When I told my boss I was pregnant, he smiled and said, “Take leave whenever you need.” I felt relieved when my request for 12 weeks of paid maternity leave was approved in writing. It seemed like I had support and understanding. For once, I believed everything would go smoothly.
But a month later, I checked my payslip and froze—it showed zero. No paycheck, no warning. I called my boss in a panic, thinking it had to be a mistake. That’s when he calmly told me he’d marked my leave as unpaid to help meet the team’s budget goals.
He never told me. He just decided I shouldn’t get paid because I wasn’t working. Worse, I later learned he’d divided my salary among coworkers as bonuses to “boost morale.” I spent my leave caring for a newborn while also fighting HR, draining my savings just to stay afloat.
When I returned to work, he smiled and said, “Welcome back to the family,” as if nothing had happened. I felt invisible, taken for granted. Now I sit at my desk, still unsure what to do. Was I wrong to expect fairness—or is it time I finally speak up?
