SINGAPORE — In Singapore maternity leave can be costly, according to a woman who claims she was passed over for promotion. She took to social media to complain about the lack of gender equality.
In her post, she said that a male colleague of hers was promoted over her while she was on maternity leave. “I also didnt get my bonus in 2022 coz of “budget issues” but my colleague got a performing bonus”, she wrote. “My colleague jumped on the chance to take over my workload and used it to negotiate his promotion n bonus. So his KPI and all that damn good”, the woman added, complaining about how in Singapore maternity leave affected her career.
In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the 29-year-old woman wrote that she just gave birth to her first child. She added that she worked in a corporate, finance-related company. “I took my maternity leave which I am entitled to la”, she added. In her post, she wrote that when she had dinner with a superior who was not her direct boss, he confirmed that she was passed over because she was on maternity leave.
“Am I expected to wfh while on maternity? How can govt and companies expect women to participate fully in the workforce when we get passed over like this. I also can’t leave this company coz tbh, I am an average corporate employee and its the same everywhere. And also honestly, this direct boss is not too bad la, all things considered”, the woman wrote, unhappy that in Singapore maternity leave affected her career.
Netizens were quite unanimous in the comments and said that the woman chose to go ahead with her family while her colleague worked and took on more tasks. Based on merit alone, they wrote that her male colleague deserved the promotion.
Here’s what they said:
Last year, an intern with family problems was told to leave work early and go home by her boss. However, she found herself fired the next day.
In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the intern said that things were going well until “i was sick and had non stop vomiting. Saw a doctor but didn’t get well so my mum rushed me to the hospital. I was dehydrated by then so i had to be on iv drip. Results came out and i was diagnosed with salmonella infection”.
When she explained to her boss about the situation, her boss understood, and the intern submitted the medical certificate and discharge papers as well. A week later, while attending an event at a hotel for work, the intern wrote that she faced family problems. She found out that her mother was cheating on her father. She was told that the man her mother was having an affair with was a past lover.
“I couldn’t accept it and i cried thinking what if they divorced and this family wld be gone. I was angry at myself that i didn’t found out earlier so i could help my dad ease his pain cuz he didn’t tell anyone his feeling as he needed to protect me. I didn’t manage to tell anyone too as my auntie told me to keep it to myself”, the intern wrote.
When her boss saw her crying and trembling, she told her to go back home. However, despite the intern insisting that she was fine, her boss told her to go home. The next day, she received notice that she had been let go from the internship.
“Boss then fired me the next day as she told me she was lacking of manpower and i can’t continue on like this. I’m really afraid of failing my internship and with this kind of family problems, i’m afraid i can’t take it anymore”, the intern wrote.