My boss sent a “gentle reminder” about attendance to the whole team. Three of us are on protected leave. She knows this
I (32F) work at a small insurance firm. Team of 8. I‘ve been here 4 years. My boss has never been warm, but she’s always been technically “professional.” Until now.
I had surgery 11 days ago. Planned, documented, approved by her in January. She said “take all the time you need.” I‘m still recovering. I can’t drive yet.
This morning at 7:42am she sent a team-wide email. Subject: “Attendance patterns.” Body: “I’ve noticed some team members are taking more unplanned time off than usual. Just a gentle reminder that we all need to be mindful of our commitments. Please keep me updated on your return dates.”
I have been on approved medical leave for 11 days. Approved. By her.
I checked the team chat. Three other people got the same email. One is on bereavement leave. One has a child in the hospital. One just had a baby two weeks ago. None of us are “unplanned.” All of us followed protocol.
She sent this to everyone. As a “reminder.”
I have the screenshots. The email. Her January approval. The chat messages from the others. I haven‘t replied. I don’t know if I should.
Part of me wants to forward everything to HR with the subject line “attendance patterns.” Another part wants to forward it to her boss. A third part wants to reply-all so everyone knows this wasn‘t just them.
I’m supposed to return Monday. I don‘t know how to walk in there and pretend this didn’t happen.
What do I actually do here?