Dealing with pregnant employee

I have recently joined a new company as their new Head of HR.

One of the current employee is pregnant but our records shows that her performance has been poor in the past even before she was pregnant. Her department head is not satisfy with her performance either and wants to terminate her contract.

My colleagues have told me before with my predecessor she used to cry a lot in front of him as an excuse when she was told about her poor performance. With her recent poor performance, she went to the doctor and said it was depression from her pregnancy causing her job performance to decline.

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience dealing with this kind of situation before in resolving the issue? Your help would be appreciated.

Dear Phillyhk,

Here I would like to mention that in the case of maternity you cannot involve matters like poor performance. If she was that much poor then you or your management should have terminated her earlier. Now if you terminate her now and she takes legal action against you then you might have to face the consequences.
So think again.


Regards


Abhishek

Hi,

You should ascertain whether ESI Act or the Maternity Benefit Act is applicable to your organization. The Acts lay down restrictions on any action against an employee during pregnancy.

In any case one should not take any action while an employee is pregnant and also for a certain period after the delivery. You are required not to give her strenuous work even after delivery.

Cyril

Yes i also dont suggest to take any action during this period. You may think of some kind of job rotation or can even check with her interest of work area and put her into same profile where her confidence or skill can be utilised in a better way.

Dnt rmve her now from her job esply wen she is avling mrtnity lev, but u may proceed action agnst hr after 45 days of she coming bck from the work,n if she has provded any doc crtfcte stating that she has been diagnsd wth dprsn, then u can rmve her frm the job on grounds that she is not mentlly fit for job, as she is found sffrng with dprsn

Dear Phillyhk,

I also very much agree with what is being suggested.

Please do not terminate the services of the lady in question at present. Wait for her to recover post her delivery. Once the doctor certifies her as fit for work. Wait and appraise her work. Keep her in the loop. In case her work is still not up to the mark. Inform her in writing. Finally give her an option to either quit on her own, or for job rotation into another department of her interest. If still her performance is bad, notify her in writing. At all points ensure that this written communcation is received by her and that she signs on a copy of the communication which should be retained with you.

You can after one more evaluation then decide, and then counsel her giving her the option to either leave or be terminated.

Hi,
I am very concerned with the attitude of the senior and you as HR head. While we run corporate business , we are expected to be sensitive towards requirements of individuals such that we do not segregate our teams into haves and have nots. What kind of example are we trying to give to all the employees.We are clearly trying to state that my organization will not tolerate pregnant employees. As head of HR I expect that you should support your employee in times of distress. Temporary phases of distress will come in everyone's life ;we standby with our coworkers-we do not run them away.
I am glad that you have had the courage to raise this issue in an open forum without worrying too much about the collateral damage being done to your personality ;by giving out your thought process. If the senior was concerned about poor performance of the individual, what concrete actions has he/she initiated prior to coming to know of her pregnancy. If none then you need to take a note of attitudinal problem of the senior.The senior can foresee a prolonged absence of the individual which is causing jitters in his mind. He has been tolerating an average performer but has shown immediate reluctance to go ahead with the same employee because of obtaining situation.
I recommend empathy for all coworkers to help them perform better.Follow Stephen Covey's Seven Habits especially --first understand before being understood. Take an inside out approach.
Take alack at the boss first-do not be in a hurry to run away your employee. That may appear to be the easiest path but is not.

Brigadier Ashwani Kumar

Dear Brig Sir
I also agree with you. I have put the same thought in very short.
Regards
Ravindran

Dear Phillyhk,

Greetings!

I also very much agree with what is being suggested. Go for JOB ROTATION instead terminating her.

Rgds,

John N

Well said Brigadier