Anonymous
Post 04/17/2018 20:19     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me
What's the worst case scenario here, OP? Will you get fired? If no one is managing you, who knows if the work isn't getting done? Who will fire you?

If they don't care if your work is done while you're out, why will they care if it doesn't get done when you come back? How problematic is this "backlog" going to be?
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2018 07:16     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
What's clear is that you should never come back if at all possible, because if that's how they manage maternity leave, I can't imagine how they manage the rest! Say you come back and your co-worker goes on leave... leaving you with a sleep-deprived mountain of work.

Hopefully you can find more congenial employment.


OP here. Actually that's what my coworker plans on happening. She can't take leave during my maternity leave so she plans on taking several weeks when I return.

I have applied for new jobs.

I've spoken to my boss recently and they agreed that this shouldn't happen, but didn't believe they could hire someone or get a detail in such a short time period (I told work 6 months ago that I was pregnant).


OP, was your boss able to offer any solutions? Or are they asking you to shorten your leave?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:57     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me
Anonymous wrote:
What's clear is that you should never come back if at all possible, because if that's how they manage maternity leave, I can't imagine how they manage the rest! Say you come back and your co-worker goes on leave... leaving you with a sleep-deprived mountain of work.

Hopefully you can find more congenial employment.


OP here. Actually that's what my coworker plans on happening. She can't take leave during my maternity leave so she plans on taking several weeks when I return.

I have applied for new jobs.

I've spoken to my boss recently and they agreed that this shouldn't happen, but didn't believe they could hire someone or get a detail in such a short time period (I told work 6 months ago that I was pregnant).
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:55     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me

What's clear is that you should never come back if at all possible, because if that's how they manage maternity leave, I can't imagine how they manage the rest! Say you come back and your co-worker goes on leave... leaving you with a sleep-deprived mountain of work.

Hopefully you can find more congenial employment.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:53     Subject: Re:Mat leave with no one to cover me
+1 Make sure you're documenting all of this. The real punishing will happen when you return and someone from higher up asks why your work went untouched for 12 weeks and why you didn't make proper accommodations. I've seen that before.

No one cares beforehand. Then suddenly you're 6 weeks in and Roger in Tulsa hasn't seen a TPS report in a few weeks and brings it up to his supervisor who runs it up the pole until the story that reaches The Powers That Be is that you didn't do your due diligence before leaving.

** Make sure you document everything and all efforts you are making prior to your leave.** Print everything out, emails, etc.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:36     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Make sure you're documenting all of this. The real punishing will happen when you return and someone from higher up asks why your work went untouched for 12 weeks and why you didn't make proper accommodations. I've seen that before.

No one cares beforehand. Then suddenly you're 6 weeks in and Roger in Tulsa hasn't seen a TPS report in a few weeks and brings it up to his supervisor who runs it up the pole until the story that reaches The Powers That Be is that you didn't do your due diligence before leaving.


The high likelihood of things playing out exactly like this is depressing.


I'm the 10:41 PP and even though I made all necessary arrangements with my boss when I went on leave, this still happened to me. So yea, it blows.


NP, this happened to me too, and unfortunately I ended up having to resign shortly after returning from maternity leave because the manager who'd failed to deal with coverage during my leave despite repeated efforts on my part and extensive documentation of what needed to happen had screwed up one of our projects royally during my leave due to his inattention, and then blamed me to the client and senior management when I discovered the errors upon my return. I could see he was building a case to try to fire me for cause (both to give himself full cover and because I knew the truth about what had happened), so I gave notice before he could do it.

Hopefully that won't happen to OP, but if management is truly unwilling to deal with this at all, I'd be prepared to come back to a shitstorm.


That sucks so bad, PP. I was very thankful that when I came back and shit started to hit the fan, my boss went to bat for me and ran interference. A director from another org tried to throw me under the bus and she went after him with a vengeance. If she'd been at all passive about it, I would have needed to do what you did because that director had it out for me.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:35     Subject: Re:Mat leave with no one to cover me
You really needed to or still do, need to sit down with your supervisor and type up what needs to be completed in your absence, what you plan to finish before you leave and a plan to get back on track when you return (with an estimated date of return/#of weeks you plan to be out).
This is as much your problem as your supervisors and if any of my staff didn't try to sit down with me to hammer out the details of their leave, i would be quite upset. I, of course, would try to schedule a sit down, but if your supervisor is not doing this than it is on you to do so.

I get that you and your coworker feel overwhelmed but the only way to fix that is to initiate a conversation with your boss. Period. There is nothing a message board can do to fix this for you. Sorry.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:25     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me
I think i remember you Op.

Did you post awhile back about your co-worker totally flipping out when you announced you were preg?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2018 14:08     Subject: Mat leave with no one to cover me
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Make sure you're documenting all of this. The real punishing will happen when you return and someone from higher up asks why your work went untouched for 12 weeks and why you didn't make proper accommodations. I've seen that before.

No one cares beforehand. Then suddenly you're 6 weeks in and Roger in Tulsa hasn't seen a TPS report in a few weeks and brings it up to his supervisor who runs it up the pole until the story that reaches The Powers That Be is that you didn't do your due diligence before leaving.


The high likelihood of things playing out exactly like this is depressing.


I'm the 10:41 PP and even though I made all necessary arrangements with my boss when I went on leave, this still happened to me. So yea, it blows.


NP, this happened to me too, and unfortunately I ended up having to resign shortly after returning from maternity leave because the manager who'd failed to deal with coverage during my leave despite repeated efforts on my part and extensive documentation of what needed to happen had screwed up one of our projects royally during my leave due to his inattention, and then blamed me to the client and senior management when I discovered the errors upon my return. I could see he was building a case to try to fire me for cause (both to give himself full cover and because I knew the truth about what had happened), so I gave notice before he could do it.

Hopefully that won't happen to OP, but if management is truly unwilling to deal with this at all, I'd be prepared to come back to a shitstorm.