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Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by onion2k on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:02AM (#11201573)
All those points are irrelevant though - they're not part of the story here. The author isn't asking for a pay rise to make up the difference in what she earns compared to what she pays out, or for help looking after her child. She's not looking for any special treatment. All of those things are a distraction from the real point of the post: She wants an employer who's compassionate enough not to fire her for being human. That isn't an unreasonable demand.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by jonesb6 on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:21AM (#11201657)
If we made a list of every large company that violated a reasonable code of human morality.. the wheel was spun and today's public outrage is at Yelp. This stuff happens all the time. Sure we get outraged at the random story we come across every now and then, but largely we are numb to it.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by onion2k on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:37AM (#11201703)
I'm British and living in the UK, so under law I can't be fired for taking time off for an emergency with any of my dependents, and I'm entitled to "parental leave" for things like appointments[1]. This is the absolute minimum I would expect a country to afford its citizens.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by Ntrails on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @05:30AM (#11201887)
But how a company handles it's legal obligations is also interesting. When my father died the company that employed me at the time said, essentially, "Go away and come back when you feel ready". This despite the fact that the only other member of my direct team was the other side of the world and there was no one with domain expertise was available so it would have been infuriating for them to cover support. There was certainly no mention of statutory pay or anything.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by ap3 on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:37AM (#11203266)
We shouldn't need a law for this. From the facts presented in the article seems like a case where an employer can "do the right thing".

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by morty16 on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:51AM (#11203413)
"do the right thing" for a corp. is to maximize profits, full stop.

Labour laws exist to keep unfettered capitalism in check.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by zamalek on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:18AM (#11201647)
There are enough "studies" (Buffer, Gabe N, ROWE etc.) that demonstrably prove that treating humans like humans, and not like machines, measurably increases performance over longer time-frames - instead of eking out unproductive work over the paltry 3 days while she worries about her boyfriend.

> 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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by gaur on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @03:54AM (#11201534)
Firing someone for taking three days off to handle a family emergency is not reasonable. Your opinion of whether the emergency was caused by risky behavior is irrelevant.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by tanv_nadkarni on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @03:59AM (#11201561)
That is what she claims. It is her side and we don't know what is Yelp's side of the story.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by marklyon on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @06:29PM (#11207001)
Good point. She seemed to have a lot of things happen that required her to be late, take time off, etc. Her manager may have been frustrated by the constant issues and didn't fully believe her reason now. Sad as it is, I've had more than one employee lie about illnesses, deaths, childcare situations and the like for numerous reasons, including to work elsewhere on short-term projects.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by jonesb6 on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:06AM (#11201591)
Fantastic point that shouldn't be lost in the narrative.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by diskcat on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:18AM (#11201646)
Firing somebody for not working is clearly sensible. Your opinion of whether Yelp's action is reasonable is irrelevant.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by Intermernet on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @08:34AM (#11202438)
To completely ignore the tone of your post, and reply to the topic at hand, it isn't "clearly sensible". Even if your only motives are driven by profits, it takes a lot of money to retrain a replacement. Add to that the motivational benefits of providing an employee with support during a time of need, which will statistically provide greater productivity in the future, and it's usually better in the long term for a company to support employees in need.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by onion2k on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:00PM (#11206011)
It's really not, because all your other staff will immediately consider leaving, and some actually will. You'll then face the cost of hiring and training replacements, which is very likely much higher than giving the original staff member three days off., not to mention the potential fallout from the negative publicity it might entail (like this thread).

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by norea-armozel on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @09:09AM (#11202637)
Real talk, I've worked for some horrible employers back home in Wichita, but -never- has any fired me for taking time off due to an emergency. If anything, they said, "go and take care of it." And that was that. I don't know what part of the world you come from but even in Kansas (a very socially and economically conservative state) we don't haggle people over three days off for an emergency. We suck it up and deal with it.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by PaulRobinson on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @03:57AM (#11201554)
Attitudes like this are why trade unions fought for employment laws.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by tanv_nadkarni on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:02AM (#11201574)
It is not the case that people at Yelp find it great joy in firing people. When a person did not turn up for work for three days some HR manager gleefully typed out a termination later and hifived all his co-workers. I don't think that is the case. Hiring someone costs money and so does termination.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by ktRolster on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:14AM (#11201630)

  > It is possible that she has a long history of staying absent from work.
She did. She'd only been working there from December, used up all her sick-days while still in training, and missed even more days in the following months. One time she missed work because she couldn't find her car keys. It sounds like her manager got fed up and that was the end of it.

