Human Resource Blog

Maternity Leave

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A couple of weeks ago my manager sent me an e-mail about my maternity leave. She did not talked to HR before sending this email but the email talked about that she could grant me a week of vacation after the baby is due and if I needed anymore days, I needed to submitt a 30-days medical leave notice to the HR department. Needless to say, I was very upset and confused about this e-mail. One, she had a nerve to e-mail this information without having all the facts. Second, I find out she talked to another employee about if I had mentioned anything about my maternity leave. I immediately called the HR department and they told me exactly what to do. I didn’t mention to the HR departmen about the email or that she asked other employees about my status on maternity leave. I feel like I need to tell her how confused and upset I am about how she handled this topic. How do I prevent this from being a issue in the office and keep others from experiencing this situation?

Your supervisor was uninformed and the information that you received from HR was correct. However, it doesn’t sound like your supervisor is being rude or inconsiderate. She’s simply planning how she will get the work done while you are gone…which is part of her job. (The biggest question that supervisors have about employees who are expecting is “Does she intend to come back to work after having the baby?” This may be why she is discussing your leave with other employees. While the answer might seem obvious to you, it’s not to her. If you will return to work, it’s a good idea to tell her specifically.

There are three possible ways that you can handle the supervisor’s email. You could just ignore it, since you have better info from the HR department. It doesn’t sound like you’re willing to do that. If you feel like you can sit down calmly and discuss the situation with your supervisor, you could bring the topic up. Another option would be simply to forward the original email to the HR department with a note that says “I’m confused. Could you straighten this out for me?” This will give the HR department the opportunity to educate your supervisor, without a confrontation between you and your boss. Supervisors don’t know every nuance of HR law — that’s why there is an HR department.