unfair treatment at work?

chanpan

I work as a supervisor in a large company with branches in Ireland and the uk. My contract is on a permanent full time basis with mandatory overtime hours built in. In December everyone in our company was informed we would be required to work 2 additional shifts in January on topof our regular working week, these were mandatory but very well compensated so most people were very happy about it. My issue is on Friday I had a scheduled doctor visit ( I am 7 months pregnant) and doc recommend i take a few days bed rest due to a child of been unable to shift, I was reluctant to take the time off as I can't really afford to lose the overtime at the mo but my manager said he would try to get my additional shift moved from Friday to Wednesday so I wouldn't miss out and insisted I take the weekend off. However when I arrived back in today not only has the director of hr refused to allow me to make up the lost time during the week but he has cut my other overtime shift this Thursday. Between these 2 days it means that I am out of pocket nearly 1600 euros! I have double checked and despite at least 10 other staff members in the irish offices having taken sick days in January I am the only one to have add additional shifts cut because of it and I can't help but feel it is a punishment for being pregnant. I have already written to the director of hr stating my grievance but he won't be swayed. Is it worth taking the matter further?

Marcusm

This is a difficult one; is there any reason to believe the HR director is seeking to punish you or is he/she being appropriately cautious with a staff member who has been medically advised not to work in the very recent past? Unless the doctor's advice related to a particular illness (comparable to those who took sick days) as opposed to the condition of pregnancy, it's hard to see how they are punishing you but rather exercising potentially appropriate caution.

chanpan

Thanks for your reply. .. The doctors sick note was simply for a throat infection ( which is exactly the same condition that caused a Collegue to take sick leave a few days prior to me). My general manager has been fighting my corner and he concurs that this does not seem like a compassionate move but more like a punishment and he has appealed the decision on my behalf but to no avail. I have asked for a reason behind the decision but the powers that be have been cagey about giving one and wouldn't commit anything to paper but they advised my manager over the phone that they have based it on my history of absences for 2013 which doesn't entirely make sense as I have been absent for a total of 5 days in 2013 only one of which was pregnancy related , which is lower than the company average and 3 less than the collegue I have already mentioned has taken.