I had to do it. I felt badly, but on the other hand, he was constantly doing the opposite of what I had asked. Actually, the last straw was when he called and started out like this: “My wife is all over me… because you asked me to travel out of town back to back.” What? Wait a minute! You aren’t the one on maternity leave! She is! As a woman, and I can’t say this directly to employees, I went straight back to work after delivering twins – I had to travel on overnight trips, I had to work 70 hours a week (for a corporation) plus weekends when necessary, and I had reports and infants keeping me up non-stop every night. And, I was the one who had the C-section and had to function. And, let’s not forget, I had TWO at the same time!
He was very young, very green, and very un-ambitious. Given he was in sales, that last description didn’t go over well with me. So, I had to ask him to resign. It wasn’t the first time he was doing the opposite of what I had asked. It was happening all along.
Was it the wrong thing to do when his wife just had a baby and he was having problems traveling while she was on maternity leave?
I’m sure his wife was following all of the guidelines on her maternity leave. CareerJournal.com gives guidelines on the first 90 days following maternity leave and back to work. But what about men?! What were his guidelines?
By the way, check out Invisible mothers: a content analysis of motherhood ideologies and myths in magazines, by Deirdre D. Johnston and Debra H. Swanson. It is extremely interesting.
What are your guidelines for couples who are going through a maternity leave together?
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