Woman claims she was ‘terminated’ abruptly for being pregnant, former employer counters her claims

Singapore – A pregnant woman working at a tuition centre claimed on Facebook that she was suddenly told she was  terminated,  supposedly because she was pregnant and there were “safety” issues.

“Being pregnant is already not easy; however, pregnancy shouldn’t hinder us mothers from working,” said the woman on Facebook on Monday (Jan 10). She said that her workplace called and told her she no longer had a job there.

If it was really for her own “safety”, she said, the company shouldn’t have agreed to hire her in the first place when they knew of her pregnancy.

“Such an absurd and cruel thing to do. I hope to warn others who are pregnant (who are)  looking for a job to be aware of this kind of employer,” said the woman. She also said she was fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Responding to these claims, a representative from the tuition centre offered their side of the story. The woman had been hired to work part time,  had  worked there for less than a week.

The online community was quick to offer advice. Several people told her to file a case with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regarding unfair dismissal should that be the case.

“MOM will help to mitigate the situation after their investigation where hearing from your employer too and also it falls back to the contents of the employment contract you have signed,” said a netizen.

Another netizen quoting MOM told the woman:

Ms Jayce Ly, who said she as a human resources executive from the tuition centre, commented on the complaint and said that the former employee  “has not been telling the whole truth”. She attached screenshots of their exchanges, which she said highlighted the former employee’s “inconsistent performance.”

She noted that the woman was not employed as a full-time staff and had worked for only three days in all. she also said that the new hire had begun by being late for her interview, and they had decided to give her a second change.

Worse than that, she claimed that the part-timer asked to receive her salary without CPF (Central Provident Fund), that is her pay would not have CPF deducted from it.

Had the employer agreed, this would be in breach of regulations.

This is how the woman responded to the tuition centre’s comments:

“Dear netizens, there’s only so much I can explain. It is my own fault for being too honest and diplomatic,” she said, adding that her original  post was to make people more aware of employers who discriminated against pregnant women, in the hope that others would not have to go through what she did.

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