I just came back Maternity leave ,afterjoining within 2 months I was asked to be put in PIP as I was not performing as per their expectations despite being the highest performer in the team post joining but when I showed the HR the metrics the manager had no words and they forced to me pay cut and reduce my work hours.

16 Comments

1. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 12:43PM UTC

   Ummm isn't this illegal?

2. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 12:48PM UTC

   Yes, yes it is.

3. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 1:18PM UTC

   They want her out.

   Unfortunately, the organization has the upper hand because nothing is guaranteed. "Downsizing "

   Legal or not, organization wins. Unfortunately, working remotely assumes adequate child care. The meeting organizer CAN record the conversations.

4. Rose BushMay 14,2024 at 1:21PM UTC

   Good question. In person it is. But not sure on remote work.

   A good question for HR person.

5. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 3:54PM UTC

   Why would it be illegal? If she worked in person, she would not be allowed to bring her infant to work and sit/sleep at her workstation. This is why most WFH agreements are part-time and most require you to have childcare arrangements. You can't focus on work if you also provide your own childcare.

6. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 6:46PM UTC

   No, it's perfectly legal.

   And if it's not, then they'll let her go for "not a good fit". THAT IS LEGAL.

   Corporations aren't babysitters.

7. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 12:48PM UTC

   One thing I want to ask: are you working remote?
   Who is watching the baby while you work? I'm sure this is a concern going through their heads as well. Many employers allowing work from home will do so with the stipulation that you have childcare while you work. You can't dedicate yourself fully to your job while taking care of a newborn and vice versa.

8. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 1:48PM UTC

   That is ridiculous and a flimsy excuse for "Mommy tracking" which, with a PIP, is a bullying gesture. She said "baby sounds"- not necessarily hysterical crying, screaming. As for the child care, that is also ridiculous, since most parents ask for or look for remote so they don't have to pay for childcare 5 days a week (don't even get me started on how much better European countries treat parents and families). What it boils down to is employers need to stop punishing mothers and other birth parents for procreating!

9. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 2:29PM UTC

   So, what you are saying is, employers should be paying remote employees for watching their children?

   Over and over on here, there have been plenty of posts "I want to work from home, so I don't have to pay someone to watch my child(ren)" and more often than not, you'll see people responding much in the same fashion as I did above. I have seen plenty of WFH policies that do require that the employee have some sort of childcare or whatever lined up. Older children, that's fine - they can their own thing (most, not all). And yes, most newborns do spend a lot of time sleeping (not all).

   Yes, I do know it is totally different in other countries (and of course, in many other countries, they typically have multigenerational households, too - as some would view it, built in childcare). I wish that were the case here, but it's not. I wish I didn't have to go back when my daughter was 8 weeks because that first year was brutal. No sleep to be had, and the other parent was on an opposite shift. I almost lost my job that first year after I had my child because it is so hard.

   If we want change, it doesn't start with employers. Individual employers may take it upon themselves to create some sort of family-friendly workplace policies, paid/extended family/maternity/caregiver/parental leave, etc. Progressive companies will do that, as it can be a great recruiting tool (perhaps it could incentivize people to stay longer than a year or two). But a lot won't. States could be more progressive (I think more and more are following California's lead so that could be good), but this country as a whole could take that on.

   This was much longer than anticipated and really doesn't even address the OPs original post, more like highlighting the bigger picture problem.

10. Rashmi GMay 15,2024 at 4:27PM UTC

    Thank you so much for your kind words it is putting me at rest mentally that is not something wrong. My baby has a child minder come in few hours but it seems new management wants to replace me atleast is like their intention seem to that is what is going on. I have my colleague's whose dogs would bark during meetings on several occasions and they were ok with that. My baby was just laughing once and that was reported I feel really bad about this .

11. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 5:04PM UTC

    I'm a single mother- mine are 17,21.

    I don't want to do someone else's work THEY are paid to do AND my work so they can babysit. Yes, day care $$ is insane and I pity any parents dealing. But why do others need to sacrifice. I understand a sick day and pitching in, but all the time????

    It's not fair to the kids either.

12. Rashmi GMay 15,2024 at 4:22PM UTC

    Yes

13. AnonymousMay 14,2024 at 7:03PM UTC

    Okay - now that we have argued the whole WFH/childcare/US vs. Europe and working parents thing...

    I'm curious how your whole PIP transpired. Do you have a written PIP? Is it time bound? Are expectations clearly defined? Have they provided backup documentation for whatever they feel you are or are not doing? Have they provided adequate coaching prior to this PIP?

    Are YOU documenting? These are quite often a he said she said thing so I would recommend you document...everything. I have seen some people even keep some sort of diary documenting interactions. When you have meetings with your manager or whoever...what are you doing to follow-up? I would recommend that right after these meetings, you send an email documenting what conversation and any instruction/guidance you were provided and asking that they confirm that you do indeed have it right.

    You say that when you showed HR the metrics...I'm a little fuzzy on that as I don't know the details of your PIP...but may I safely assume that HR has been directly involved in your PIP? And sounds like, if I'm reading correctly, you provided HR whatever proof you needed...what is their explanation of your pay cut and reduced hours?

14. Rashmi GMay 15,2024 at 4:22PM UTC

    They accepted it and said there are to help me and will accommodate for flexible working hours which is reduced salary so I can look after baby .And My baby is always in other room with a child minder so clearly it is not the baby they are doing this to reduce costs as many people in other teams have been let go ,so now they are using soft tactics to soften the blow

15. AnonymousMay 15,2024 at 5:44AM UTC

    Video chat apps many times have audio options that allow you to reduce background noise to varying extents. I assume the options are for users wearing headsets. If you don't have a headset yet, see if you can obtain one. Sometimes I am on a call with all kinds of noise happening around me, and to my surprise, people on the line say they can't hear anything in the background.

16. AnonymousMay 15,2024 at 12:06PM UTC

    If you're expected to be working , even remotely, you need to figure out your daily care of your kid(s). If they're at an age that if you're around they will need you, not like teens, that is still your responsibility to figure it out. It's a tough juggle, but understand the amount of costs you've already saved, perhaps it's time to make a move to make sure you're not distracted when your role requires your full attention. It can be done, I've seen it with my team members and they learn to navigate and seet outside support. Yes, it will cost you, welcome to that part of our world. Now, it's not fun and it doesn't feel good, but reflect on what you can commit to and if being asked to commit to less hours maybe that's where you are in your life now, it's okay. Be okay with putting money aside and putting you and yours first. Also, use headphones, earbuds, this will help reduce the background happenings.