Marriage leave, then maternity leave. Now pregnant
again...
SHE FEARS BOSS' INSULTS
By Maureen Koh
December 15, 2007
HER boss made life hell when he found out that she was pregnant for
the first time.
File picture: ST
Now she's pregnant again, and he's making her life so miserable
that she is now seeing a counsellor.
Said the 29-year-old financial planner with a 10-month-old baby:
'He kept reminding me, 'Wah, this year you worked only nine
months'.'
Ms Florence (not her real name), who works in a foreign financial
institution, said she had taken her 3-month maternity leave for her
first pregnancy this year.
She declined to be named or photographed as she did not want to
risk losing her job.
He also told her that 'if every woman in the office decided to
happily get pregnant, we might as well close down'.
Madam Halimah Yacob, co-chairman of Tripartite Alliance for Fair
Employment Practices, urged employees like Ms Florence to refer
their cases to the Centre for Fair Employment.
Launched last month, the Centre aims to weed out unfair and
unhealthy practices at workplaces.
Madam Halimah, who is also NTUC deputy secretary-general, said
there has been an increase in the number of complaints filed by
pregnant mothers since the maternity benefit period was extended by
another four weeks to 12, in 2004.
'Even though the Government is picking up the tab for the
extension, some employers can still be sticky about it,' she
said.
Ms Florence, who earns $5,300 a month including commissions, said
she and her teacher-husband, 30, had started planning for a family
right after their wedding in March 2005.
At the job interview, Ms Florence said, she was forthcoming with
details of her then-approaching wedding.
The problems surfaced when she became pregnant for the first time
last year.
She claimed: 'He showed me a black face each time I had to take
leave for my checkup. It was especially bad towards the last term
of my pregnancy.'
NOT THE FIRST TIME
The New Paper contacted two of Ms Florence's colleagues, both of
whom verified her account.
One of them, who wanted to be known as Mr Wong, claimed the
treatment that Ms Florence received was 'a watered-down version of
what happened to another former colleague'.
Mr Wong added: 'He kept insinuating that she was a resource waste,
and when she forgot some tasks, he'd say, 'Yah, but can remember to
get pregnant'.'
That colleague resigned when she was seven months' pregnant.
While Ms Florence's husband has suggested she quit her job, she is
reluctant to do so for two reasons.
She explained: 'It took me some time before I found this job, and
my colleagues are wonderful people to work with, except for, of
course, my boss.'
The other reason? She felt that she 'should not be mentally coerced
into resigning'.
Madam Halimah said the Centre for Fair Employment can help.
She said: 'The Centre can help to intervene and mediate so that it
can be a win-win situation for both parties.'
On the apprehension that the Centre carries no bite because it is
not a regulatory board, she said: 'Every company worth its salt
knows that workplace conflict is unhealthy and has to be dealt with
effectively.
'It'll not do good for the company to ignore it. To contain the
conflict is in the interest of all.'
