Stories

Because they did not want to pay maternity leave they tried to find an error in my job to dismiss me

I had been working at a call centre for 4 years when I fell pregnant. I took my maternity leave 1 month before my due date. And I hardly ever missed work (3 times for hospital appointments).

The thing with call centres is that they hire a lot of people but there is a high turnover. So, I get it that they are annoyed by employers who leave. At the same time, they are offering us short term contracts and no real training (it’s not like they are investing in us or something).

But because they did not want to pay [me] maternity leave (and I had stayed long enough), what they did was try to find an error in my job to dismiss me. As in sort through my cases, spot a meaningless error and try to magnify it so as to make it fit into gross misconduct.
Thank God, I had a colleague who advised me not to sign the paper( stating I had made an error), to review the case and challenge their findings.
The advice was good, because obviously with my hormones, I was emotional. But I kept my cool, breathed, reviewed the case. And lo, and behold, said error was not even one. But I would have got fired had I agreed to their findings.

So, pregnant ladies, beware.

Stories

Never Miss Out {{ responseTitle }}

Sign up to the Pregnant Then Screwed mailing list so you can stay in the loop on our latest campaigns and achievements as well as tips on how you can help end The Motherhood Penalty {{ responseMessage }}
Whoops. The form is invalid.
  • {{ value }}.