds when her employer chose to take away her leave days.
I think the old adage applies here, "make sure everything is in writing". She was promised a promotion, but she did not sign a contract and nothing was set in stone.
I learned to put everything in writing the hard way. If something is in writing, even if it is an email, then it is hard for the company to go back on their words. Having an actual contract is better, but having just about anything written down is better than just about anything verbal.
I hope Jennifer recovers, and I hope that the company she has transferred to treats her better.
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#3> Some companies have policies that can discriminate against people who are on protected leaves by denying them commissions they have already earned
Wtf? How can that possibly be a thing?
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#4Well this may be a controversial stance, but her baby passed at birth. There was no maternity leave to take any more.
What there was to take maybe was a bereavement leave.
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#5She was given conflicting info on if her leave would be 6 or 8 weeks. Ended up being 8. Baby died an hour after birth, so leave was cut from the 8 weeks to 6 due to no longer having baby-mommy bonding. No mention of time off for mourning. The company has now amended their policy to 16 weeks for birth and adoption, so this case would have been covered.
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#6> In an email reviewed by Motherboard, an HR representative told Jennifer, “your situation could never be planned for so would never be communicated,” and “all normal situations don’t fit your situation.”
Jennifer was told that because she couldn't plan for the tragedy, Informatica would renege its promises. Perhaps Informatica should plan a bit more about what happens when you have incoherent policies and treat human beings as disposable resources.
edit: updated for clarity
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#7> Some companies have policies that can discriminate against people who are on protected leaves by denying them commissions they have already earned Wtf? How can that possibly be a thing?
Do these people just sit around and spend time coming up with ways to screw others over? How the fuck is this thing even legal, let alone ethical? Makes me so mad
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#8I had a baby that died. It was an excruciating experience and nobody around us knew what to do or say. From personal experience I can say it should be treated as a grave mental health issue and companies should be forced to provide a great deal of leave to both parents.
Whether leave is paid or unpaid, this should be treated in the same way as any disability or health related leave. IMHO it would be cheap for companies to simply buy infant life insurance for all employees and pay out $25,000 or so if this horrific thing comes to pass. That would help everyone at a reasonable cost since infant deaths and still births are so rare these days.
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#9> Some companies have policies that can discriminate against people who are on protected leaves by denying them commissions they have already earned Wtf? How can that possibly be a thing?
Do these people just sit around and spend time coming up with ways to screw others over? How the fuck is this thing even legal, let alone ethical? Makes me so mad
[deleted]
Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died
#10She got six weeks instead of eight. How dare they. She could've applied for more days based on her psychological state.
Also how dare they not pay her commissions earned by her team while she was away.
I think the tone is all wrong here. Economically, it makes sense to "discriminate" against pregnant women, so the discussion should be more "Here's why you shouldn't do it" and less "How dare you do it!".
Just my $0.02 as a woman.