Hi Team, My wife has been working in a well-reputed MNC in India for more than eight months now, where she worked on one project during the initial 5.5 months, and she had 6 months of probation. But unfortunately, her probation approval has gone to the new manager, who extended her probation by months (Put her on PIP), stating "she can not judge her performance in 20 days and she is not able to reach out to her previous reporting manager because he is out of office".
During her extended probation, we got to know about her pregnancy, and the doctor recommended avoiding travelling during the initial phase because of her previous miscarriage history (my wife travels from Mumbai to Pune for three days a week for work). So, to avoid medical challenges, she informed her manager and HR and requested one month of work from home, which was approved.
Now, even after completing her extended probation, their manager is reluctant to provide her with the confirmation, extend her PIP by another month, and receive mail that she will get terminated if they do not find any improvement. During feedback, the kind of points raised were "I had asked you to ask queries and questions to me, and you went and asked questions to other teammates" This is what she was informed on call and in the letter they mentioned, " lack of initiative in asking questions and queries" and others points are also of similar manner.
During her PIP period, her previous manager dropped an email stating " He is happy with her performance during probation and Inform that we should go ahead with her confirmation" but they still not ready to provide her the confirmation. (They official did not inform my wife that her previous manager has send approval for confirmation, my wife repeatedly asked to have discussion but manager is tell she will talk to him one on one and not when my wife is on call).
Even her manager informed her that she didn't receive positive feedback from her reviewer, where she received positive feedback from the reviewer when she had one on one call with them and they were ready to come forward and say the same in a meeting, but the manager is not ready to take call with her and reviewer being on a call simultaneously. Even after multiple requests, her manager is not taking that call.
In short, her manager is not ready to take calls with people who can share positive feedback, i.e. her previous manager and her current project's 2 reviewers.
Also, when my wife requested WFH here, HR suggested that she should resign, and also, during the feedback discussion, her manager told her that she should think of leaving the organisation.
Note: There was no escalation over the call or on an email from a client or from teammates, except for the PIP letter, which she received.
I would like to understand how we can take this further and if they may fire my wife when she is pregnant in the name of performance.
From India, Mumbai
During her extended probation, we got to know about her pregnancy, and the doctor recommended avoiding travelling during the initial phase because of her previous miscarriage history (my wife travels from Mumbai to Pune for three days a week for work). So, to avoid medical challenges, she informed her manager and HR and requested one month of work from home, which was approved.
Now, even after completing her extended probation, their manager is reluctant to provide her with the confirmation, extend her PIP by another month, and receive mail that she will get terminated if they do not find any improvement. During feedback, the kind of points raised were "I had asked you to ask queries and questions to me, and you went and asked questions to other teammates" This is what she was informed on call and in the letter they mentioned, " lack of initiative in asking questions and queries" and others points are also of similar manner.
During her PIP period, her previous manager dropped an email stating " He is happy with her performance during probation and Inform that we should go ahead with her confirmation" but they still not ready to provide her the confirmation. (They official did not inform my wife that her previous manager has send approval for confirmation, my wife repeatedly asked to have discussion but manager is tell she will talk to him one on one and not when my wife is on call).
Even her manager informed her that she didn't receive positive feedback from her reviewer, where she received positive feedback from the reviewer when she had one on one call with them and they were ready to come forward and say the same in a meeting, but the manager is not ready to take call with her and reviewer being on a call simultaneously. Even after multiple requests, her manager is not taking that call.
In short, her manager is not ready to take calls with people who can share positive feedback, i.e. her previous manager and her current project's 2 reviewers.
Also, when my wife requested WFH here, HR suggested that she should resign, and also, during the feedback discussion, her manager told her that she should think of leaving the organisation.
Note: There was no escalation over the call or on an email from a client or from teammates, except for the PIP letter, which she received.
I would like to understand how we can take this further and if they may fire my wife when she is pregnant in the name of performance.
From India, Mumbai
Apologies for a couple of autocorrect errors.
Starting* => stating
Tell* => telling
Also, my wife is not planning to go on a ML right now, as she is 2 months pregnant as of now.
But it is also difficult to work with people who repeatedly told her that she should "think of leaving the organisation", and "she should resign", and send an email that they would terminate her if she did not improve. Also, should we go ahead and accept the PIP extension? Or challenge the reviews shared for her PIP?
