my stuff
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oh bloody hell
'Heartless employer sacks first time mum-to-be'…hah! Love it Vicola…I might just have to do something about that!
Yes…in the spirit of business enterprise, I, Heeland Lass, pregnant lady and generally all round wonderful person have been given la boot by cut throat boss lady.
It’s all a bit mad actually.
Yesterday I spent most of the day in tears. I am a highly emotional person at the best of times (adverts, bad soap operas, quiz shows – I cry at them all) but this just takes the oatcake. I keeping thinking this would be 20 million times easier if I wasn’t up the duff.
Do I wish I wasn’t pregnant at the moment? No I don’t. But it would have been nice if my boss could have figured something out for me.
So like I said – yesterday was the “official day of crying”. I was hoping that this meant that today would be the “official day of rage” cos I’ve got to go in at 4pm to meet with her to find out what’s expected of me and what my options are and all this pish. Unfortunately, today might just be “official day of numbness” and then “meeting of tears” when I go in to see her, but I’m going to try to be business like and proper.
Why can’t I be a stony faced wench? Why must I be all tears and red noses and little sharp intakes of breath?! Oh Christ on a bike, this is going to be shite.
As it stands, I think that I will be given 4 weeks notice. I don’t THINK that she will make me work it, but if she does I’m going to go to the doctor and get signed off because there’s no way I’m sitting in that office waiting for my end day like I’m waiting on death. I mean, those looks I’d get. The sympathy from the colleagues, the thinly disguised relief that it’s not them. The helpful hints and tips of jobs in other companies. NO THANK YOU.
On top of that, the statutory redundancy (which is all she’s going to give) is 1 weeks pay for every year I’ve been there. So I’ve been there 4 ½ years, so I’ll get another months pay. It keeps the wolf from the door but not much more.
Then I need to find a new job…I’m not legally bound to tell my interviewer that I’m pregnant. It’s not going to look very good when I turn round and tell them a month down the line and they might try to sack me under different excuses, but I just have to hope that won’t happen. On the whole life is a bit uncertain for the next 7 months. Then it’s uncertain for the next 25 years. Great.
Oh I am trying very hard not to be all ‘woe is me’, especially because of the wee peanut I’m trying to nurture and grow but seriously – WOE IS ME!!!! I need to work out what’s going on. Potentially I have a case against the Boss because she knew I was pregnant and still got rid of me. I’ll eat my own maternity trousers (when I get them) if she hasn’t checked this out to the Nth degree to cover her skinny, cut throat ass but it’s worth looking into and ultimately, as Vicola pointed out, no small business wants that kind of press on their backs – especially not this one who does lots of research for the Scottish Executive on things like how easy it is for new mothers to continuing breast feeding when they go back to work and things like workplace health and reducing stress in the work place. It’s not going to look very good at all.
On the whole though, I really wish I wasn’t having to think about this kind of thing.
I really, really loved that job.
9:20 am - 27 September 2007
