Im too scared to tell my boss im pregnant

Person_one

I recommend asking on the employment board, they know the ins and outs of the law and will be able to offer you better advice than we can on here.

I'd have thought you might be better off telling them rather than leaving it late enough that they can guess from a growing bump. Once they've been officially informed its harder for them to wriggle out of a discrimination charge.

(Oh and I think its 25 weeks that you have to tell them legally, 15 weeks before your due date.)

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Just tell them - it actually protects you as once you have told them, if they got rid of you - then you can take them to a tribunal if you can show that they only got rid of you once they found out you were pregnant.

Have the 1-2-1 and document them saying 'all is well' and then tell your boss.

valk_scot

And join your union asap. Many unions will only take action on your behalf once you've been a member for a certain number of qualifying weeks. Which is a bit of a surprise to the folk who only join when actual trouble arises tbh. But being pregnant in itself isn't trouble so get joined up as fast as possible, before any trouble with your employer starts.

meritaten

Tell your boss when you hit the 20 week mark, but join a union ASAP. if your boss DOES fire you - you don't need the union to fight your case but obviously its best financially for them to do so.
You can go to tribunal yourself - some of the Personal Injury lawyers will take on unfair dismissal - but almost any solicitor will do so too.
If you don't tell your boss then it puts you in the wrong - difficult to overcome if anything happens to you or the baby because you have hidden the pregnancy. and that is the most important factor hun.
btw - Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!

grey_lady

If your on a temp contract you dont have to tell them.

fluffnutter

Riversong wrote: »

I'm approaching 20 weeks when you have to tell them by law.

I have a 121 coming up shortly. Covering up is no issue.

Im not a union member but I will look into it that's a good start.

Antaenatal appointments aren't a problem. I have ongoing health issues I go to the Dr for so they dont really ask anymore. I just hand them an appointment card lol. So I'm jot technically lying.

It's not 20 weeks. It's 15 weeks before the expected due date, so for most people that means 25 weeks.

I'm amazed that the advice has been simply to cover up. This doesn't tackle any underlying issue, it just plays along with your employer's potential unlawfulness. Although you've been able to hide the fact that your appts are antenatal and not some other type of medical appt, this might not have been the case. Antenatal appts are so important that the right to them is enshrined in law.

I really don't think the solution for this is to pretend you're not pregnant. After all, at some point you've got to tell them, what's to stop them sacking you then?

The fact is, they can't sack you for being pregnant, and rather than hide the fact you should share it with them, if you want to of course, without fear of reprisal. This is doubly important in certain types of job where some of your duties might be dangerous for the baby - lifting, hazardous chemicals etc.

If they sack you whilst pregnant, two little words... 'industrial tribunal'. They need to be so confident that they've sacked you for good reason. And if there isn't one, no need to worry.

Women shouldn't hide away. It's not a crime to be pregnant and working. Employers who sack people for being pregnant are acting against the law and need challenging.

https://www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights

neneromanova

It's a tough one. I got sacked for being pregnant, but as they were making redundancies anyway it was harder to show that they sacked me for pregnancy and not redundancies. Even went to a solicitor and they said it's going to be very hard to prove too. There was sexual discrimination too but apparently that was just my "hormones" acting up. Worked out in the end for me as I had passed the 25th week, they still had to pay my SMP

Frith

I had no idea there was a time limit to tell work! Eventually one of my colleagues asked me when I was nearly 28 weeks.

pmlindyloo

fluffnutter wrote: »

It's not 20 weeks. It's 15 weeks before the expected due date, so for most people that means 25 weeks.

I'm amazed that the advice has been simply to cover up. This doesn't tackle any underlying issue, it just plays along with your employer's potential unlawfulness. Although you've been able to hide the fact that your appts are antenatal and not some other type of medical appt, this might not have been the case. Antenatal appts are so important that the right to them is enshrined in law.

I really don't think the solution for this is to pretend you're not pregnant. After all, at some point you've got to tell them, what's to stop them sacking you then?

The fact is, they can't sack you for being pregnant, and rather than hide the fact you should share it with them, if you want to of course, without fear of reprisal. This is doubly important in certain types of job where some of your duties might be dangerous for the baby - lifting, hazardous chemicals etc.

If they sack you whilst pregnant, two little words... 'industrial tribunal'. They need to be so confident that they've sacked you for good reason. And if there isn't one, no need to worry.

Women shouldn't hide away. It's not a crime to be pregnant and working. Employers who sack people for being pregnant are acting against the law and need challenging.

https://www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights

Absolutely agree with this.

There is very strong protection for pregnant employees as demonstrated by the link given.

You should not be hiding away the fact that you are pregnant. The legistration was brought in to protect your rights.

Perhaps the most important thing is that your employer needs to know that you are pregnant so that they can do a risk assessment to protect you and your baby.

Do have a careful read of the link and goggle for more information.

Stop hiding away and worrying. This is a time to be happy and relaxed.

embob74

What a terrible worry. I had an employer who made me "redundant" while I was on maternity leave (ML) and I am so thankful that I had an inkling beforehand and so made sure I knew my rights. I saw an employment solicitor for a free half hour when I had concerns and that was invaluable in knowing how to proceed so I did everything by the book and the employer was then at fault.

Put in writing that you are pregnant and when you want to start your maternity leave, you do not have to give an end date - they should assume you will take the full year. State that holiday is accrued while on ML and that they need to let you know if they will allow you to roll it over or if you should use what you have at the moment before ML starts.
They have 28 days to reply to your letter and you are then covered by discrimination laws. Keep a diary of anything you feel is targeted to you for being pregnant.
I gave my employer info on how to claim back 104% of the SMP costs but this only applies to small businesses. I did find though that the more apologetic I was for having a baby the more they took the mickey.

Please be aware going through with a tribunal claim is hard and I believe you now have to pay to register your claim. Employers will make you out to be the worst worker ever to defend themselves against a claim and then you don't get a reference at the end of it.

Congratulations and good luck.....hopefully your misgivings do not amount to anything.
Oh and reserve a nursery place soon! I was surprised at how quickly they get booked (before baby is even born!)