From India, Mumbai
Starting* => stating
Tell* => telling
Also, my wife is not planning to go on a ML right now, as she is 2 months pregnant as of now.
But it is also difficult to work with people who repeatedly told her that she should "think of leaving the organisation", and "she should resign", and send an email that they would terminate her if she did not improve. Also, should we go ahead and accept the PIP extension? Or challenge the reviews shared for her PIP?
From India, Mumbai
The only reason for dismissal of a pregnant woman employee from service which is justified as per the provisio to section 12(2)(a) of the Maternity Benefits Act is gross misconduct. Though the term misconduct is not defined in the Act, wilful destruction of employer’s goods or properties, offenses involving moral turpitude and theft, fraud or dishonesty in connection with the employer’s business or property are some of the common factors constituting gross misconduct as provided in the rules prescribed by the states following section 28 of the Act. As such performance is not a justifiable reason for termination, and if a pregnant woman employee is terminated for poor performance, the same would come under the scope of section 12 which prevents termination of employment to avoid payment maternity benefits.
It is noteworthy to read the judgement in Neera Mathur Vs Life Insurance Corporation of India (AIR 1992
SUPREME COURT 392) in which the termination of Neera Mathur, an employee on probation who was 'allowed' maternity benefits but terminated after her return from leave on the ground of poor performance was found unjustified. This case happened to be a milestone,but unfortunately, nobody pursues it and women are being harassed and compelled to resign from service just to deprive of their rights. the system of background verification and collecting employer's feedback has worsen the situation.
From India, Kannur
4249It is noteworthy to read the judgement in Neera Mathur Vs Life Insurance Corporation of India (AIR 1992
SUPREME COURT 392) in which the termination of Neera Mathur, an employee on probation who was 'allowed' maternity benefits but terminated after her return from leave on the ground of poor performance was found unjustified. This case happened to be a milestone,but unfortunately, nobody pursues it and women are being harassed and compelled to resign from service just to deprive of their rights. the system of background verification and collecting employer's feedback has worsen the situation.
From India, Kannur
Hi Madhu, Thanks for reply, but what action I can take if they send termination letter to my wife on the basis of poor performance?
Also what I need to do before I receive termination legally or right thing to do?
From my side I am trying to reach out to senior member but unable to get names to whom I should send email as of now.
From India, Mumbai
Also what I need to do before I receive termination legally or right thing to do?
From my side I am trying to reach out to senior member but unable to get names to whom I should send email as of now.
From India, Mumbai
You can approach the appropriate authority under the maternity Benefits Act, ie, the Labour Officer/ Asst. labour Commissioner, as the case may be, of your area/ district and present the matter. You should establish that the extension of probation and termination during probation was just to avoid giving maternity benefits. The defence that you should take is that she had formally or even informally informed the Hr of her pregnancy and that was the reason that they have taken a stand to terminate her. In a very recent case, the Supreme Court of India in Dr. Kavita Yadav Vs The Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Department and Others ( 2023 LLR 1299) has said that any attempt to enforce the contract duration term during the maternity leave period would be constitute “discharge” and attract section 12(2(a) of the Maternity Benefits Act. That case was about an employee on fixed term contract and stoppage of maternity benefits when the contract ended during the leave period. The Court said that she is entitled to the full 26 weeks’ maternity leave with salary and the medical bonus, as applicable, even if her term of employment comes to an end during the maternity leave period.
http://madhu-t-k.blogspot.com/2023/12/maternity-benefits-can-be-extended.html
In your case, it is a victimisation and it should not be permitted especially when we talk much about women empowerment and "guarantee". "Guarantee is not deprival of rights, right? Therefore, your wife should first speak to her reporting officer and collect an appraisal report and then proceed against them.
From India, Kannur
http://madhu-t-k.blogspot.com/2023/12/maternity-benefits-can-be-extended.html
In your case, it is a victimisation and it should not be permitted especially when we talk much about women empowerment and "guarantee". "Guarantee is not deprival of rights, right? Therefore, your wife should first speak to her reporting officer and collect an appraisal report and then proceed against them.
From India, Kannur
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