Manager allows employee to take work laptop home for maternity leave, and his boss demands it be returned during 9-month-long leave even though no one will use it: ‘It isn’t her fault this situation happened - if anything, it’s mine’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Sep 28, 2026 9:45 AM EDT

Government offices are like regular offices, only that they take the regular parts to extreme extremes, so even the trace amounts of common sense you find in your run-of-the-mill corporate aren't there, so it'd take quantum-level equipment to find any logic in gov ones.

At some point, in this specific office, someone decided laptops must be returned during extended leave, and even though nobody can find that policy written down anywhere, the admin team enforces it anyway because audit season turns everyone into compliance zombies. 

And what I love about this story is that everyone is so, so wrong it just feels right. Which sounds like the pre-chorus of an 80s power ballad about a forbidden affair, but with none of the romance or pathos, all of the ridiculousness and much more bureaucracy and stupidity.

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  • Contacting employee on maternity leave about the return of their work laptop

    Mansits behind a laptop with a serious expression looking straight at the camera
    via voronaman

    Manager in a confusing situation 

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Seeking external perspectives on this (admittedly relatively petty) work situation. A member of my team started maternity leave about a month ago.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • When she left, she took her work laptop with her. She told me this was her plan at the time and I okayed it - there was nothing in any of the paperwork or documentation for maternity / long service leave approvals that said it needed to be returned, she is a trusted, long term employee, her leave period is for less than 12 months (9 months) with her returning to a permanent (government) role.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • I knew this might raise eyebrows but part of why okayed it is that she has had issues in the past with getting a laptop that works well - we had to repeatedly request to get her last one replaced when it was more than four years old and super slow/buggy, but the admin team initially refused because there wasn't anything specifically wrong with it.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • When she was finally given a replacement it was already three years old with multiple previous users and hadn't been reimaged, so was also slow and buggy.
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  • Man looks confused at a laptop while raising one hand in a questioning gesture.
    via voronaman

    Confused, frustrated manager

    Representative only.

  • So we had to push another request for another laptop (the current one) that was actually functional.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • There was an asset audit last week and the administrative staff asked me where her laptop was, and I told them she has it.
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  • To be clear, they don't need it for anything - there is no one backfilling her role at the moment, and they have a cupboard full of unused (though yes, probably c py) laptops that can be handed out.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • But after the audit, my supervisor told me that we would need to ask her to return the laptop, during her maternity leave.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • I'm not clear on whether this is a policy change or an existing requirement that was poorly/never communicated and perhaps I should not have let her take it.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • I have now looked and definitely can't find this requirement written anywhere in the leave policies, but maybe I'm missing something.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

  • This manager allowed a trusted employee to keep her work laptop throughout her nine months of maternity leave. She fought for a machine that actually functioned, since her previous ones were ancient hand-me-downs that were slow and buggy, so when she finally received one that worked properly, she wanted to take it with her when she left, and the manager said yes because the paperwork did not forbid it. 

    And while I know I’m being Captain Hindsight here, it's a decision that makes zero sense because sending a laptop on its own 9-month PTO isn’t the best resource management.

  • When I disagreed with my boss about this plan because I thought it was unnecessary, and I explained why I let her take the laptop in the first place, he was sympathetic but said they're going to contact her regardless.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • Then he said the reason it is necessary is because "issues" can arise with devices that aren't logged into the network regularly.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • It was not clear how long it takes for these issues to happen (and therefore, at what length of leave staff would have to hand their laptops in) but what I do know is that unassigned laptops sit, stacked on top of each other, disconnected and powered off, in a cupboard.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • They are not logged in or turned on regularly. They don't get reimaged unless someone complains and they don't get regularly checked for issues or damage.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • I completely understand that this isn't her personal laptop, as does she. Had I been clearly told that she needed to hand it in before starting leave I would have ensured that happened, even though I disagree with the policy because (for the reasons above) I don't see what it is achieving besides having a bunch of laptops cycle through a bunch of users without ever being properly wiped.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • However, I think it's absolutely wrong to contact this woman about this while she's on maternity leave, and inconvenience her to get the laptop returned, when (1) there is no actual reason for it that I can tell; and (2) it isn't her fault this situation happened - if anything it is mine, but I actually think it's just poorly communicated and executed policy.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

  • So then came the asset audit, and the admin staff asked where the laptop is. The manager said she has it, and the supervisor immediately said she needs to return it during her maternity leave. Duh.

