'I had to do right by the team': Horrible boss fails to justify firing new single mother after she returns to work

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    Font - AITA for firing an employee returning from maternity leave? I feel like the devil right now, so I'll accept whatever judgement you all have. I run a team of about 6 people. Our company offers a large amount of maternity leave, 10 months. One of my employees got pregnant recently, i'll call her Jess. Our team does project based work and in the period between her leaving for ML we finished up the project we were working on when she left, and started working on a project without her.
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    Font - During this period, our team had to adapt to working without her expertise in certain matters. We adapted and eventually some of us developed the skills needed to do some of her workload. The situation we have now is me, and 2 others split half the work that Jess used to do, and we hired someone new to come in to the team to handle the other part of Jess's workload and then some. This new employee came at significantly reduced cost, as he was straight out of Uni and we pay him a fraction
  • 03
    Font - Now Jess has come back to the team, but there is another issue. Our firm has informed us that for some f reason we no longer have the budget for a 7 person team, and will have to let someone go. This news came about when I submitted the paperwork for Jess's return. We are 5 months into a project that should take an estimated 10 months, and my decision came down to Jess and the man we hired to replace her. The reason we hired a replacement, which is not normally what we do, is because we a
  • 04
    Font - As you can tell by the title, I chose the replacement. I did so for the following reasons: • Far cheaper, thus freeing up a lot more money than keeping Jess on • He was up to date with the project and we would be able to move forward seamlessly, whereas with Jess we would have to take time catching her up to speed on half the project • The clients already knew and liked working with him, whereas they didn't know Jess at all • She has been out of the field for a prolonged period, whilst he
  • 05
    Font - Obviously, the ideal situation which I wanted was to keep both and not put a new single mother with no other job lined up out in the cold, but I had to do right by the team and firm. I told her I'd write her a brilliant Letter of Recommendation, and that in a few months she could try and apply for a job at our firm, hopefully we'll have the budget, but she snapped at me and told me not to bother, and called me a cot and left. I know I sound cold and heartless but I had to be fair to both
  • 06
    Rectangle - E_Turnips_97 16 hr. ago 2 & 2 More Partaipant [4] YTA. Every single reason you mentioned was only true because she had been gone on maternity leave which legally CANNOT be a reason to terminate someone. Yet it is the cause behind everyone reason you gave. Be prepared for a lawsuit. 41.2k Share
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    Font - MagicianGOBBluth. 14 hr. ago 3 Parta ipant [2] OP: So I fired her because 1. She had a baby. 2. She had a baby. 3. She had a baby. AITA???? YTA OP. 17.1k Share
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    Font - ManaFrmHeaven 13 hr. ago This. This sentence right here: "The reason we hired a replacement, which is not normally what we do, is because we anticipated that for this project the workload would be far greater than our current capacity, which it is not." YTA OP! This whole situation came about because management (you?) made a short sighted decision. This sh isn't New Mom's fault. But you fired her anyway because that's easier than owning the management f up. 10.4k Share
  • 09
    Font - Bad2bBiled Parta ipant [4] 13 hr. ago It stuck out to me when he wrote that the new kid interacted better with the team That means that this team are all men who really enjoy bullshi and drinking with this new kid. I've got some news for you, my man. That kid is gonna bail the minute he gets an offer for a new job - project completion or not. You're probably gonna see a bit of attrition on your team, actually. Your transparency about the reason for firing her is not impressive and does no
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    Font - JustXampl 12 hr. ago Especially since it will be at better pay rate: at significantly reduced cost, as he was straight out of Uni and we pay him a fraction of what Jess costs currently. Because she has years experience and the wrong genitalia, she got fired. 5.9k Share
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    Font - cdydana 8 hr. ago . Also f this company - the new hire apparently is doing the job better than Jess yet they're paying him a fraction of his worth. And companies wonder why they're having trouble finding good help. 529 Share
  • 12
    Font - JustXampl 7 hr. ago Naw, it's not just the new hire.. which I dont think OP realizes. eventually some of us developed the skills needed to do some of her workload. The situation we have now is me, and 2 others split half the work that Jess used to do, and we hired someone new to come in to the team to handle the other part of Jess's workload and then some. So in effect it took 4 people to replace Jess. 676 Share
  • 13
    Font - knit_stitch_ride . 7 hr. ago Oh now come on let's be fair, it's not because she owned the wrong set of genitalia. Women are fine. Mothers apparently are the problem, so its that she dared use her genitalia that was the problem. 150 Share
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    Font - mrskmh08 7 hr. ago And it's not even like OP pays her from their own pocket.. "oh I saved company x amount of money!" Cool, and? Besides, it costs a lot of money to find and bring on new employees so in the long run the new guy cost the company more, even if he does get paid less than he's worth, and how long until he wants to be paid better? 104 Share
  • 15
    Font - flukefluk 12 hr. ago Parta ipant [1]] the kid bailing out is 100% correct. people in my area were scared sh less off hiring new graduates because the new graduate will switch jobs as fast as they can gain experience and training to do so in order to catch up on pay with what their diploma and experience allow. basically they hire the new guy at a fraction of an experienced guy's cost and expect 3-5 years at a new guy's salary. but the new guy knows this and will try to reduce this period

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