Declaration of pregnancy for job application

Lovelyjoolz

It’s not illegal to not mention it. But it’s dishonest. And it doesn’t say much about you as a person does it?

Just because you don’t legally have to, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Really, this attitude is precisely the reason that some employers are reluctant employ pregnant or trying-to-be pregnant woman. Myself included. After being stung like this in the past, I honest think twice about even interviewing woman of child-bearing age. It’s a ridiculous position to be in, but a female CV has to be bloody exceptional for her to even get through the door unless she’s beyond a certain age. It has cost too much money in the past for me not to have second thoughts.

Recruiting costs money. Temps cost even more money. But if the candidate is worth it, if they are a great worker, an excellent fit and fantastic at their job then the extra expense is worth it. But if you’re happy to not reveal something as important as that, just because you don’t have to? Then you are deceitful and dishonest and really not worth the trouble.

No decent employer will reject you for the role if you are the right candidate and you tell them that you’re expecting.

magenta22

Lovelyjoolz wrote: »

It’s not illegal to not mention it. But it’s dishonest. And it doesn’t say much about you as a person does it?

Employers are not always honest though either - mine didn't mention quite a few things in the interview but waited until I joined.

Lovelyjoolz wrote: »

I honest think twice about even interviewing woman of child-bearing age. It’s a ridiculous position to be in, but a female CV has to be bloody exceptional for her to even get through the door unless she’s beyond a certain age. It has cost too much money in the past for me not to have second thoughts.

and that is exactly why I do not put my age on my CV, for one it's not relevant, if I have the skills for the job it doens't matter.

Lovelyjoolz

magenta22 wrote: »

Employers are not always honest though either - mine didn't mention quite a few things in the interview but waited until I joined.

Sorry to hear that. There should be complete honesty on both sides. Otherwise, how can you guarantee the right person finds the right job? Bad employers who aren't honest at interview have only themselves to blame when they're recruiting constantly.

magenta22 wrote: »

and that is exactly why I do not put my age on my CV, for one it's not relevant, if I have the skills for the job it doens't matter.

Age is relatively easy to work out. If the CV doesn't include dates for schools/college/uni you can still get a good feel for age from the experience and career progression.

But you are right. Your skills are the most important thing, which is why I said that decent employers wouldn't be put off by an honest admission of pregnancy if the skill set was right. They'd be rightly !!!!!! off finding out the fact later though, especially if it was clear that the candidate was aware of the fact at interview. In my case, its about once bitten, 47 million times shy.

FunnySaving

I asked this of a recruitment consultant recently and was advised against mentioning it unless it was obvious - not only does the employer want to make a decision which could not be seen as discriminatory (they can't discriminate if they don't know) but also if anything did go wrong with the pregnancy, you might find that the last people you want to have to explain it to are your brand new colleagues who you don't know from Adam.

an9i77

I interview as part of my job and if I interviewed someone who was offered the job and later revealed they were pregnant, the professional / pragmatic part of me would probably think 'damn that puts a bit of a spanner in the works' but the personal part of me would completely understand why they had done it and why they had not taken the risk of revealing it at interview. Most pregnant ladies would not want to lose their entitlement to maternity pay so unless they were going for some fabulous new job opportunity where they are willing to sacrifice that I'd imagine the majority of pregnant ladies at a job interview are there because they have to (ie they're unemployed or being made redunant or finishing a temp contract or whatever), as remember you can't get maternity pay if you join somewhere already pregnant. So what are these unemployed pregnant women supposed to do, sit at home all day scrounging off the state when they are fully capapble of working until late in their pregnancy and then when they come back after mat leave?There was no way I could afford to be unemployed during my pregnancy, not when I had a baby with all the expense that entails and would be off for my maternity leave with little income. So I'd imagine I'm not the only one who has been in that boat. And yes, people should make sure they have thought of that before they get pregnant blah blah blah but life's not that simple.

hawk30

I understand the morality argument, but even on these grounds it cannot be argued that a pregnant woman in the early states should reveal her pregnancy. The reason - 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Once it gets to the 3 months mark and it is fairly safe, then the argument can (possibly) be made. But not before.

smileylondongal

Lovelyjoolz wrote: »

It’s not illegal to not mention it. But it’s dishonest. And it doesn’t say much about you as a person does it?

Just because you don’t legally have to, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Really, this attitude is precisely the reason that some employers are reluctant employ pregnant or trying-to-be pregnant woman. Myself included. After being stung like this in the past, I honest think twice about even interviewing woman of child-bearing age. It’s a ridiculous position to be in, but a female CV has to be bloody exceptional for her to even get through the door unless she’s beyond a certain age. It has cost too much money in the past for me not to have second thoughts.

Recruiting costs money. Temps cost even more money. But if the candidate is worth it, if they are a great worker, an excellent fit and fantastic at their job then the extra expense is worth it. But if you’re happy to not reveal something as important as that, just because you don’t have to? Then you are deceitful and dishonest and really not worth the trouble.

No decent employer will reject you for the role if you are the right candidate and you tell them that you’re expecting.

It's a pity you feel this way as a woman, and I do wonder whether you'll be caught out one day for this kind of discrimination.

Perhaps you've never experienced a dishonest employer? If not, then you're very lucky. I was turned down for two roles essentially because I disclosed my pregnancy. I know this because my consultants admitted as much.

When it came to a job offer with a different firm, I chose not to disclose. No, it wasn't what I wanted to do but I felt my hand was forced and ultimately, my family came first. It wasn't pleasant at first, but I soon proved my worth.

The law was there to protect women like myself who felt no other option than to not disclose. Just because I did that in that one situation doesn't make me deceitful or not worth the trouble. All I can say, is that I hope you don't find yourself in that situation. It's extremely difficult.