Pregnant + suspended for fainting!

lifesizedoll

Hi thanks yes just looked through some of them links, and it says that they cannot dismiss me for a reason related to my pregnancy. I know some people think her parents are in the right and I agree they might be worried, but they could have handled this situation a lot better seeing as they are my employer. I have always gone out of my way for them and have a brilliant relationship with their daughter and I am sad that they do not want me to work with her, and I am even more distressed about money as I will have no job and I am going to find it very difficult to find another one whilst being pregnant, and I need the money more than ever now that I will have to support a child. I never thought I would be in this situation as I have always done my best at my job.

Savvy_Sue

mikey72 wrote: »

This is a no win situtation for everyone.
The op, either loses her job or the hours.
The parents, either they have to pay her and the risk to their daughter is increased, they pay her while suspended, and then the daughter cannot go out.
The daughter, she either stays in, or faces being out with a carer who may faint, or be taken to hospital.

Or, they agree that as long as standing around in hot places is avoided, the risk is acceptable. And that needs to take into account the needs of the daughter and the kinds of places they go. If the daughter's a danger to herself and others if not actively supervised at all times, then the risk is obviously greater. If they tend to go to places where there are other people around and where the daughter's needs are already known, the risk is less.

But I can see it takes a calm head to recognise that, and my knee jerk reaction might very well be similar to the parents'...

shellsuit

So there are no pregnant teachers?

No pregnant care workers?

No pregnant nurses?

No pregnant Doctors?

I could go on, just think about it!

Do they all get suspended because of the 'fainting' problem they may pose on their children/patients?

mikey72

shellsuit wrote: »

So there are no pregnant teachers?

No pregnant care workers?

No pregnant nurses?

No pregnant Doctors?

I could go on, just think about it!

Do they all get suspended because of the 'fainting' problem they may pose on their children/patients?

I'm sure there any many.

I'm sure "fainting" workers are suspended for fainting though, the cause of it wouldn't really matter.
Lone worker is as big an issue here as well, especially as it was the op who brought up her employers negligence over risk assessment.
(Actually, thinking about it, I would rather have an operation performed by a surgeon that didn't faint, rather than one that did)

zzzLazyDaisy

Some comments - apologies for the brevity, as I am on my way out....

1 they can suspend you on full pay while a risk assessment is carried out
2 the risk assessment is to assess risk to the pregnant worker not to her clients/colleagues/employer/customers/anyone else
3 if you are found to be unfit to work for health reasons relating to pregnancy then there are provisions for taking maternity leave early, but that does not appear to be the case here
4 they cannot terminate your contract, reduce your hours, or force you to take annual leave, because of this incident, as that would be unfavourable treatment for a reason relating to pregnancy, and that is unlawful sex discrimination
5 If they do dismiss you or otherwise discriminate against you, you will have a claim to an Employment Tribunal, but that is a last resort, obviously it is far better to try to resolve this amicably
5 you might get a more focussed response from the Equality Commission http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ they advise on all areas of discrimination, including sex discrimination in employment

Congratulations on your pregnancy, please try not to get stressed, its not good for the baby (easy to say I know)

Hope this helps

jdturk

shellsuit wrote: »

So there are no pregnant teachers?

No pregnant care workers?

No pregnant nurses?

No pregnant Doctors?

I could go on, just think about it!

Do they all get suspended because of the 'fainting' problem they may pose on their children/patients?

I think you're over reacting, as parents they are worried that if the OP faints again their daughter could be at risk. The OP has fainted so already is showing a possible history of this and thus the parents need to take all neccersary precautions which is why it is acceptable to suspend the OP on full pay until a risk assesment is done.

As for your groups below none of them have prolonged 1 on 1 care except maybe the care worker.

mikey72

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Or, they agree that as long as standing around in hot places is avoided, the risk is acceptable. And that needs to take into account the needs of the daughter and the kinds of places they go. If the daughter's a danger to herself and others if not actively supervised at all times, then the risk is obviously greater. If they tend to go to places where there are other people around and where the daughter's needs are already known, the risk is less.

But I can see it takes a calm head to recognise that, and my knee jerk reaction might very well be similar to the parents'...

No, you cannot mitigate risk by passing it to other people, and you're not qualified to diagnose why the op fainted.
Your proposed quick fix won't be any use to either party.

mumslave

Can I just say, whether the parents have a right to be worried about their daughter or not, there was absolutely no need for them to be RUDE to the op as she states and treat her like a criminal. Its not like she fainted on purpose.

Moving on...a risk assessment should certainly be done and I believe it will be the councils responsibility to find you suitable work elsewhere if they deem you cant continue in your current job. The suspension on full pay is a good thing just whilst they assess this. Hang on in there, they cant just get rid of you.

mikey72

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Some comments - apologies for the brevity, as I am on my way out....

1 they can suspend you on full pay while a risk assessment is carried out
2 the risk assessment is to assess risk to the pregnant worker not to her clients/colleagues/employer/customers/anyone else
3 if you are found to be unfit to work for health reasons relating to pregnancy then there are provisions for taking maternity leave early, but that does not appear to be the case here
4 they cannot terminate your contract, reduce your hours, or force you to take annual leave, because of this incident, as that would be unfavourable treatment for a reason relating to pregnancy, and that is unlawful sex discrimination
5 If they do dismiss you or otherwise discriminate against you, you will have a claim to an Employment Tribunal, but that is a last resort, obviously it is far better to try to resolve this amicably
5 you might get a more focussed response from the Equality Commission http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ they advise on all areas of discrimination, including sex discrimination in employment

Congratulations on your pregnancy, please try not to get stressed, its not good for the baby (easy to say I know)

Hope this helps

This is a very unique case, where a lone worker, who is responsible for direct 1 to 1 care of a woman with learning disabilities, with an unknown contract for an unknown length of time with an unknown party, who may be the council, or the women's mother.
I'd only agree with 1) and 4) above based on that.
The op, the council, and the family need to sit round and sort it out, or all need legal advice.

adouglasmhor

mikey72 wrote: »

She's not an "it" either.

Fair enough. It was correct as far as it went though and was not meant to be rude or denigrating.

You still failed at reading the 1st post though. Feeling a little hurt now are we? Awwww.