Background:

I am a sales professional and was doing very well in my job. A company in the same industry was headhunting me for a similar profile for over a year and I accepted the offer with a good hike as I had lost my father then and wanted to support my mom and brother and a higher salary would really make me comfortable. I was the only one in the division bringing in all the business and was doing very well. Seeing my performance the company recruited one senior guy who had no experience in the field and I was supposed to report to him and act as per his guidance. Business was not happening that well as this guy was not capable of handling the profile which was also affecting my performance. I brought this issue to my senior bosses, but they did not take it seriously and wanted me to work as per my boss's guidance. I had no choice.

How I lost my job:

I was two months pregnant and informed my boss and senior boss. This is when people started treating me very differently. They recruited a junior to me and I was asked to make 6-8 calls (meeting clients) a day, when my colleagues in the same profile were happily sitting in office. I was targeted and they literally forced me to fix more meetings in a day and blamed me for under-performing. I approached my HR head and said that it might affect my health and my baby if I travel so much everyday, but he did not respond to my mail. Then my senior boss started making comments about me in front of other colleagues that they should not recruit married women as they get pregnant and all sorts of comments. They don’t spare even a pregnant employee. Everyday I was getting pressurised more and more, the HR would call me for a meeting and force me to take a break. I was sustaining all the pressure and one fine day they terminated me.

Liabilities:

As is common knowledge, having a baby means additional financial expenses. My husband and I were supporting my in-laws and my mom all this while. We were literally handling the finances of two families with two car loans, two two house rents and other expenses. And now I do not even have mediclaim coverage. I am expecting my baby to be born in a month and at least for next three months I will not be able to work anywhere, even if I get a job in this slowdown situation. People are only losing jobs.

Lessons learnt:

~ My company terminated me and left me in a situation where I cannot claim my maternity benefit (3 months paid leave).
~ In future I do not just join a company by only looking at the job profile and pay package but also speak to some ex-employees of the company and find out about the company's HR policies.
~ I will be cautious in future. I definitely do not want to join a company who are insensitive to a pregnant employee and have been totally unfair.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh

If you, your friends or relatives have a layoff story to tell, to inform readers about the lessons that you have learnt, please write to us at getahead@rediff.co.in. Your name and identity will not be disclosed unless you want it to.

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