Pregnant and on call

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If you have a pregnant woman working 9-5 Mon-Fri is it reasonable to expect her to be on call outside of these hours for 7 days a week every 1 in 5 weeks, as well as covering additional on call when colleagues go off sick etc?

On call is not paid but contractual.

On call for what? Out of hours doc? MHO?

Why would it be unreasonable?

I think a lot of companies do a compulsory risk assessment when informed an employee is pregnant, and that includes a discussion around working extra hours.

If its contractual, I dont see what the issue is. Pregnancy is not an illness... Sure, you are more tired, but on call youre not actually doing any work, and if the job is 9-5 I doubt there will be that many emergencies that require actual work.

It probably depends on the details. On call for what? How often is a call out likely? What does a call out entail? How well is the woman during her pregnancy? And more.

depends what on call means are you on the end of a phone or charging out in the middle of the night dealing with people kicking off

It may be, it may not. Some women find pregnancy harder than others due to health issues. If you’re struggling, can you get reasonable adjustments if supported by a GP or midwife’s fit note? When I was pregnant with DS, I had hideous nausea and the midwife wrote a note for my employer to support me working from home, which wouldn’t normally have been permitted.

On call for all care services/staff in the area (24 hour services). Responding to emergencies, debriefing, managing absences, covering sickness, dealing with any safeguarding concerns, sorting out any medication problems etc.

I worked for the NHS and was on an on call system they took me off it as soon as I was pregnant.

So nothing physical? Not having to go out alone? Yes I think it's reasonable.

Yes you do have to physically respond to emergencies

Surely you've had a risk assessment done and follow the advice in that?

is it for home care?

if so no fuck that. Care work on-call is almost guaranteed phone calls and shift covering.

especially with the crisis of care at the moment.

People that have never worked in care won’t really understand OP. It’s relentless and not just answering a quick call at 8pm for a few minutes or switching on a laptop in bed.

It can literally be going out to hoist someone at 3am or give a controlled drug at 5am and then still being expected to be back in the office for 8am.

I did hands on care management in my early twenties. It’s literally a nightmare.

I think there should be a risk assessment regarding lone working/working with vulnerable people.

Risk assessment has been completed but I was told I would have to continue working on call until mat leave.

It is care management role and yes the calls are relentless sadly

If that’s in her contract that she signed with her company, then yes.

have you raised with your manager any health issues regarding your pregnancy? could you discuss with occupational health?

Tbh it sounds like it's more a problem with the physical work than the hours - heavy lifting is not good for you whether it's during your 9-5 hours or during your on call hours. Can you see your GP and ask for a fit note to say you can't do anything very physical like that? Your work should make reasonable adjustments. If that means that you can't cover on call duties then they should take you off - but the argument is that it's on medical advice.

I think if you feel you can’t or are unable to do the on-calls for reasons related to your pregnancy you’d be best speaking to occupational health. It’s not unreasonable that your employer assumes you’d continue your usual rota until maternity leave but it’s also not unreasonable if you can’t for reasons related to your pregnancy.