A pregnant woman has shared her frustration as she’s frequently being sent work-related messages by her boss while she’s on maternity leave.
Reddit user TheRubyRedPirate said her first official day of maternity leave was on her due date. However seeing as she hasn’t given birth yet, her boss has been messaging her about work and even asked her to go into the office.
“Yesterday and today, my boss has been texting me like crazy,” she wrote on Sunday 16 July.
“Yesterday she text and said if I’m bored I can come in and work the afternoon.”
The woman explained she forgot to text her boss back as she had visitors.
The next day, she woke up to a text from her boss saying: “Thanks for not texting back yesterday - totally cool.”
The Reddit user continued: “I said sorry. A few hours later she text me about something that happened on Tuesday.
“She couldn’t find something that I put in a cabinet and was pissed about it. I specifically remember putting it there, so if it’s not, someone must have moved it. What am I supposed to do about it?
“She’s left me aggravated and every time my phone makes a notification, I panic that it’s her. I don’t go back to work until October.”
The mum-to-be said she doesn’t mind some co-workers keeping her up to date on “cool things at work”, but she felt her boss was going a little “overboard”.
Parents on Reddit agreed it was a bit too much.
“The only response warranted in this case is: ‘I am on maternity leave’. Repeat as necessary,” one person wrote.
Another commented: “You’re on leave, she shouldn’t be messaging you about work stuff anyway. Tell her you’re on leave and can’t help.”
And another wrote: “Really, a sarcastic text about you not responding when you’re on maternity leave? Your boss sounds incredibly immature.”
Commenting on the story, Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, an organisation supporting women at work, told HuffPost UK: “We hear from so many women who are pestered throughout maternity leave by their employers, and frankly, it isn’t on.
“This issue is indicative of the way we view care giving in our society - it isn’t valued. Bread-winning is seen as more worthy, therefore some employers feel it is okay to badger and harass their employees during parental leave.
“If you are in this position you should try and set clear boundaries with your employer. If they ignore your boundaries then you should contact Pregnant Then Screwed, we will help.”