Term 7-month employee out on maternity leave?
annelise
2 Posts
We hired a legal assistant in October '02 who informed us her second day on the job that she was 2-months pregnant. We gladly accommodated her physician appointments which were numerous because it was a high-risk pregnancy.
She had her baby several weeks ago and the LAs covering her files have found problems. She did not follow the firm's risk management procedures and did not leaving cover memos detailing each file's status as requested. The baby was a scheduled delivery although the employee's father died 3 weeks before her scheduled date and she missed a week of work due to his passing.
The attorney she worked for will not accept her back on his team due to the problems with the files. No other attorney wants her for the same reasons. The partners want her employment terminated.
We have documentation regarding the issues with her files. She has only been counseled about frequent and extended smoking breaks. She has not been counseled about the state of her files. She has not been employed by the firm for 1-year. Her pregnancy is not the issue for termination. Several months prior to hiring her, we hired another employee who we knew was pregnant. That employee's work product is excellent and her employment is secure.
We are in Florida. I welcome your thoughts about this situation & any recommendations regarding our pending action. Thank you!
She had her baby several weeks ago and the LAs covering her files have found problems. She did not follow the firm's risk management procedures and did not leaving cover memos detailing each file's status as requested. The baby was a scheduled delivery although the employee's father died 3 weeks before her scheduled date and she missed a week of work due to his passing.
The attorney she worked for will not accept her back on his team due to the problems with the files. No other attorney wants her for the same reasons. The partners want her employment terminated.
We have documentation regarding the issues with her files. She has only been counseled about frequent and extended smoking breaks. She has not been counseled about the state of her files. She has not been employed by the firm for 1-year. Her pregnancy is not the issue for termination. Several months prior to hiring her, we hired another employee who we knew was pregnant. That employee's work product is excellent and her employment is secure.
We are in Florida. I welcome your thoughts about this situation & any recommendations regarding our pending action. Thank you!
Comments
Assuming you just found all this information out, I would proceed ahead so the termination is timely.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman
>procedures and did not leaving cover memos detailing each file's
>status as requested. >
"She did not follow the firm's risk management procedures"- that's clear enough. "She didn't detail each file's status as requested"- was that a required procedure or a requested procedure?
I agree with the other two posts that you need to be consistent on how you have handled this situation in the past. Would anyone else be terminated without any kind of disciplinary process with the same length of service? Is this something that is so severe that others have been or would be termed for? Follow your policies and have documentation.
Doesn't sound like the proper documentation was taken until after she left for this leave. My question would be why didn't someone audit her files all along, you did mention she has not been with your company for a full year. My suggestion is not to terminate her until she returns and is notified of what she did wrong. At this point, only you know what she did wrong, but she does not. Information provided above, father passed away, at risk pregnancy, spells trouble. Especially if the proper documentation was not done and the employee was under the impression she was doing ok.
The bottom line in my opinion is whether or not this individual would be or would have been terminated or disciplined had it not been for the issue of the pregnancy and her absence and giving birth, all of which seem irrelevant to the issues of performance and discipline. Of course she would. The pregnancy and birth give her no free pass where performance is involved.
As with FMLA, if an investigation is either under way or ensues through the normal course of business during the absence, without regard in any way to the conditions of the absence (FMLA or Pregnancy), the company is not prohibited from following through with its normal procedure, including discipline or dismissal. Nor is the individual's employment insulated by either act simply because of their condition.
Another way you might look at this is to consider that the employee might have been on an approved extended absence for a sebatical in Europe, during which the same set of facts would roll out. Treat it the same.
You spent time, money, and resources to hire and train this person. You apparently are a compassionate employer to work with her on her pregnancy and during the death of the father and now while she is off. I don't see her "problems" as you described as worthy of termination. Welcome her back and show her what she has been doing wrong and take it from there. I also believe in hearing both sides of a story. Wouldn't it be interesting if she says she did things the way her attorney boss instructed her? Could be just a simple misunderstanding.
On the other hand, if she admits to knowing better and deliberately didn't follow procedures, then you have another issue. Giving her a second chance then might not be as valid, even with all she has gone through during her short career.