Made redundant when pregnant????

chazzybee

Hello,

I am currently 14 weeks pregnant and work for the NHS. I haven't told my manager I am pregnant yet.

For just over a year now I have been training towards obtaining a higher banded job, I have passed my exams and am waiting for certification to register. Currently the trust I work for are not employing staff who don't already work for the trust. I still have to be interviewed for the post.

my problem is that when I get 'promoted' my current job role will not be filled by anyone else, i'm scared to tell my boss in case he can make me redundant, i'm so confused and I really do want to come clean sooner rather then later but I don't want to lose my job! Any help or advice would be much appreciated! thank you!

pmlindyloo

chazzybee wrote: »

Hello,

I am currently 14 weeks pregnant and work for the NHS. I haven't told my manager I am pregnant yet.

For just over a year now I have been training towards obtaining a higher banded job, I have passed my exams and am waiting for certification to register. Currently the trust I work for are not employing staff who don't already work for the trust. I still have to be interviewed for the post.

my problem is that when I get 'promoted' my current job role will not be filled by anyone else, i'm scared to tell my boss in case he can make me redundant, i'm so confused and I really do want to come clean sooner rather then later but I don't want to lose my job! Any help or advice would be much appreciated! thank you!

Sorry, am a little confused!

Is this new job in the same department but just at a higher band? (same boss?) Are you guaranteed this job?

Why do you think your current boss will make your job redundant if you tell him you are pregnant?

Also, for how long have you worked at your present job?

If you clarify some of the information we will try to help.:)

ps You may want to post this on the Redundancy board.

pinkshoes

Surely the redundancy wouldn't be linked to your pregnancy?? I'm confused!

Kittendreich

You can't get made redundant because you are pregnant (although can be made redundant when pregnant if it would have happened anyway). They also can't use you being pregnant as a reason not to give you the promoted post if you are the best candidate.

However, that is the legal situation, not what can happen in some circumstances. The public sector (i.e. NHS) is probably a better bet than the private sector as they have to be seen to follow the law (a private company can chose to break the law as long as they pay up in court).

Are you in a union? You could talk to a union rep in confidence to find out about your Trust maternity rules etc.

Well done on getting qualified and good luck with the pregnancy. Lots going on!

Plans_all_plans

If they are making a lot of redundancies in your Trust and if you are not 100% sure you're going to get the higher banded post, then I would stay quiet about it until you know whether you've got the new job or not. I didn't tell my old boss about my pregnancy until I was 5 months gone, as I'd started in the job after I fell pregnant.

bagginslover

You do need to remember though-if you don't tell your employer that you are pregnant, you are not insured if something should happen that endangers you or the baby that would have been addressed in advance had they been informed. The H+S of you and your child should be paramount, and your employer cannot protect you if they don't know about it.

mountainofdebt

I think what the OP is getting at is that if she tells her employer now that she is pregnant then she won't get her promotion and that she will be made redundant as her current role will disappear.

However from the post I get the impression that the interview is a mere formality and a ticking the box exercise so I can't see why she doesn't say something now.I would add that perhaps its just a case of her job not being filled when she is promoted and the work shared out between other members of staff

chazzybee

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, mountainofdebt has got the right idea, sorry if I was vague.

The new job is a higher band with the same boss, I don't think he will make me redundant, he seems nice enough I just wanted to know if I'm protected really.

It's very difficult, I don't have to tell work for another 11 weeks but I want to say something sooner. The job I want has no threat of redundancy.

I think I'm going to tell him, he needs to know and its getting to the point where I am going to need time off for appointments.

Thank you for all your help! X

Sambucus_Nigra

Kittendreich wrote: »

You can't get made redundant because you are pregnant (although can be made redundant when pregnant if it would have happened anyway). They also can't use you being pregnant as a reason not to give you the promoted post if you are the best candidate.

Sorry. But yes you can get made redundant because you are pregnant, or not promoted because you are pregnant. You can be made redundant or not promoted for any reason...if the employer covers their tracks and gives good reason for the redundancy or lack of promotion then it would be up to the employee to prove that they were acting this way.

It's like saying 'you can't speed as the speed limit is 30'; er, yes you can - if you don't get caught.

Kittendreich

My first point (that you quoted) was about the legal position - my second point was about what happens in reality (which was your point). There are lots of dodgy employers out there who pay no attention to the law & don't want an expensive maternity leave to deal with - however, the NHS has national terms & conditions that although ignored in some cases gives the OP better protection than if she worked elsewhere...

Sambucus_Nigra

Kittendreich wrote: »

My first point (that you quoted) was about the legal position - my second point was about what happens in reality (which was your point). There are lots of dodgy employers out there who pay no attention to the law & don't want an expensive maternity leave to deal with - however, the NHS has national terms & conditions that although ignored in some cases gives the OP better protection than if she worked elsewhere...

How can they be ignored in some cases and then give better protection?

I think what you are trying to say is that you shouldn't be made redundant or lose promotion if you are pregnant; not that you can't. It may be the 'legal' position but a sly manager will make sure that the paperwork will show that it's not a pregnancy that has caused them to make that decision but a business need.

It is not fair to tell someone that something can't happen, when evidently it can.