Possible chance of Promotion, Pregnant but they don't know yet

DCFC79

OP tell them your pregnant and then they will make a decision about the promotion, its not fair to accept the promotion without telling them your pregnant, im sure you could do the job perfectly why but when you cant work anymore as your pegnant the company would then have to find someone else to fill the position

pinkshoes

surreysaver wrote: »

Morals have nothing to do with it. And what is wrong with witholding information to gain a higher salary? It is a perfectly legal thing to do. Companies do things morally wrong, but legal, to their employees all the time,

Morals have everything to do with it, and not all companies treat their employees like cr*p!!

If you can't treat the company you work for with respect, then it isn't the job for you. If they can't treat their staff with respect, then their staff will (or at least should) walk...

Perhaps you should stop seeing a job as a means to live for the weekend, and rather more like a lifestyle choice!! If you have to spend 40+ hours a week at work, you might as well work somewhere you like, for people who respect/appreciate you, and hopefully do something you enjoy!

Respect is a two way thing.

KME91

I find this all very bizzarre. The op is well within her rights to conceal her pregnancy until the statutory minimum time for notification. The question of moral v legal is an interesting one. if employers always did what was morally right then we wouldn't need employment law or trade unions or acas.

And frankly the idea that she shouldn't get the promotion because she's pregnant is to me morally wrong. if she's the best person for the job she should get the job. regardless of whether she will need to enact her legal right to take maternity leave at some point in the near future.

Put it this way, if the op went for the promotion, won it, and then found out she was pregnant would you expect her to step down from the role she won fair and square, take a paycut and go back to her old job? would that be fair?

bigheadxx

-BA- wrote: »

This is an extremely refreshing post to read. I have to say that some of the posts have disheartened me somewhat. From whatever angle you look at it, it represents a significant change in circumstances for both you and the company. Using the semantics of it being right or wrong on the part of the employer is a very one sided view. How about looking at the morals from your standpoint? I was horrified to see one poster comment on witholding the information simply to gain a higher salary and extra training.

Now don't get me wrong I fully approve of maternity leave and people should never be diswayed from wanting to start a family but this is promotion we are talking about where you will have responsibility for a team of staff who will look to you for support. Let someone who can take on the job and do it fully, fill the role and have some respect for your colleagues and possibly future subordinates.

This is part of my point. There is a moral duty here because your action or inaction will influence future events and other people. I believe strongly in maternity pay and leave but it is jeopardised by people who misuse the system for their own ends.

surreysaver

bigheadxx wrote: »

This is part of my point. There is a moral duty here

See - you're learning! A moral duty, maybe. But not a legal one!

But then, morals are down to individuals and how the employer treats them. If the OP believes that telling her employer may mean she doesn't get the job, then obviously her employer doesn't have any morals themselves!

bigheadxx

surreysaver wrote: »

See - you're learning! A moral duty, maybe. But a legal one!

But then, morals are down to individuals and how the employer treats them. If the OP believes that telling her employer may mean she doesn't get the job, then obviously her employer doesn't have any morals themselves!

If you read the information on the link to direct.gov.uk you will see that whilst it does indeed say that you should tell your employer by the 15th week before you are due you should inform your employer sooner for health and safety reasons and so that a risk assessment of your workplace can be carried out.

What happens if you have a fall and have to tell your boss their and then "I'm pregnant"?

surreysaver

bigheadxx wrote: »

This is part of my point. There is a moral duty here because your action or inaction will influence future events and other people. I believe strongly in maternity pay and leave but it is jeopardised by people who misuse the system for their own ends.

How is this misusing the system? The law allows women to do this - if the Government did not want them to, there would be a clause in legislation preventing them from doing it! Look at it this way - employers who offer more than the statutory minimum maternity pay attach conditions to it - like you have to come back and work for them for a minimum amount of time afterwards. There is no clause such as this in the legislation, so it is perfectly legal to do.

surreysaver

bigheadxx wrote: »

If you read the information on the link to direct.gov.uk you will see that whilst it does indeed say that you should tell your employer by the 15th week before you are due you should inform your employer sooner for health and safety reasons and so that a risk assessment of your workplace can be carried out.

What happens if you have a fall and have to tell your boss their and then "I'm pregnant"?

Read the legislation - that is where the facts are. You do not have to tell your employer at all. Even by the 15th week before you're due you do not have to tell them, if you don't mind forfeiting your right to leave and pay!

Yes, by all means tell them earlier so that a risk assessment can be carried out, but you are under no obligation to. It is up to the woman.

And if you do have a fall, and you haven't told your employer you're pregnant, then they will not be held liable. They cannot be accused of pregnancy discrimination if they do not know you are pregnant. But that is a risk you take by not telling them. You will have to carry out your own risk assessment into not having a risk assessment! But again, that is the woman's choice.

Calvinandhobbs

-BA- wrote: »

I was horrified to see one poster comment on witholding the information simply to gain a higher salary and extra training.

.

That was me

1) Annual pay increase, my pregnancy shouldn't affect it eitherway, but let's be realistic it potentially will

2) Extra training has to be written into budget to be approved for 2010, by which time I will be back at work

Maybe you should remember that you don't always know the full situation, is the view a bit blurry from your mount of self-righteousness?

barnaby-bear

KME91 wrote: »

From the direct.gov website:

You must tell your employer that you're pregnant at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby's due. If this isn’t possible, for example because you didn’t realise you were pregnant, you must tell your employer as soon as possible. You should also tell them when you want to start your maternity leave and receive Statutory Maternity Pay.
However, it's a good idea to tell your employer earlier, because it will let them plan around your maternity leave and carry out their legal obligations to you. This is particularly important if there are any health and safety issues. You cannot take paid time off for ante-natal appointments until you have told your employer you are pregnant.

If you can meet all these criteria and delay notifying your employer until after you're confirmed as getting the promotion then that seems to me to be the sensible approach.

15 weeks before it's due.... so that's like 25/26 weeks - even the doziest of us are probably going to notice the six and half month pregnant lady......