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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

#161

Post by elliekelly »

egdod wrote: post #113
dominicr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This not a theoretical argument. Trump regularly makes stuff up on the fly when there are multiple records proving the opposite. The White House has to make up 'alternate facts' on a pretty much daily basis to keep up. The results are always the same: his die-hard supports believe him, and reality is altered; his opponents point it out and wonder how anyone can think he's not maniacal; and the Republican party sighs…

I’m not sure how that answers the point I was making.

The boy who cried wolf doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt that we’re willing to give to others.

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

#162

Post by cdolan »

0x29A- wrote: post #35
fghorow wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am also a bereaved parent, although my child died at age 25. I utterly agree about the grave mental health issues being caused in the parents. May peace be unto you. (Ping me if you want info about an organization called "The Compassionate Friends" specifically for bereaved parents.)

As father to the best 8 month young man in the world I can't imagine even for a moment what that is like. I never ever comment on hacker news, I just wanted to say I'm deeply sorry anyone here may have lost their child.

On Oct 4 a friend (code name “Paul”) and I were at a viewing for our 25 year old friend who passed from falling while hiking. “Paul” and I both have boys born this year (5-6 months old). After attending the viewing, we both noted how sad it was to watch the father and mother in such a terrible situation. The worst for any parent, and somehow slightly more understandable now that we are parents ourselves.

That night his son passed away silently in his sleep - Not even 12 hours since we talked at the viewing about how surreal losing a child would be. Their baby simply stopped breathing. We’re all still in some level of shock.

Hug your little ones and appreciate the time you get with them. You never know when your life can go the other direction.

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

#163

Post by [deleted] »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #149
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My thought exactly. Honestly, I think Informatica should consider firing their entire HR department. As you say, the entire point of HR is risk management. I hear loads of time on HN about how you can never trust HR because they are only there to protect the company, and while that's true, a lot of the time good HR people realize that the employees' needs and the long-term needs of company are aligned, so they should…

“My thought exactly. Honestly, I think Informatica should consider firing their entire HR department.” Why? They changed the policy over a year ago to 16 weeks of paid leave, and included pregnancy recovery in that. Is that not good enough?

[deleted]

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

#164

Post by cerved »

rsynnott wrote: post #135
SamReidHughes wrote: post #27

Title should be fixed to say Sales Engineer.

A sales engineer is a type of engineer (as the term is used in US English; in some countries engineer is a protected term and programmers are rarely eligible for it).

Sales Engineer typically means Pre-Sales. It's a supporting sales position, part of the sales organisation. I think the title is unnecessarily misleading.

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

#165

Post by slavik81 »

dwoozle wrote: post #106
arkades wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having bereavement leave does not preclude returning to work. It precludes being forced to return to work when one cannot.

Exactly. I had 30 days bereavement leave when my mother died but decided to return to work after a week. It was a world of difference from just having the week.

There are practical reasons for bereavement leave, too. My father-in-law passed away suddenly. He was a CPA and died during tax season. Wrapping up his business, organizing a funeral and executing his will took my wife a couple weeks.

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

#166

Post by lawnchair_larry »

jacquesm wrote: post #59
xenihn wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I mean I can't think of many things that would hurt team morale and hiring reputation more than treating a young female employee like shit just because she got pregnant Anecdote time based on my experience in SV and tech, and second-hand anecdotes from friends in NYC finance: Curiousgal's viewpoint isn't uncommon. The harshest judgment in these situations comes from other women. Men are generally more sympathetic, a…

> I would not be surprised if this decision came all the way down from a female manager, with men lower on the chain voicing opposition and being overruled. That's very speculative and likely not true.

You’re lucky you didn’t bet him, because you’d have lost. I’d have bet against you as well.

The SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at Informatica when this incident happened was Maureen Brennan. She’s also a former VP and BoD Trustee of the Women's Health and Counseling Center in New Jersey, which focuses on reproductive healthcare services.

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

#167

Post by cerved »

curiousgal wrote: post #10

She 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…

Pre-Sales pretty much always get team comission and the kind of product Informatica sell have sales cycles longer than 1Q

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

#168

Post by jacquesm »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #166
jacquesm wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would not be surprised if this decision came all the way down from a female manager, with men lower on the chain voicing opposition and being overruled. That's very speculative and likely not true.

You’re lucky you didn’t bet him, because you’d have lost. I’d have bet against you as well. The SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at Informatica when this incident happened was Maureen Brennan. She’s also a former VP and BoD Trustee of the Women's Health and Counseling Center in New Jersey, which focuses on reproductive healthcare services.

And how do you know that she was the one to make this decision? And that men below her tried to stop this but were overruled?

It all looks highly speculative to me.

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

#169

Post by mattkrause »

walshemj wrote: post #139
mattkrause wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you including the NHS in that comparison?

No I was comparing US unemployment benefits to the UK

Right, but neither of those benefits exist in a vacuum.

American health insurance is usually tied to your job. If you lose your job, you can continue it, temporarily, through a provision called COBRA, but it is often outrageously expensive.

In the UK, I believe you’re able to access the NHS regardless of your employment status (right?). Equivalent insurance would cost you hundreds of dollars a month in the US, if not more, and would have to be paid from your benefits. An apples-to-apples comparison between the two system ought to include that fact.

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

#170

Post by cerved »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #147

The individual was a sales person, not an engineer. A “sales engineer” who is paid on commission is very different than a software engineer. The article says she was given 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks. It also says that it’s unclear if the maternity policy was even 8 weeks to begin with, and HR didn’t seem to know. Apparently there are multiple policies, depending on role? I don’t know the “right” amount of time, but i…

Sales commission for a Pre-Sales role is complicated. You get commission for deals that have been worked for 1+ quarters.

If a big deal closes that you worked on for the last year while you're on leave, you wouldn't get commission. That's not right

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