Being a single parent is hard.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by sgift on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:55AM (#11201770)
"used up all her sick days" ... the whole idea that sick days are something you can run out of is so .. wrong.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by raverbashing on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @05:14AM (#11201827)
Well, to be honest some countries don't have unjustified sick days, you can take unlimited ones, but with a doctor's note, otherwise it's taken out of your pay
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by Overtonwindow on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @06:33AM (#11202032)
I think a key difference here is paid sick leave versus unpaid sick leave. I think companies should allow more unpaid sick leave, but if we allow unlimited paid sick leave, no one would ever go to work.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by bonzini on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @07:31AM (#11202176)
It's almost like that through all of Europe (possibly with a limit like 8 months in the last 12). You need a doctor's note however.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by talsit on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @10:37AM (#11210554)
Yeah, Japan doesn't have sick days at all, they are called, literally, holidays!
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by rootlocus on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @05:11AM (#11201810)

  > One time she missed work because she couldn't find her car keys.
You mean she was late because her 3 yr old child hid her keys in the hopes of spending more time with his mother. Completely unacceptable indeed.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by ktRolster on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @05:34AM (#11201900)

  >Completely unacceptable indeed.
	
It's the kind of thing.....if it happens once, it's no big deal. If little things keep happening like that throughout the month, then there's probably something you need to fix.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by michaelmrose on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:04AM (#11201584)
Taking the 3 days off to care for the bf regardless of whether his injury was his fault or half a day to care for a sick kid are not unreasonable requests.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by WalterSear on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @12:11PM (#11204164)
Apparently, she had a history of absences.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by anexprogrammer on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:53AM (#11201764)
So by your logic it would be OK to fire her because her partner was doing some risky outdoor activity?

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"?

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by raverbashing on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:05AM (#11201585)
You're right

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by diskcat on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:20AM (#11201654)
We all got problems.

Why should Yelp be responsible for her problems?

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by raverbashing on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:55AM (#11201772)
Is she asking them to pay for the ICU?

It's a sales position, not a firefighting one

Besides I bet they also work overtime without being payed

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by tanv_nadkarni on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @03:58AM (#11201556)
Exactly my thoughts.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by onion2k on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:13AM (#11201628)
Single mother is a choice of an independent woman and if she cant afford it she should probably not make it.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by tanv_nadkarni on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:10PM (#11207873)
She is demanding special treatment for being single mother which in my opinion should not be accorded to her no matter why she is single. She could marry someone for all I care if being single is a handicap for her.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by prostoalex on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:41AM (#11201721)
> Society does not owe any special treatment to a single mom, not more than any other mom.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by ryandrake on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @11:53AM (#11203982)
I was going to reply do your #2 and ask why doesn't her kid just take the school bus like everyone else, but did a quick search and learned today that California does not require schools to provide busses! WTF is up with that? We force parents to send their kids to school, but don't provide a way to get them to school, and punish the kid with detention when they're late or don't come? Now THAT is messed up.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by prostoalex on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @12:07PM (#11204133)
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by negrit on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:20AM (#11201652)
This is ridiculous.

  Society does not owe any special treatment to a single mom, not more than any other mom
That's not true, in the US provides aid packages and grants to single mothers.

  Single mother is a choice of an independent woman and if she cant afford it she should probably not make it.
Do you think all single mother chose to me single? Don't you think her previous boyfriend/husband could have dumped her/died/...?

  Instead of being thankful for an employer to have given an opportunity in first place she is ranting against her employer.
May be because said employer is terrible and it's worth sharing so other people would not make the same errors?

  I wont hire such a person.
No worries, she probably has no intention to work for you.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by tanv_nadkarni on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:12PM (#11207879)
Learning by Analogy:

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by negrit on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @05:35AM (#11209134)

  But hey US uses drones to kill little kids in Pakistan and doctors in Afghanistan.
Off-Topic. And taking countries where husbands can throw acid at there wife without legal repercussion is a terrible example.

  Few people through power of majority forcing everyone to pay up for single mothers is government.
It's called solidarity. You might have never heard of it in your cave
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by crdoconnor on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:18AM (#11201648)
>Society does not owe any special treatment to a single mom

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by anexprogrammer on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:49AM (#11201744)
As an outsider it has to be said the US seems to do comparatively poorly on that measure.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by mryan on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:14AM (#11201632)
I agree with your point that writing this post could be a red flag for future employers, however:

> 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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by tanv_nadkarni on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @10:13PM (#11207881)
As I said, I am talking relative to any other mom. We all know women with a kid needs support. I don't like tom toming the single mother status.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by anexprogrammer on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:47AM (#11201741)
> I wont hire such a person.

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

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by michaelmrose on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @04:03AM (#11201577)
Employers are people to we expect them to behave both ethically and humanely. Society doesn't owe you much but we can afford to give a little extra consideration to those who might be in need of it. You company wont go bankrupt or fall apart because of it.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by anu_gupta on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @05:15AM (#11201830)
> . I wont hire such a person.

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.

Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by norea-armozel on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @09:15AM (#11202666)
Just remind me to -never- look to whatever firms you work at for a job. Because if they tolerate someone like you they gotta be more robotic than Rubio.
Re:Yelp Fired a Single Mother Today: Me by wercab on Tuesday March 01, 2016 @05:43AM (#11201920)
I prey that in your hour of need, that the person able to help does not think like you.