Pregnant 10wks - Need job advice

[k4mi]

Hello,

I'm 10wks pregnant. Currently i am working self employed as a consultant, have been at the company for 13 weeks so far.

The initial contract i was on was for 3 months (but they pay me as self employed) so i am responsible for tax / no holiday / sick pay. Meaning i would only qualify for Mat allowance.

Pregnancy was not planned however now my work have asked me to stay on for another 3-4 months. I assumed this was continuing as self employed which for me is much better as i pay less tax and can save up during the pregnancy until i finish in October ready to have it in Dec/Jan and will have saved enough to supplement the Mat Allow.

I haven't told my employer i am pregnant as i have no legal obligation and it's early still plus i haven't been ill so work has continued as normal for them i think,..no affect to my work.

Yesterday my boss came to me and said they can't keep me on self employed, i will need to go on their payroll. This means a big pay cut to me and less available income to save for baby arrival. I am a bit stuck though as worried now if i say no i will only stay on if self employed they will let me go....then i am jobless for 7 months!

If i were to get another job, say a permanent one now what's the score with being pregnant? I know they 'can't discriminate' but surely they do, and surely i would have to tell them at interview i am pregnant? The only advantage to getting a different, permanent job would be to know i had something to go back to and also so my OH could get a mortgage before i go on Mat leave.

I'm really not sure what to do. Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks

[KatyN]

I 'think' there is a date which is your qualifying date in your pregnancy which if you are employed then gives you the right to maternity leave. This date is pretty late in pregnancy because I'm 20 weeks and I remember thinking it was a long way off when I was told about it.
That means your employer would have to keep the job open for you after ML. You may be eligible for stat mat pay as well.. or even your employer may offer a better mat pay thing. A lot of places say you can only get extra mat pay if you've been there for a year so you might not get much from it.

If you are happy to stay self employed I would talk to your boss and explain the situation. I've been in jobs before when they couldn't employ me on a contract any more but when I said that there was no way I would be permenant (and it was actually in there benefit to keep me on contract) they magically found away!!

Congrats!
katy

[pregnantmimi]

I asked my midwife about telling work about being pregnant if your going for a job and she said I didnt have to. Fancy changing you to employed.xx