Discrimination during pregnancy

I need to vent.  Yes, I will vent.

Being pregnant is not a crime and should not be punish nor discriminate.  Unfortunately, not many employers understand this.  They think because you are pregnant, your performance has dropped and your colleagues are doing your work during maternity leave.

I was just told that my performance this year is not good.  Well, I have to admit, this year, I wasn't given much work to do.  I did mentioned in my previous blog post that I am wondering if they will retrench me instead because sometimes I do feel like being cold-storage.

You can't blame it on pregnancy.  Then when it comes to breast feeding next year, when I will be spending more time pumping away, away from my desk, does that mean my performance is not good as well?

I shouldn't complain.  Because I did enjoy a stress-free pregnancy, which really helps me a lot.  I do believe that because of the lesser work demand, I feel much freer.  And I really don't know why I was not given much work to do.  Whether it is pregnancy related or not, I really don't know.  But my boss said I have under-performed this year.  So, I have to expect a lower bonus and increment then, which really sucks especially in these bad economy times.

First off, I do agree, being pregnant you can't function as normally.  Not all women can have a symptom-free pregnancy.

1. Morning sickness

When this happened in the first 3 months, some women tend to take a lot of medical leave to rest at home.  Some have to be hospitalised if it is severe vomiting.  So, please understand that this is part of pregnancy and not taking MC on purpose.  Some women have to take unpaid leave to stay at home because the morning sickness lasted throughout the pregnancy.

2. Forgetfulness

Part of being pregnant is being absent-minded.  This is what some people called as pregnancy brain.  It happened to me as well and I tend to forget a lot of things.  When it comes to work, there are so many things I can't remember well.  Not doing it on purpose but it's just part of being pregnant.  I tend to forget the things that happened few months back.  I tend to forget to follow-up on somethings.  It happens.  I did put reminder to help me to remember.  And I am trying my best not to be so fuzzy-headed.  

3. Not as mobile

As the pregnancy progresses, as I get bigger, I am becoming less and less mobile.  I can't drive everywhere and I can't go outstation or travel a lot.  Don't use this as a reason for me not wanting to attend something.  Don't condemn me by not allowing me to go for training.  It's truly unfair.

4. Backing up

When most of my colleagues were on maternity leave, I do agree that the work is being done and backed-up by other colleagues.  But this is a norm for anyone taking leave.  Say go on a holiday.  Do you condemn those employees who go on a month holiday so that their leave is not forfeited?  Same ideology.

5. Taking MC

I took quite a fair bit of MC this year.  And it's not fair to judge my performance based on my MC taking.  I took MC because first I had bad morning sickness and was vomiting away unless  I take an anti-vomiting pill.  When it comes to the 2nd and 3rd tri, I took lesser MC because I don't feel as bad.

6.  Feeling tired and exhausted

Part of being pregnant is feeling exhausted all the time.  Especially in the first and third trimester.  Please understand that we don't get enough of sleep at night because we have to pee a lot during the night.  And when we come to work, we are like zombies.  We already tried our best to come to work.  And we don't get nap time at work.

7. Going back home sharp
My office is such that no one goes back home on time.  If anyone does, it would appear as if that person has no work to do.  This culture has been there like forever.  But nowadays, I go back sharp because I want to avoid the jam, and hence avoid having swollen ankles and hence also avoid having to pee in the car.  It's reasonable but yet, it seems like I have nothing to do.  Oh well.

And 2 months paid maternity is too short to spent on newborn.  Newborn babies need 1 month to learn how to latch properly.  And by 2nd month, they can try bottle with expressed milk.  But what if the newborn doesn't want to use the bottle?  Can you punish the mom for taking a third month unpaid maternity?  

The worse is the 3rd month unpaid maternity leave is optional in our company.  And it's not approved most of the time.  So far my colleagues asked and was rejected because why?  It would be unfair to other colleagues who were pregnant and didn't have this option.  

There I said it.  Stop discriminating pregnant women who are also working full-time.  You want to talk about women rights?  It's not about filling up the office with women and then condemning them for getting pregnant.  It's not about giving them optional maternity leave and then saying it's unfair to other colleagues.  It's not about discriminating them by saying their performance sucks during pregnancy.

It's about giving privileges to working mom to be balance at work and at home.  Give the option to work from home.  Give 3 months maternity leave as compulsory, like public sector.  Other countries give up to 6 months to a year.  Let baby and mommy have more bonding time.  You do want a better society right?  Yes, it starts right at home.  Let breast-feeding mommy a chance to pump milk.  Give them comfort by having lactation rooms and facilities.  

OK, now that I have vented, I do agree and very much appreciate the free time I was given to do online shopping, reading about pregnancy and having less stress at work.  But if I was given work to do, I would do my best with my limited ability.  I have never shirk my responsibilities and never have  been in my 5 years working here.  But I was just not given the chance to perform.

So, don't punish me by cutting my bonus and increment.  It's unfair.