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Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

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Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#151

Post by lawnchair_larry »

gamesbrainiac wrote: post #2

I 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 w…

You will never get a promotion promised in writing. We also didn’t hear the company’s side. I would bet that their version of the events did not include a promise of a promotion. This happens all the time.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#152

Post by thaumasiotes »

ttul wrote: post #8

I 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 compani…

> 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.

There's a serious moral hazard problem with providing automatic life insurance on infants to large numbers of people.

Almost everyone will be unwilling to kill their own infant to collect $25,000 from mandatory employer-sponsored life insurance, but "almost everyone" does not cover everyone who works for a company that employs more than 25 people.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#153

Post by fortran77 »

baybal2 wrote: post #48

I think this is a bad way to deal with such people. She needs to make name of the company known, and was the person who made this decision. The internet will do the rest.

It does seem like it's a "bad way" to treat someone, but unless we hear all the information from all parties, I don't think we should sharpen our pitchforks.

What I can get from this is an awareness of the issues women face, and to sensitive to these topics if I'm ever in a position to influence policy about them, or to assist someone in that situation.

Also, this woman was a commissioned sales representative. I have little knowledge how these people generally are compensated, but I do know it's different from how other employees get paid and rewarded. They usually have employment contracts and terms that are different from other staff.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#154

Post by sethammons »

sjg007 wrote: post #146

Reading my employer handbook we get 3 days for bereavement for a child. It is the most wtf thing I’ve ever read.

Ours is five. I think that it is set for distant relatives dying so you can go to a funeral. No way that 3-5 days is sufficient for the death of a close loved one.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#155

Post by lawnchair_larry »

mattrp wrote: post #56

>> “Eight weeks of paid leave includes up to two weeks prior to the birth and assumes a normal vaginal delivery,” an HR representative said write to Jennifer I bet if most companies simply got rid of the HR departments altogether, not only would inhumane and repulsive policies like the above not exist, I bet most employees would be happier and more productive.

Can you clarify what part of that policy you find inhumane and repulsive?

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#156

Post by lawnchair_larry »

sethammons wrote: post #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?

It’s not a thing. If it sounds outrageous, ridiculous, vague, and unsourced, it’s probably not a thing. Note the use of Weasel Words.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#157

Post by [deleted] »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #155
mattrp wrote: post #56

>> “Eight weeks of paid leave includes up to two weeks prior to the birth and assumes a normal vaginal delivery,” an HR representative said write to Jennifer I bet if most companies simply got rid of the HR departments altogether, not only would inhumane and repulsive policies like the above not exist, I bet most employees would be happier and more productive.

Can you clarify what part of that policy you find inhumane and repulsive?

[deleted]

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#158

Post by lawnchair_larry »

dwoozle wrote: post #17
high_derivative wrote: post #4

Well 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.

Sure, but the bereavement leave for a child should be much more than 8 weeks. And it costs so little to provide since it is relatively rare in the developed world.

This seems a little naive. No company offers more than 8 weeks of bereavement. Most places I have seen are about 3 days. So 6 weeks is extremely generous if that is the benchmark.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#159

Post by emilfihlman »

ttul wrote: post #8

I 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 compani…

>and companies should be forced to provide a great deal of leave to both parents.

No. The society should help you out, the company shouldn't be forced to do that.

Re: Engineer Says Software Firm Cut Her Maternity Leave Short After Her Baby Died

#160

Post by iamaelephant »

pembrook wrote: post #142
mindcrime wrote: post #34

Wow, just wow. Whoever made that decision is somebody who is truly worthy of the title "douchebag". How can any human being have so little regard for another? That's just disgusting. There's a right way to handle a situation like this, and it goes something like: ----------- Dear $EMPLOYEE: We are very sorry to hear about your loss. All of us are wishing you the best in this time of need, and we are here to support y…

While I would love if the world could work like this, the reason HR and their arcane rules exist in the first place...is because people tend to take advantage of things. And you might think, hey but 99% of people are decent and would not take advantage of the company. That's probably true! But there's always the 1% that ruins it for everybody else (just like the outlier sociopath HR person in this article). If you sa…

So let's say the company is 100,000 people, and 1% of births are still births, and 1% of employees will take the piss. And let's say 5% of employees have a baby in any given year (is this realistic? I honestly don't know, it seems high). Then on average you'll have one employee every two years take advantage of the situation (keeping in mind, the person "taking advantage" has also endured the death of a baby). I think a company the size of Microsoft or Google can absorb the piss-taking of one grieving employee every two years, to be honest.
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