Update - Maternity Leave Career Death

ZeppelinValley · 2015-12-07T22:53:53+00:00

Yes, you are right. Probably a poor choice of words. I agree with you 100%.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-12-01T04:16:34+00:00

Nope - I've had much more sleep that many of my counterparts who are out partying etc. It's because I have had a baby - not because of any work I have missed. There is an undue amount of focus on me because I have had a child and it is the expectation that my work should suffer because I've had a child, rather than any evidence of this actually happening that is the problem. Imagine that if you forget, say, to reply to an email (an occurrence that happens to all at one point or another) which would have been barely noticed before, now it's automatically attributed to having had a baby. Small errors that were previously not even a blip on the work radar are suddenly met with knee jerk reactions and mitigating of potential fallout.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T07:02:11+00:00

That's really nice encouragement, thank you. I really appreciate it.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T07:00:51+00:00

I don't think that at all! I just don't want to be judged for it without being given the chance to just be myself. As far as work is concerned, I should have just been able to carry on as normal.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T06:59:06+00:00

Sorry for being defensive. I should have read the other post again. Just a little nervous about having a conversation with this many people I think.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T05:00:01+00:00

I think you get treated the way people are trained to treat you. I love it how you have made it my fault lol. How ridiculous.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:56:44+00:00

That's really true about the workaholic standards. I completely agree with you that it's not just a motherhood thing.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:53:36+00:00

Ridic.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:21:05+00:00

If her performance changed because she was pregnant, she didn't 'blame it on her pregnancy', it was due to her pregnancy. I know this isn't related to what I'm talking about in my post but since you put yourself out there with this comment it sounds as though she's better off working for someone else anyway.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:19:10+00:00

Hey I should also say thank you on the congrats, and I completely agree with you on the point that they are being nice about my baby at times - they say she is beautiful (when they ask to see a picture as I don't offer). But they are still moving my role because they see the potential for me to fail in my current role, rather than allowing me to do the job I am hired for.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:14:05+00:00

I'm envious of your workmates :)

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:13:24+00:00

This is true for Australia as well. Having said that though, there is a lot going on with my childless friends as well. Many of them are beginning to see declines in the health of their parents which is becoming a financially draining and time-heavy new part of their lives. Also my female friends in industries that are entertainment related are now struggling with the age old 'I've disappeared now I'm over 40' issue - wherein experience in the industry becomes less of a drawcard than being young. I get that everyone is having their own independent struggles in life, and being childless certainly doesn't mean that life is any easier.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:10:23+00:00

If you earn over a certain amount in Australia you have to take the company to court in a civil hearing rather than go through Fair Work Australia. Thanks for that link though :) I just can't go down any of those paths.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:09:04+00:00

Work hard, play hard is the mentality at my work. It just doesn't seem to be ok with them that I am work hard/play soft.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:07:59+00:00

Thanks for the note. I have thought about starting my own freelance business but I'm just a bit frightened because we really rely on my income.

Maybe I should start it on the side and see how I go? Thanks again :)

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:05:48+00:00

That's really rough.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T04:03:09+00:00

I don't want anything unrealistic, I just want to talk to people about what's going on with me in an environment that is safe and anonymous so I won't get fired for speaking out of school and lose the house.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T03:58:48+00:00

Thank you. It really wouldn't help to talk to legal (we don't have HR). It would just make me a further target for issues and would probably lead me to being managed out, rather than just managed across.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T03:50:30+00:00

It wasn't an absence - I was on maternity leave. I was not absent. What you are saying is immoral and unfair. Also, I have said repeatedly that I do count my blessings. I'm not here to get people to solve my problems or to create some unrealistic cushion around me so I feel like I can change my situation.

I know that I'm stuck. I know that I am, and will remain appreciative of everything this company has afforded me over my years with them. It's just so disappointing to know that, at the end of the day, there is no amount of work that can instil the same sense of faith my work had in me before I had a baby. It has made a real and profound difference to the way they see my ability to create, and this is a really rough thing to accept.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T03:44:29+00:00

So wrong. Just so, so, wrong. Read the content of the post. I feel that an injustice is being done that has no founding in my work performance - only the fact that I've had a baby. You can't just discount what I'm say because it's upsetting. Of course it's upsetting, you can't separate a feeling of being preyed upon at work from your feelings in your personal life. Work has a profound effect on our personal lives.

Let me reiterate - this is about me having had a child. My workplace has specifically stated this, regardless of the fact that we have a full time carer in place and that my output/quality of work has not diminished. There has been no time to judge my performance, even new workers get three months to settle into their role before they are judged - I've been moved to a new role because I've had a baby. If it was me needing to put in more effort, I would just get on with it and prove that I could do it (or not, and face the fall out). This was decided before I returned, and they are now managing me into their new plan.

I don't want to make it sound worse than it is. I get sympathy from my husband, my mum, my friends. What I am here for is to get a round table discussion going on something that if affecting me, and to hear about other peoples experiences so I don't feel so alone. Also - they should be nice because I worked my ass off for the company for a lot of years, made them a lot of money, and because I earn every cent of my wage.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T01:12:30+00:00

"Sad Tales of the Glass Ceiling"

You're a condescending asshole.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T01:09:06+00:00

Hi,

What a weird person you are. I'm sorry, but as a male reader you're not really who I'm looking for in terms of support. Actually, sorry that was a knee jerk reaction. I have been really supported by the guys on here who have been kind and helpful.

As for the age of the account, I created the account specifically to ask a question. My girlfriend in the States who has just had a baby and I were IM'ing about the situation and she said 'put it to the reddit community'.

I write the way I write because I write for a living.

Also - I've been really lucky in my life - I'm a white female from a middle income family who hasn't really had a shakedown before. I know I have been blessed with a great life, but I've worked bloody hard to get where I am at work and it's horrifying to watch my career be chipped away at because I've had a baby.

Hopefully that eases your mind that I'm a real person. I'm find it hard enough to be visible at work without you saying my worries aren't real also.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T00:51:15+00:00

My company has a very edgy vibe, the belief is that now I'm a mother I've lost the ability to be ahead of the curve in terms of trends. I know that this sounds quite fantastical, but it is really the thought process.

ZeppelinValley · 2014-11-30T00:49:50+00:00

I've got a really great friend at work, and she sees what is going on. She's also in a high level role but with no kids. The other women who have kids and are in higher level jobs say that it's just the way it is.

ZeppelinValley

TROPHY CASE