Someone please talk some sense into me ….

moneypuddle

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

You need to start taking holidays. Why haven't you taken them? Your employers should be making you take them. They are there for a reason.

Sorry I worded that badly. I meant that I went away, as in out of the country over the Royal wedding. I do usually take around ¾ of my holidays by taking odd days here and there

moneypuddle

embob74 wrote: »

I had a boss who swore he couldn't do without me when I told him I was pregnant. I had previously only taken holidays in short bursts so the company wasn't left too long without anybody doing the paperwork I did and I planned having less maternity leave than I wanted to return quickly and was prepared to do work at home should the business need it.
In return he made me redundant and kept the temp maternity cover on.
So stop worrying as what happens will happen. You can prepare as much as possible for the temp to be sufficient in the role but you can never prepare for how your employer will feel about you leaving them to have time with your baby. So just enjoy your time off knowing you have done as much as you can for your employer.
But don't write your job role down in a handy guide for the temp. My biggest regret!

Thanks for this. This is the exact situation I worry about. Was it all legal and above board for them to make you redundant?

Sambucus_Nigra

moneypuddle wrote: »

Sorry I worded that badly. I meant that I went away, as in out of the country over the Royal wedding. I do usually take around ¾ of my holidays by taking odd days here and there

You should be taking ALL of your holidays - not 3/4 of them.

meer53

There's more to life than your job. If you do get pregnant you'll realise that pretty quickly. Stop worrying about stuff before it happens.

pimento

A lot of employers make their employees take two weeks holiday in one go so that any fraud on the part of the employee will show up.

magenta22

I would imagine that they can only make you redundant if the job is no longer there, as a temp is covering your job then the job is there.

They have to keep your job open while you are on maternity and they will have keep in touch days with you to discuss your maternity and if you want to return to the job. If say you wanted to return on part time hours they may say they will keep the temp and find you something else.

To be honest, I wouldn't think so much about your job. Why put off having children for a job? You will only regret it if you do when you suddenly think you are too old to do so.

lizzywig

Reading everything you said is like looking in a mirror!! I work for a big company and have a job that no one else has, in fact it was taylored for me and my career development. I passionately love my job and thrive on the fact that I regulary recieve compliments of "we couldn't do without you" and "only you know how to do this". It's where I get my self satisfaction from and I don't see anything wrong with it. At the end of last year my husband and I started talking about possibly trying for a baby and although I didn't have any of your concerns at the time, I did as time went by.

I came off the pill on Christmas Day last year and fell pregnant one month later, so much sooner than expected! I'm due in 12 days...eek!! I told my employers that I was pregnant at around 17 weeks for various reasons, one of which was because my company was going through a transitional period and my boss was leaving, I worked primarily for her and wanted to make sure I had signed my new contract before I told them in case they tried to get rid of me. All went well and when I told them they were thrilled for me. They (jokingly) asked me to stay and for my husband to stay at home with the baby on many occasions. Around August time they started advertising for my temporary maternity cover, they placed an add interally as well as externally. We had a handful of bad applicants apply and a good one, we interviewed the good one who turned out to be not so good. I vividly remember a phone conversation with my mum one night, "oh my god, what happens if I go back to work after my leave and my job has been downgraded", "what happens if all the company systems I have set up have all fallen over", to make matters worse I couldn't get hold of my (new) boss the next day to discuss the interview. In the end we declined the person for second interview and someone internal applied for the job and was later offered the role. I started putting together a handover document which outlined every last little part of my role. This handover ended up as a 30 page document by the time I went on my leave. I started handing over to my cover 3 weeks before I was due to go on leave, first we did an overview of the role and then met twice a day or so discussing the various aspects with me training her on them, some sessions were more instense than others and sometimes we worked through lunch training and talking. After each session I would then handover that aspect of the role and be there to answer questions. Half way through week 2 she started managing things more fully and by week 3 I was hardly doing anything but was there for questions and answers. On my last day I then went through everything with her again as an overview and she had the chance to ask more questions. By the time I'd left I think I'd given her my personal email address three times.

I know my job is in safe hands and I know she will do well at it. Am I worried about her doing better than me?! Yes, especially because before I left I had severe baby brain and didn't know what I was doing. You think it won't get you but it does. My boss did say that when I get back we'd have to find something else for her to do instead, her contract is for maternity cover only. That said all companies work differently. When a friend of mine went on maternity leave she returned to a promotion so that her cover wouldn't have to change jobs. I should add that at the time she worked for a small and up and coming company who could have easily made her role redundant - but didn't. It varies from company to company and I think their decisions depend on 1) their company ethics and 2) whether you are a hard worker. As Embob74 said she was a hard worker and was made redundant, I can imagine that must be a real slap in the face but at the end of the day you do have to take that risk. If you want to start a family then at some point you need to take that leap and be prepared for the outcome, if you let this fear get the better of you then you'll never have children because you'll always be wondering 'what if'. As for whether you have to tell your employer when you're going back, legally, no. They can't even ask you if you plan to go back. I've told my employers that I have every intention of going back as I love my job and the company that I work for. I wanted them to have this in their minds when making any decisions. I haven't told them when I plan to go back and so they have got a maternity cover role in place which will end when I go back, I need to notify them 8 weeks before I wish to return of my intention and if they don't hear from me after a year then they assume I won't be coming back. I plan to go back after 9 months off work but that is conditional on whether money lasts that long, we have been saving our backsides off the last year or so though.

Ultimately I think you have to decide what is most important to you, your career or having a family.

magenta22

I don't think that you have to tell them that you will go back but I worked with one person who went on maternity leave and had no intention of returning after the baby was born but she kept telling them that she did - something to do with maternity pay etc but I am not quite sure what. The last mat role I covered again she told them she would return but then decided she wouldn't - as I had already found something else thinking that she was returning to the role it then was advertised externally as a part time role so things do change.

There is no point worrying about what the company will do, they can do it anyway regardless of what you decide.

Lizzywig - congratulations!

DCFC79

pimento wrote: »

A lot of employers make their employees take two weeks holiday in one go so that any fraud on the part of the employee will show up.

my employer likes us to take 2 weeks in the summer, a week in the autumn and whats left in the spring rather than taking it all in 1 go.

bevanuk

I don't take all my holidays, isn't that up to me?