pregnant with a month left on my probation

xcat_girlx

just found out im pregnant and im terrified of telling work. i have a month left on my probabtion and i think if they know they'll make up an excuse about my performance to sack me.

now this may seem a bit dramatic, but they are currently disciplining a guy for his performance so they can get rid of him to save money without making him redundant.

does anyone know where i stand with this?

irishjohn

You want to stay with a company with such ethics?

fengirl_2

Probationary periods have no basis in UK employment law - you can be dismissed for any reason (apart from discrimination) up to 12 mths into your job. Your mention of the probationary period is therefore a red herring. If you are dismissed, you may have a case under sex discrimination or pregnancy.

duchy

Don't tell them until your probation is up.
Many people don't mention it for several months for a variety of reasons. You have no obligation to tell them at this point.
I lost my job when I was pregnant-all my bosses were gay and very child unfriendly so I wasn't going to tell them for a while but one of my collegues saw a baby book in my bag and told them <rolls eyes>
With hindsight I'd have won at tribunial but at the time I didn't go ahead as I didn't need the stress so my advice would be wait out the month but don't tell anyone at work until then.

honeypop

Woah there, hold off on telling them this early, you are only just pregnant so at least wait a bit until you tell them. There is no legal need to tell them until around 5 months gone anyway, so to tell them this early and risk losing your job would be foolish.

xcat_girlx

i honestly think they'd dismiss me straight away siting a reason other than pregnancy. i.e. the economy/loss of profit. would they be able to get away with this considering everyone would know why they'd done it?

xcat_girlx

honeypop wrote: »

Woah there, hold off on telling them this early, you are only just pregnant so at least wait a bit until you tell them. There is no legal need to tell them until around 5 months gone anyway, so to tell them this early and risk losing your job would be foolish.

thats what i thought. my fear is even when i do tell them i'll lose it anyway

honeypop

xcat_girlx wrote: »

my fear is even when i do tell them i'll lose it anyway

So then wait until the 12 week mark when it is traditionally 'safer'.
Better than telling them early then stressing over what happens next and potentially putting your baby at risk with the stress.

By that time you will be well past your probation period and once you tell them it will be much harder for them to get rid of you, even if they do try citing reasons other than the pregnancy, they will have a hard job proving it was anything else - unless there actually is a problem with your work, in which case do your best until the 12 week mark to really do your best in work, so when you tell them the good news everything should be ok.

xcat_girlx

honeypop wrote: »

So then wait until the 12 week mark when it is traditionally 'safer'.
Better than telling them early then stressing over what happens next and potentially putting your baby at risk with the stress.

By that time you will be well past your probation period and once you tell them it will be much harder for them to get rid of you, even if they do try citing reasons other than the pregnancy, they will have a hard job proving it was anything else - unless there actually is a problem with your work, in which case do your best until the 12 week mark to really do your best in work, so when you tell them the good news everything should be ok.

sorry i meant lose my job not the baby. im already finding it hard hiding stuff like not lifting boxes and going out for doctors appointments

honeypop

Ok it's ultimately down to you to decide when to tell them but honestly it would be silly to do it so early and jepordise your job instead of waiting a little longer.

Unless you are having a very difficult/problematic pregnancy, there isn't anything you can't do, lifting is fine this early on as long as you lift correctly, and you should only need need one doctors appointment (booking in with midwife) before the 12 week mark when it would be better to tell your work.

If you feel you have nothing to lose either way then tell them, but bear in mind it will be hard to find another job while pregnant. I am 11 weeks and been made redundant as the company is closing down and seeing as a LOT of people are in the same predicament and looking for work, jobs are scarce and there is a lot of competition. I don't hold out much hope of getting anything for the amount of money I need within the next few months, by which time I will be showing and that will make it even harder to get another job. If I could have had any chance if staying in my current job I would have done what it took, especially keeping quiet about my pregnancy until a probation period had passed. I wouldn't willingly put myself in the position of being unemployed because I told them too early and they thought up reasons to get rid of me via probation, unless you can afford to be out of work in which case it makes no difference really.

Anyway, in answer to your question, where you stand is this: They can get rid of you by the end of your probation by whatever reasons they come up with and lets be honest (going by what they're doing to this other guy) when they know you are pregnant they will do what it takes to see you go. Once probation has been passed, yes they can still let you go within the first year without real reasons but when they know you are pregnant it's a whole lot harder for them and most companies will keep the pregnant ladies for fear of going about it in the wrong way and getting in trouble. If there is a real need to make your position redundant then it makes no difference if you are pregnant or not, but again they would need to go about it in the right way.
Like you say, they may do it anyway and you'd be no better off telling them than not telling them but you wouldn't know I guess.

SpoonyOh

Ah, you've got my sympathy, I was in the same boat last year. I opted to tell my bosses and got dismissed the same week because my sales figures weren't 'good enough'. I think it's appalling that you only get three months to apply for a discrimination tribunal, who wants to tackle that when they're pregnant? I know I didn't!
I'd say keep quiet until you hit the twelve week stage (at least). They'll have to do a risk assessment if you're in any potential danger.
The only reason I told my bosses was because they were having a shop refitted and there was a lot of dust and exposed brickwork/woodwork. I was worried about asbestos because it was a rather old building.
Try to enjoy your pregnancy rather than worry about your bosses, and congratulations.