A man claimed on LinkedIn that his wife, who used to work remotely for a company, was abruptly terminated over a WhatsApp message, that too, without any explanation. He further alleged that she was denied both a notice period and severance pay.
‘No notice period. No severance’
“My wife, who works from home, was terminated over WhatsApp on a Sunday afternoon. No notice period. No severance. No reason was given by the company she worked for more than 2 years,” journalist Abhishek Kumar wrote on LinkedIn.
He added that his wife intended to resign if the company didn’t give her maternity leave. “Just two weeks ago, she had informed her employer about her pregnancy and her intention to resign on December 1 (and continue till the end of the month) if they did not intend to give maternity leave.”
Kumar further claimed that his wife’s employment was terminated after the company found a replacement.
Along with his LinkedIn post, he shared a screenshot that his wife received on WhatsApp.
‘Your services will no longer be required’
“This is to inform you that your services will no longer be required with effect from tomorrow, as we have hired another candidate who will be working from the office for this role,” a part of the WhatsApp message read.
It added, “We request that you please submit and hand over all completed and ongoing work, including videos and creatives, by tomorrow via email. Your salary for the current month will be credited to your account, and you will not be required to serve a notice period. The Full and Final settlement documents will be shared with you shortly.”
FinancialExpress.com has reached out to the company via LinkedIn. This article will be updated as and when we receive a response.
What do the rules say?
An employer cannot fire a woman or take away her maternity benefits just because she is pregnant or on leave, unless she has committed serious misconduct.
Section 12 (1) of the Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 read, “Where a woman absents herself from work in accordance with the provisions of this Act, it shall be unlawful for her employer to discharge or dismiss her during or on account of such absence or to give notice of discharge or dismissal on such a day that the notice will expire during such absence, or to vary to her disadvantage any of the conditions of her service.”
“(a) The discharge or dismissal of a woman at any time during her pregnancy, if the woman but for such discharge of dismissal would have been entitled to maternity benefit or medical bonus referred to in section 8, shall not have the effect of depriving her of the maternity benefit or medical bonus: Provided that where the dismissal is for any prescribed gross misconduct the employer may, by order in writing communicated to the woman, deprive her of the maternity benefit or medical bonus or both. (b) Any woman deprived of maternity benefit or medical bonus or both may, within sixty days from the date on which the order of such deprivation is communicated to her, appeal to such authority as may be prescribed, and the decision of that authority on such appeal, whether the woman should or should not be deprived of maternity benefits or medical bonus or both, shall be final. (c) Nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect the provisions contained in subsection (1),” stated Section 12 (2) of the Act.
How did social media users react?
The post, shared a few hours ago, received a lot of traction on LinkedIn. A lawyer, after reading his post, dropped a comment. It read, “Under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, a pregnant woman cannot be fired for reasons of pregnancy or maternity leave. You should seek legal counsel.”
One woman joined and shared that one of her ex-colleagues was terminated on the same grounds. “One of my ex-colleagues was fired on the same grounds by one of my ex-employers. Though women are aware of their rights, practically, termination takes place.”
“She can file a case that she was terminated because she announced her pregnancy. Take them to court,” suggested a third.
A fourth posted, “Exactly the same thing happened to my wife this October. No reason, no notice period. Just asked to resign over a phone call or threatened to get terminated. And she is heading the entire marketing, operations, and customer support team. If she has that kind of treatment, think about the junior employees or managers. This is exactly why I lost trust in this job market long back and started my own venture. Your loyalty doesn’t take you anywhere.”
“Your wife will be entitled to compensation if you take the legal route. Don’t let the company get away,” yet another suggested.