Yep, I joined a panel here in the UK a while back on the intersection between careers and fertility/maternity and all women (around 12 or so) bar one reported either have been made redundant during pregnancy or maternity leave, or sidelined (projects taken away from them, demotion in role, removal of direct reports, role split in two with diminishment of duties). One of the ladies even worked in private healthcare FFS. I too was made redundant during pregnancy but was the only one for whom it was a coincidence (company went under). I lost of course the full pay I was guaranteed for the first 12 weeks. Luckily the UK still has statutory pay.
Btw job hunting during maternity leave is incredibly stressful. And I’m tired of being diminished and condescended to by men and by women who have barely worked a day in their life and have a high-earning partner to depend on.
Yep big fear of mine with current pregnancy and upcoming maternity leave. I already have people trying to sideline me on projects I lead and I know it will only get worse. Worried my role will be entirely delegated when I come back and laid off right after.
unicornbomb on
This is also a common bias in hiring that is a serious problem. If you’re a woman between 25-40, it’s pretty much assumed by way too many prospective employers that you will at some point be having kids and taking maternity leave, and are thus a potential liability. It creates a lot of ugly unconscious bias.
SleeplessInPlano on
I took FMLA for my spouses’ second emergency c-section and got retaliated against.
This will only get worse as the number of parents declines.
Ok-Swan1152 on
Btw I was once reliably informed on this sub that promoting a woman who has been on maternity leave in the past is actually misandry.
6 Comments
Yep, I joined a panel here in the UK a while back on the intersection between careers and fertility/maternity and all women (around 12 or so) bar one reported either have been made redundant during pregnancy or maternity leave, or sidelined (projects taken away from them, demotion in role, removal of direct reports, role split in two with diminishment of duties). One of the ladies even worked in private healthcare FFS. I too was made redundant during pregnancy but was the only one for whom it was a coincidence (company went under). I lost of course the full pay I was guaranteed for the first 12 weeks. Luckily the UK still has statutory pay.
Btw job hunting during maternity leave is incredibly stressful. And I’m tired of being diminished and condescended to by men and by women who have barely worked a day in their life and have a high-earning partner to depend on.
Archive link:
https://archive.ph/XvWCL/again?url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-maternity-leave-protections-women-job-losses-report/
Yep big fear of mine with current pregnancy and upcoming maternity leave. I already have people trying to sideline me on projects I lead and I know it will only get worse. Worried my role will be entirely delegated when I come back and laid off right after.
This is also a common bias in hiring that is a serious problem. If you’re a woman between 25-40, it’s pretty much assumed by way too many prospective employers that you will at some point be having kids and taking maternity leave, and are thus a potential liability. It creates a lot of ugly unconscious bias.
I took FMLA for my spouses’ second emergency c-section and got retaliated against.
This will only get worse as the number of parents declines.
Btw I was once reliably informed on this sub that promoting a woman who has been on maternity leave in the past is actually misandry.