Employee Joins A Long-Term Project Without Telling Her Co-Workers About Pregnancy, Puts Company In Bad Place

• By Malaika
• 5 months ago
• 5 minutes read

Pregnancy can certainly jeopardise your job prospects.

Many women find it difficult to navigate pregnancy while also pursuing a career. The potential impact on job prospects, such as discrimination and bias, can add to the stress of an already demanding situation. Even if a woman has a successful job and a supportive employer, there is always the risk that she will be perceived as inferior to her male coworkers if she becomes pregnant. After all, maternity leave is far more common than paternity leave, and it is typically much longer.

This fear can cause women to postpone starting a family or feel compelled to return to work sooner than they would like. Just because someone wants a family does not mean they don’t want a successful career, and they may encounter situations in which they lose the trust of their coworkers. For example, in this case, the woman did not inform her coworkers that she was pregnant when she began an important project that required everyone to perform at their peak. Instead, she ended up taking maternity leave.

Scroll down to take a look for yourself.

Source: Reddit

It is a dog-eat-dog world out there when it comes to employment these days.

Source: Sora Shimazaki (Not The Actual Picture)

OP was more than happy to tell a friend why a particular employee was ostracised at her previous company.

OP works in corporate human resources and has been in the industry for a long time.

According to OP, the company has generous maternity leave, and it is possible to get 26 weeks off.

This story happened a few years ago when a bunch of co-workers were focusing on a new, important project.

OP was part of the hiring process, and the woman in question was interviewed and hired for the project.

Via Reddit

In only a month, the woman announced that she was pregnant and that she would be taking maternity leave.

This left OP shorthanded, and they had to find a replacement as soon as possible.

This caused her to lose the trust of her co-workers, and she was ostracised for hiding her pregnancy.

When a friend of OP asked about the woman who had interviewed for his company, OP was only too happy to share the story.

OP told the friend that she could not be trusted and that she wasn’t a team player.

Via Reddit

Some of OP’s friends are saying that it was wrong of him to tell HR about the ex-coworker.

The story doesn’t end there, as the OP added to his story, saying that he has no problem with maternity leave at all.

OP also reiterated that she knew she was pregnant when she interviewed, so she should have told them.

Apparently, the ex-coworker wasn’t punished for this, but nobody at work trusted her after that.

Just as an add-on, there was also no legal issue with what he did, according to OP.

Via Reddit

I’m not sure which side to take in this particular story. After all, I understand where the OP is coming from; he isn’t upset that the woman was pregnant, but rather that she didn’t tell anyone and left everyone short-handed. However, I can understand her perspective because this project would have benefited her career, and she wanted to be a part of it. Should she have informed them beforehand? Possibly.

However, it’s important to remember that pregnancy can be a personal and sensitive subject for some people, and she may have had legitimate reasons for not disclosing it sooner. Finally, effective communication and understanding on both sides could have prevented this situation from escalating.

People were split in the comments, and some said that they were in the wrong.

There were also some people who took the OP’s side, as the woman should have been more honest.

People also talked about the ‘generous’ maternity leave, which isn’t anything special, according to a few commenters.

OP has been quite adamant in his comments that he isn’t wrong, even though he asked in the first place.

To be fair, she wasn’t obligated to tell him about her pregnancy.

Via Reddit

What is your take on this particular workplace drama? Do you believe the employee should have informed everyone that she was pregnant? Or do you believe she is allowed to keep that to herself and that OP jeopardised her career? What would you do if you were in her situation? Let us know in the comments section below, and don’t forget to share this story with your friends so they can add their thoughts as well.