Employer demands employee's son's birth certificate despite them not taking paternity leave

Having an employer who thinks they own you is nothing new, but now they want your children too. What with certain unnamed protections being lifted recently in certain unnamed locations… It will only be a matter of time before the children return to the mines that they yearn for! I mean, what else are kids good for? They're small and able-bodied, conveniently fitting into tight locations that are often found in confined work spaces like mine shafts and maintenance corridors. Sounds like wasted potential to me. 

Jokes like this are becoming a trending topic around the wider internet as there are pushes around the country to disband child worker protections. The jokes came in thick and fast in the comments when Redditor u/Comfortable_Area3910 shared their work experience to Reddit's popular r/antiwork subreddit. 

The Redditor reported being asked by their employer for their newborn's birth certificate, despite the fact that they hadn't taken any paternal leave. They reported that an HR rep had been "hounding" them for the certificate. 

Keep reading for some selected screenshots of the thread that emerged around this Reddit post and inspired this discussion. As of the writing of this coverage, there have been no further updates from the author. 

For more emerging workplace discussion, check out this worker who stood their ground after being asked to work an unpaid working interview.