You don't need to admire someone to believe that they should be able to take some time off to look after a family member who is ill.

I just think the most valuable thing we can do to prevent these situations is have deeper discussions on the macro level instead of micro-analyzing single cases that have all sorts of bias and obfuscation.

This is how this problem should be dealt with at the macro level. I find it saddening to see the micro-level impact of not having these sorts of laws in place.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants/your-rights

They also let me leave on multiple occasions at short notice in the preceeding years when he was ill.

Their being incredibly generous with compassionate leave allowed me to deal with the personal stuff without worrying about money/job stuff. It also meant that I worked remotely, covered support, and generally made sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible.

These choices make business sense, as well as being the decent thing to do.

Weird thing is HR let her go after the Talia Jayne issue the other day - HR dept should be plugged in to a lot more stuff than just this single employee's situation.

Labour laws exist to keep unfettered capitalism in check.

> Its relation with her is that of business

Her relation to the company is that of employee and not slave.

Henry Ford dreamed up this current work environment where people are treated like machines. There is absolutely and utterly zero science to back up this business methodology. Managing people with fear is nothing more than a morally bankrupt global religion that people unwittingly buy into.

I'm frankly disgusted that anyone would look at this from a purely profit driven viewpoint, especially as this viewpoint is short-sighted and mistaken.

Treat your employees well and they will usually treat you well.

There is no benefit to running your business this way. It's only harmful.

I'm absolutely disgusted by the number of people here saying it's her fault that whilst sat in an ICU she was terminated.

Unless I know the Yelp's side of the story I wouldn't buy her version. It is possible that she failed to inform her superiors properly. It is possible that she has a long history of staying absent from work. It is possible that she was terminated for entirely different reasons and her being in a difficult situation is a pure co-incident.

When terminated people get angry. They say all sort of things.

  > It is possible that she has a long history of staying absent from work.

Being a single parent is hard.

  > One time she missed work because she couldn't find her car keys.

  >Completely unacceptable indeed.
	

Would it still have been OK if he was knocked down just crossing the street? That's also a risk after all.

What about if he had been on a bus involved in an accident?

Thinking of my own career I've had several occasions to call upon compassionate leave - and each time the employers (one a large US firm) handled it in exemplary fashion.

Have you ever heard of a concept called "basic human compassion"?

However they can't complain when people realize they're paying to work there

Oh yeah people get in accidents and get sick, Yelp should hire only perfect human beings I guess

Why should Yelp be responsible for her problems?

It's a sales position, not a firefighting one

Besides I bet they also work overtime without being payed

Also I don't understand the "single mom" part. Society does not owe any special treatment to a single mom, not more than any other mom. Single mother is a choice of an independent woman and if she cant afford it she should probably not make it.

Instead of being thankful for an employer to have given an opportunity in first place she is ranting against her employer, this is going to make it difficult for her to find next job. I wont hire such a person.

The father of her child might have died, or left 10 years after the baby was born, etc. Saying she shouldn't have made this choice is completely idiotic. It's highly unlikely she chose her situation.

I wont hire such a person.

You will, because you have to. Deep down everyone is this person. We will all take time off to look after our families and prioritise things above our jobs if they're important to us. An employer has to understand this, especially when you get to the size of Yelp and you're employing call centre sales staff.

Yes, I know people have problems. The kind of people I dont want is who bitch about it and have sense of entitlement.

Just playing the devil's advocate here:

1) Society also does not provide any particular path for her kid's pre-school, which she must cover out out of pocket, unlike, let's say, creches in France.

2) When her kid grows up, society (in California at least) also doesn't provide any meaningful transportation options to/from school. She will have to handle the driving. Her best hope is to find other parents who'd agree to a carpool, so that at least it's not daily.

3) Most work hours are 8 to 6. Most school hours are conveniently 9 to 3, which means that she ought to explain to the coworkers that she'll be late in the morning as she needs to drop off the kid at school and then pay someone (after-school care) to pick the kid up at 3, or drive herself, if feasible.

4) In some states leaving the kids at home alone would be a reason for neighbors to call Child Protection Services, so there's a need to hire someone to accompany the kid from 3 till 6 until mother gets home.

So while society may not owe a single mother much, it seems to have gone to incredible lengths to complicate their lives and annihilate any possibility of them having a career and any modicum of social mobility.

How do kids in CA expected to get to school if they're not within walking distance and have no public transportation?

  Society does not owe any special treatment to a single mom, not more than any other mom

  Single mother is a choice of an independent woman and if she cant afford it she should probably not make it.

  Instead of being thankful for an employer to have given an opportunity in first place she is ranting against her employer.

  I wont hire such a person.

You seriously need to leave your cave and experience the life in a modern society.

But hey US uses drones to kill little kids in Pakistan and doctors in Afganistan.

Also society is not same as government. People voluntarily doing stuff is society. Few people through power of majority forcing everyone to pay up for single mothers is government.

  But hey US uses drones to kill little kids in Pakistan and doctors in Afghanistan.

  Few people through power of majority forcing everyone to pay up for single mothers is government.

One of the measures of a civilised society is how well it looks after its most vulnerable members.

> Single mother is a choice of an independent woman and if she cant afford it she should probably not make it.

With respect, this is a very naive and simplistic view of the situation which displays a lack of empathy. I doubt many women make the explicit choice to become single mothers. There are many reasons she could have ended up in this situation. Perhaps her husband died, or ran away when he discovered she was pregnant.

You might as well say that being in a car crash is the choice of an independent driver, and if they didn't want to experience pain they should not have chosen to be in a car crash.

Especially when her superior clearly had cut her so much slack in past.

I don't know about the USA, but in many countries that would open you up to a discrimination lawsuit.

I wouldn't hire someone with as little compassion and humanity as you. I feel as if you're projecting your anger for some reason.