When we’re in love, we try our best to take care of our loved ones. We do everything in our power to make sure they’re happy and healthy. But it becomes wrong when we make others suffer because of it. Such is today’s story.
The Story
A husband on Reddit, Throwawaypresoptc, shared how he gave his wife extended maternity leave while not doing the same for his other employees. He wrote on AITA (Am I the A**hole?) to ask whether he was the a**hole or not. He said:
“I own a company, and my wife has an executive level position at it. 14 months ago, she gave birth to our son. We elected to have a C Section and she went on maternity leave a month before she was scheduled for it.”
“My wife expected that 3 months would be more than enough. However, after giving birth, and having agreed that we would only be having one child together ( I already had 3 daughters), my wife was exceptionally adamant about not missing a moment of our son’s formative moments because she knew that he’d only be a baby for so long.”
“When the time came when she should have gone back to the office, I didn’t have the heart to refuse her when she said she needed more time. After giving birth, she joined a mom specific life coaching program and still sees a life coach regularly. She also volunteered for underprivileged kids.”
“After a year had flown by people started asking my wife when she was coming back. Unbeknownst to them, my wife had discussed the fact that she had some light abdominal separation and wanted a tummy tuck, after which she was itching to get back to work. Around that time, another employee at the company, ‘Mary’, had gone on maternity leave. Unfortunately, because she has not worked for the company for more than a year, she was not entitled to FMLA and was given 6 weeks off for her birth, one week of which she took prior to the birth.”
“Around a month ago, we decided to go for it and the surgery went perfectly. My wife was advised to take at least two weeks off from work, but her doctor said to take 4. However, the other day, my wife asked me for around two more weeks before she officially went back to work because more rest after surgery couldn’t hurt. I agreed and we announced that she would be resuming her duties February 1st.”
“Mary spent 5 weeks after giving birth at home before returning to the office. Yesterday, after only a few days back at the office, she asked her manager if she could take more time off, begging for at least a week. The manager in question brought this up with me, and I told him to deny Mary her request. The reason is because while my wife’s duties could be taken up by others, Mary’s team was borderline understaffed and her customer service position required her to be there at work. One person leaving is tough on the rest.”
“When I went to personally tell Mary this, she looked very upset. She angrily said that my wife has been gone for a year and that the nurse she sees blames the stress and body pains caused by coming back so early for her struggles in breastfeeding. I apologized but reiterated that it was a busy season for the customer service team and that perhaps we could discuss her getting more time off down the line.”
“When I told my sister about this encounter, she said I was being the a**hole for giving my wife special treatment. AITA for denying Mary’s request after having just allowed my wife an extra two weeks?”
The Responses
Reddit’s community unanimously told this guy off for not caring for his other employees – he received a lot of backlash on his post. For context, YTA means “You’re the A**hole.” Here are some of the top comments:
jakeofheart commented:
“YTA”
“And since you are understaffed, a good corporate move would be to learn from the ordeals of your wife and implement new family-friendly and pregnancy-friendly policies to make your company a more attractive employer.”
eternallnewbie wrote:
“YTA, good god, give Mary a freaking extra week off. Your wife gets 52 weeks+ for maternity leave but you won’t give Mary 6 weeks?” You are basically the reason we all say rich people suck.”
“‘good for me, but not for thee'”
CakeEatingRabbit said:
“YTA”
“She was pregnant for 9 month… someone could’ve hired. Someone could’ve been trained.”
“Yes, you favor you wife by miles and thats kind of to be expected but to denie someone IN PAIN one god damn week off…”
“I always wonder if there are kids who want to grow into the disney villain….”
This post has over 5000 comments at the time of writing this article, you can read them on Reddit here.
Our Take
Most definitely YTA. We understand that he loves his wife, but he should also be a good boss and take care of his employees.
What’s Your Take?
What’s your take on this man’s story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Reddit
Definitely YTA! The wife gets extra time off for an elective tummy tuck while another employee needs one extra week over a baby’s birth! Nepotism much? Sure the wife is an exec and the other doesn’t qualify for FMLA but kindness goes a long way! Ever hear the phrase that good employees give good customer service?!?