  • Am I being unreasonable? Can someone explain to me with real reasons why my workplace thinks this is necessary?
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • I am considering offering to collect the laptop from her house myself, but would that be even more of an intrusion?
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

  • Mr. Manager pushed back and explained the full history of why this employee needed that specific laptop, and while the boss was sympathetic, he still said they would contact her regardless. 

  • EDIT: thanks for all the replies! Just to clarify a few things. I work for a large government organisation in Australia - maternity leave and long service leave policies are generous, I am also a long term employee and I have absolutely no concerns that I (or she) would face disciplinary action for letting her take the laptop.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

  • Now Mr. Manager put himself in the amazing position of having to both backtrack on his own decision, which is a GREAT look for a manager, AND reach out to someone on leave and ask her to return a laptop that nobody actually needs.

  • I am an epitome middle manager and our workplace is hotdesk based so I don't have an office or desk to keep the laptop in.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • It could have been left in either my/her locker, but this wouldn't have fixed network access issues because it still wouldn't be plugged in.
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  • And once the asset audit occurred, they would have insisted it be handed back into the communal pool (which to be fair is what they are asking for now).
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • My intent in letting her take it was absolutely so she could continue to have this particular, working laptop on her return to work.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

  • And the employee will comply because she has no real choice, and she will come back to work eventually, and maybe she gets a good replacement and maybe she does not. So everything works out swimmingly.

  • I don't believe she intends to use it for personal use as she has her own laptop and these work laptops are just not that good.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • And IT has had nothing to do with any of this - all of these policies are managed and enforced by an admin team, who are part of my branch and are not from IT backgrounds.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • That said, consensus seems to be that she should return the laptop, and I do see the reasons for this, so I will get in touch with her on Monday.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

  • This is bureaucracy in its purest form, where the rule exists simply because someone said it should, and the reason does not matter, and the inconvenience to the employee does not matter, and the audit must be satisfied, and the laptop must be in the cupboard even if the laptops in the cupboard never get turned on either.

  • However as one poster suggested, will definitely be CCing all and sundry on all emails if the laptop she gets issued on her return doesn't work properly.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • Aggressive Ad_5454 Don't overthink this. Just tell her you made a mistake when you let her keep it and offer to swing by and pick it up. Then put it in the box with her other stuff at the office awaiting her return. Bonus: maybe you get to meet her baby!
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • ClearUniversity 1550 for that long of a leave it is odd she has it. Too much exposure to getting lost or damaged. Send her a prepaid shipping box and get the laptop. Many do not come back to work after such a long leave
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • Academic-Lobster3668 She should not have taken the laptop home. I totally understand your rationale, but if you wanted to "protect" it for her to have when she returned, you should have kept it in your office.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • Your employer's request is completely reasonable. Because you work for the government, your employer is subjected to much more scrutiny and accountability regarding preservation of resources than private employers, as everything you have is funded with taxpayer money. As a manager, this is something that should be very evident to you. It's mildly shocking that you don't get this.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • DJ1952 If her laptop is not connected to the company's network it will miss some software/firmware updates. You haven't enumerated any reasons why she needed to have it with her while on leave. Was she afraid someone else would get it after all she went through to get a "good" laptop?
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • FamiliarAd8524 Well, it's really not your problem- if the supervisor says "they're going to contact her", then that's up to them. That said, it was rather foolish to just leave the laptop with her for nine months- you could have just put it in your desk. She has no business even touching it.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • brn1001 Assuming a well run IT department: Her account is now locked. The laptop is off the domain. It's going to need to be updated and scanned before being allowed back on the domain.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • Assuming a well run HR department: When you're on leave, you're not allowed to work. If you do work, that can really mess up your leave.
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  • Good intentions aside, the laptop needs to be brought back.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • streboryesac You are overthinking this. The company owns the laptop. Storing it at someone's house while on mat leave is dumb. Just ask for it back and let her know you'll keep it aside for her for when she comes back.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • neityght Ridiculous for her to keep the laptop. She's not working so why does she need a work laptop that she is presumably and hopefully not allowed to use for non work purposes. You say she doesn't need it for personal reasons do why tf does she need it at all?? It's not her property. Absolutely stupid.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845
  • How on earth are you a manager when you can't even understand this? You and the other employee are idiots, frankly.
    via Sharp_Apricot9845

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