Starting a new job and Pregnancy - Advice Needed

lorne57

If I were an employee of that company who would work with you in future, I'd hold a dim view of the new member of the team who almost immediately leaves and gives me more work.

We are an office of 7 ladies, 2 working full time the rest of us work part time, some work a couple of days some work every day for a few hours, our job involves intensive on-the-job training which is never ending as things are always changing, anyone new has their work re-checked for a period of time once they are left to do it on their own.
A few years ago a new lady was taken on to work 2 days, she had no children at the time. Within a matter of months she found out she was pregnant, it was then discovered she had been trying for many years without success. We were very happy for her (we all have children of varying ages) and she went on to have her much longed for son.
But....it has caused us huge problems and still does. She had a lot of time off during pregnancy as unfortunately she was also diabetic and complications arose, she then took off her full maternity entitlement, we had a temp to cover 1 of her days but the other day’s work had to be absorbed by the rest of us and by the time she came back to work everything she had already learnt had changed in some way so they had to start the training all over again. It’s now almost 2 years since she came back and some of her work still has to be checked and other work she has still not managed to gain an insight into.
It has caused ill feeling in the office.

samandona

Lorne - I appreciate what you are saying. If this job was working in a small team where other people would be heavily reliant on me I think I would feel differently. That is, about the job and also about my own health. I would not want the added pressure of being responsible for the workload of my colleagues in such a small office. However, this is not applicable for the job I am refering to.

Iaman - I have been healthy through out the first 18 weeks. I can only assume that my pregnancy will be normal and not have complications. If this is not the case I will deal with it when it happens. You are not telling me anything I don't know about starting work now. However, can you give any suggestions as to what you would have me do? As I have previously said, my only other option is to claim benefits, both now and after my baby is born. This is not something I would willingly do, as is demonstrated by the fact I am TRYING to work now.
You're point about easily replacing me is a valid one, however, once they start the employment they can only sack me if I am not doing the job correctly, or if they don't want to continue my employment after my probrationary period. They can not sack me because I am pregnant. I can only ensure I do the work to the best of my ability. As someone else has said, employment laws are in my favour.

iamana1ias

samandona wrote: »

Iaman - I have been healthy through out the first 18 weeks. I can only assume that my pregnancy will be normal and not have complications. If this is not the case I will deal with it when it happens. You are not telling me anything I don't know about starting work now. However, can you give any suggestions as to what you would have me do? As I have previously said, my only other option is to claim benefits, both now and after my baby is born. This is not something I would willingly do, as is demonstrated by the fact I am TRYING to work now.
You're point about easily replacing me is a valid one, however, once they start the employment they can only sack me if I am not doing the job correctly, or if they don't want to continue my employment after my probrationary period. They can not sack me because I am pregnant. I can only ensure I do the work to the best of my ability. As someone else has said, employment laws are in my favour.

Okay, let's ignore the way your story keeps changing and look at the facts.

Your pregnancy is your issue and there is nothing about it that benefits your new employer.

Your employer does not need a reason to end your employment during the first 12 months. End of. Unless they told you it was due to your pregnancy you'd have no argument or legal leg to stand on. Even if they ended your contract the day after you inform them of your pregnancy, that isn't proof that that's why they got rid of you, legally speaking.

So don't make the mistake of thinking anything is in your favour, or that you have rights.

Your 20 week scan could show anything, and could alter your situation drastically.

You could develop all manner of conditions in the 2nd half of pregnancy that require additional care or hospitalisation. There are daily changes in pregnancy, you cannot predict what will happen to you.

By all means take the job. I'm just pointing out that there's no guarantee you'll get to take maternity leave or to return afterwards. The company may take a dim view of your decision to wait to inform them (albeit within your rights). Maybe you should think of it as a temporary thing, and anything more is a bonus.