‘Is this legal?’: Man worries for 34 y/o wife who might be laid off when she returns to work from maternity leave

SINGAPORE: A man shared his worries online about his 34-year-old wife, who might be laid off when she goes back to work after maternity leave.

In a post on a local forum, he explained that his wife gave birth two months ago and is set to return to work in May after finishing her maternity leave and using up her annual leave.

But recently, HR from her multinational company reached out to say they haven’t been able to find a suitable role for her because of ongoing restructuring.

According to him, HR mentioned that this could lead to retrenchment and advised his wife to start looking for other jobs.

“This was communicated by HR on a WhatsApp video call. The role still exists and is being done by another person. No communication via email yet. HR said she will confirm if they can find a role by the end of next month,” he wrote on the r/askSingapore forum.

“We are both shocked and confused about what to do next. Absolutely stressful, as we bought a new house and have a new baby. Is this legal? What are our options? What should we do?”

“Better just to start looking for a job.”

The post has since racked up 292 upvotes and 149 comments, with many Singaporean Redditors pointing out that, unfortunately, the company’s actions are legal.

One told him, “Sorry about your situation. It is legal if they give the official notice after the ML is over. The HR is doing her a favour with a heads-up. Unfortunately, this is actually pretty common. I saw it happen in my US MNC, from which I got retrenched as well.”

Another explained, “It’s not discriminatory if the company can show there are others being laid off or the restructuring affects her department, not just your wife. 

They allowed her to take full maternity leave entitlement, so there isn’t any issue.”

“As long as they honour the notice period and/or severance benefits (mentioned in the contract or employment handbook), it is 100 per cent legal and also compliant with labour guidelines.”

A third wrote, “Usually, to avoid any potential issues of it being filled as discriminatory practice, HR will only do so a few months AFTER the mother comes back from maternity. To send such a message during maternity. Damn. They don’t even pretend anymore. Is the market THAT bad?”

A fourth advised, “The job market is really bad…. better just to start looking for a job, which will be really hard…”

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), employers are not allowed to terminate or retrench female employees during pregnancy or while they are on maternity leave.

This protection applies to employees who have worked for their employer for at least three months and have been medically certified as pregnant.

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