Hi all, I'm asking advice for a friend. She joined her company in March of 2020 and had nothing but glowing feedback. In May 2021 she lost a pregnancy when she was 13 weeks along and had a little bit of time off work to recover, on the insistence of her boss, who was very supportive. Her boss put this through as 'sick leave.' She queried this with HR who said this actually counts as 'bereavement and pregnancy loss' and should not count towards a performance review.
Fast forward to October 2021 she had a second miscarriage at around two weeks pregnant. She didn't want time off but her boss seemed very supportive and insisted again.
It's also worth mentioning that, as a result of the losses, she once ended up in hospital while abroad for company business and was conducting briefings from her hospital bed.
She's just had a performance review to be told she's been marked as 'not met' which drastically reduces her performance related bonus. Her boss told her that some of the work she produced before being off, and since being back from leave, has been 'outstanding'. However, she's not eligible for the same bonus as other colleagues due to the time off to recover from her pregnancy losses.
Where does she stand? Is this discrimination? If her pregnancies had gone to plan, she would have got the full bonus, and the quality of her work has never been called into question - just the quantity of it.
Thanks so much!