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Stressed & delivered baby 1 month early

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Minnie ME

Junior Member
My job adopted new management performance metrics last year, that continued to change on a monthly basis for four consecutive months. Once I stated that it was hard to meet these metrics, because we never knew what to aim for, I began to be written up on a monthly basis for poor performance.

At this time I was pregnant and told my manager and Human Resources that they were stressing me out and I feared for my employment. They never replied to these statements. I was continuously written up and placed on probation and I wound up having my baby 1 month early.

Now, I have come back from maternity leave and due to my "performance" before going on leave, they have to re-evaluate me to determine if I am going to receive my raise. Upper management has also decided to rank managers based on their performance for a schedule bid. Some of the managers have falsified their numbers and have since received a higher ranking. Upper management was notified of this and there was no recourse. As a matter of fact, those that falsified their numbers received higher rankings.

Once I returned from leave, I was told that even though they had a regular associate temporarily fill my position, I would not be receiving credit for my team's scores. Therefore placing me last in this "performance ranking". Meaning I will be getting a terrible work schedule. Has my job violated any of my rights? What can I do?
 
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cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
I'm not seeing any illegal discrimination or harassment. You didn't get written up because of your pregnancy; you got written up because you weren't meeting the metrics. Complaining that the metrics were hard to meet is not a protected right under the law. Being pregnant does not give you more rights than other people. It's a shame that you felt stressed about this and I hope everything is all right with your baby after the early delivery. But you have no legal claim against your employer that I can see.
 

Minnie ME

Junior Member
I'm not seeing any illegal discrimination or harassment. You didn't get written up because of your pregnancy; you got written up because you weren't meeting the metrics. Complaining that the metrics were hard to meet is not a protected right under the law. Being pregnant does not give you more rights than other people. It's a shame that you felt stressed about this and I hope everything is all right with your baby after the early delivery. But you have no legal claim against your employer that I can see.
I thank you so much for your reply! This issue has been weighing so heavy on my mind that it caused me to go in to labor early. While I don't think it is fair that they can treat people this way, I am glad that I was able to get someone unbiased to listen to me and advise me. You don't know how much I appreciate your opinion.
- Additionally, do you think that they could fire me for the poor performance reviews even though the metrics continued to change month after month? Lastly, are they legally able to withhold my bonus?
 

eerelations

Senior Member
Unfortunately, they can legally fire you for pretty much any reason, including failing to meet constantly-changing performance metrics.

Regarding your bonus, you need to read your employer's bonus documents to see what they say about payout upon termination. Generally (not always, but generally), bonus payouts are at the employer's discretion.
 

Minnie ME

Junior Member
Unfortunately, they can legally fire you for pretty much any reason, including failing to meet constantly-changing performance metrics.

Regarding your bonus, you need to read your employer's bonus documents to see what they say about payout upon termination. Generally (not always, but generally), bonus payouts are at the employer's discretion.
Thank you. You all are very informative! ;)
My husband and I were thinking that at the very least they had to make me whole for the time I was on leave regarding this performance ranking. For instance, my peers scores were graded on the full 10 month scale, while mine were graded on a 7 month scale, due to my 3 month absence for maternity leave. But, after reading you all's replies, I am learning that they don't have to. It's not fair and I am now ranking in last place, but I now know that there is nothing that I can do about it. FYI, I took this concern to Human Resources and they stand by managements decision as well.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Unfortunately, there are very few labor laws that govern what any employer in any state "has" to do to be fair to employees. Nobody realizes it until they are treated unfairly by the employer, and then they realize the cold cruel truth. In the absence of a union contract covering the issues, the employer can pretty much treat you any way they want to, they do not even have to follow their own handbooks or policies, and they can fire you for any reason in the world IF THEY WANT To. This is simply because there are no laws that say they can't.

What you can do is begin looking for another job soon, do the best you can, and quit letting it all stress you out to the detriment of your and your family's health. Okay, knowing that they can unfairly change the performance metrics, and that if you don't meet their crazy idea of appropriate performance metrics, they can fire you if they want to, just do your best and forget about stressing about it. Be thinking of finding a job in a different place where they don't have these crazy metrics and are not giving you so much trouble. But don't let them steal time away from work that you mis-spend not enjoying your new baby, but worrying that they may fire you. Yeah, they may, but that's not your fault, and you've done all you can do.
 

Minnie ME

Junior Member
Unfortunately, there are very few labor laws that govern what any employer in any state "has" to do to be fair to employees. Nobody realizes it until they are treated unfairly by the employer, and then they realize the cold cruel truth. In the absence of a union contract covering the issues, the employer can pretty much treat you any way they want to, they do not even have to follow their own handbooks or policies, and they can fire you for any reason in the world IF THEY WANT To. This is simply because there are no laws that say they can't.

What you can do is begin looking for another job soon, do the best you can, and quit letting it all stress you out to the detriment of your and your family's health. Okay, knowing that they can unfairly change the performance metrics, and that if you don't meet their crazy idea of appropriate performance metrics, they can fire you if they want to, just do your best and forget about stressing about it. Be thinking of finding a job in a different place where they don't have these crazy metrics and are not giving you so much trouble. But don't let them steal time away from work that you mis-spend not enjoying your new baby, but worrying that they may fire you. Yeah, they may, but that's not your fault, and you've done all you can do.
You are so right! As of last week, my husband started to sing this same song. Since this is now my second time hearing it, I guess I better listen. It's just hard to throw away 5 years if commitment to this job.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
I had a vague thought but the more I read your post and think about it, the more I think not. Sorry. Shoulda thought it through before I asked.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
No, you were clear. I didn't read carefully enough and jumped to a conclusion. When I read your post again I found my mistake.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything without being sure of what I was thinking. FMLA does offer certain protections, but the protection I had in mind does not appear to apply.
 

Minnie ME

Junior Member
No, you were clear. I didn't read carefully enough and jumped to a conclusion. When I read your post again I found my mistake.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything without being sure of what I was thinking. FMLA does offer certain protections, but the protection I had in mind does not appear to apply.

Oh, ok. Got it!
 

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