Returning to work after maternity leave is already a big adjustment, but one Malaysian mother found herself caught up in office politics shortly after coming back.
The woman shared how a colleague allegedly felt exhausted after taking over her responsibilities during maternity leave without receiving additional pay, an incident that eventually contributed to years of workplace distrust.
Colleague allegedly unhappy about extra workload
According to the woman, everything started in 2019 when she unexpectedly went on maternity leave after giving birth prematurely.
A relatively new colleague, whom she referred to as Y, was assigned to take over her work.
However, upon returning, a senior colleague told her that Y had been exhausted from handling the additional responsibilities without extra pay.
Although she did not hear this directly from Y, the information left her feeling uncomfortable towards her colleague.
Things became worse when another colleague, S, joined the company.
The woman claimed she personally overheard S making disrespectful remarks about her to a subordinate, which upset her enough to leave the company.
However, she eventually returned after her husband persuaded her.
Realised she had been caught up in office gossip
The woman later heard from others that S had allegedly tried to take over clients who were not originally under her care to boost her sales performance.
This made her even more cautious around S.
However, she recently discovered that the very colleagues who had been sharing these stories were actually on good terms with both Y and S.
“Turns out, I was the clown all along,” she wrote, expressing her frustration at how easily she had been influenced by workplace gossip.
She admitted that she could no longer tell who was genuinely trustworthy.
Wants to resign but needs to pick up her children by 5pm
Despite wanting to leave the workplace, the mother said she has limited options.
She needs a job that allows her to finish by 5pm so she can pick up her children and take them to tuition classes.
Unfortunately, she has struggled to find a suitable job near her home with similar working hours.
For now, she has decided to keep her distance from colleagues she considers toxic and stop involving herself in office politics.
Instead of trying to repair strained relationships, she would rather focus on completing her work and spending quality time with her family.
With her birthday approaching in July, the woman shared an unusual wish for her boss.
She hoped the company would stop organising team-building activities, admitting that she felt uncomfortable attending them.
She recalled how she once believed that celebrating colleagues’ birthdays together with cake and candles was something heartwarming.
But after everything she had experienced, she no longer felt the same way.
“I was too naive,” she concluded.
For now, her priority is simple: Do her job, clock out on time and enjoy a peaceful life with her family.
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