To take a new job whilst 20 weeks pregnant?

[PayingMyWayYouSay]

I have an interview on Tuesday. I work for the NHS, this job is with the same employer, NHS, just a different hospital.

Myself and DH have moved back to his home town now and it's all lovely etc, but the commute to my job in London is extortionate in cost. It'll be leaving me short around £400 a month.

AIBU to go to this interview on Tuesday and take the job if they offer it to me?

I am not particularly well myself (but I am a bloody good worker and give it my all at work), so the hour plus commute worries me too Won't go into to my detail but in a nutshell, I'm fine to carry out my job.

I am however 20 weeks pregnant. MIL believes If I take the job, it shows lack of morals to leave them in a few months to swan off on Mat leave. She says it's unethical to take the job and says they won't give it to me anyway if they find out I'm pregnant from my old employer. I said I don't think that's allowed, she said they will still do it even so.

I will, however, certainly be back after Maternity leave! So I'm not just taking the job to leave for good. It'll be long term and is a lovely role.

What do you think?

nhs interviews are points based so you could turn up full term and they can't do much about it if you score the highest in your interview.

I'd go for it, expect your co workers to be very annoyed when you tell them but you will just have to front it out.

user1498221998 - I understand where you're coming from from an organizational perspective, but that's the reason the law is written the way it is. I've also been a hiring manager (in the US) and would hire a pregnant candidate but prefer not to know. Before every interview the recruiters had a set list of verboten questions - pregnancy and family plans were on that list.

fassbendersmistress - I was thinking of Lean In as well. I don't know what PayingMyWayYouSay is planning re: childcare and splitting any leave with a partner after the birth. In my case I don't want to be making any decision based on the fact that I don't like my job, ideally both my partner and I would have an awesome job that we would love to go into every day. That way if someone's going to take time off for childcare the decision can be made on what's best for the family. Maybe I'm naive ... we'll see ;)

I'd rather hire someone great who might only be with me for a month or two before going on mat leave, in the belief that she'd be returning six months later, than hire nobody or hire someone who wasn't that great.

I had to come back in response to araiwa's imbecile comment. Yes, hiring managers want the best for their business. That means the best qualified and most suitable candidate for the role. I would be doing my employer a disservice if I discriminated against the best candidate for a job because she is pregnant: yes, we have to find maternity cover now, but in the scheme of things we'd hope to hold on to her for ten years or so, so we get value for our money in the long run.

Life happens. The young man who was really the second choice, after the pregnant woman you've discriminated against because mat leave is a bit of a hassle to cover, may have a nasty accident and need several months sick leave, or may have a partner with a better salary than him so that he's the one to take a big chunk of the parental leave. You take the person who can best do the job, and then work around what happens after that.

I think it's wrong too. They have to recruit again very soon after and will remember the upheaval and work it caused not to mention the sour relationship. Plus next time they will be very wary of employing another young women so others miss out.

Be honest and if you are the right person they will offer it you anyway. Nothing good ever comes from deceit.

I'd go for it and tell them at interview but explain you're planning on being there long term if you get the job.
I'm currently on mat leave, due to go back to work in Sept plus an additional 4 weeks annual leave tacked on (NHS also) but I applied for a job last month, had the interview two weeks ago and got it so I'm not going back to my old job at all, will end my mat leave at the same time and go to my new job. I put on my application that I was due back in Sept at at the interview I also said that's when I'm due back which they were fine with. As long as you're honest and they know the plan from the beginning there's no reason for there to be animosity etc if you get the job then go off on mat leave.

Some NHS jobs don't fill maternity cover depending on the role.

Don't tell them until contracts have been signed. You need to look after yourself first. There's enough discrimination out there to make it a risk I wouldn't take.

I think realistically you wouldn't get the job because you're pregnant which is awful but unfortunately the way things work.

I'm a nurse and there was recently an opportunity for a Band 6 position and three of the Band 5s went for it. One of them was extremely experienced and skilled (12 years qualified) and was easily the best candidate but was also 21 weeks pregnant. Nobody was surprised when she didn't get it and it was given to a nurse who hadn't even been qualified for 3 years. Yes the interviews are points based but the interviewers will find ways to bias the points to give the job to whom they want to get it.

When I was on Mat Leave with DS1 I knew my job wasn't going to be suitable for when the baby arrived and so whilst on Mat Leave I looked for other jobs, got one and handed in my notice to my current employers. With all the NHS faff and checks it was almost three months before I got my start date....you can't just walk into the job and the interviewers will also take that into account I imagine when thinking about how long you'd actually be with them before your May Leave began.

It's a difficult situation OP, I can see why you want to change jobs and yes, discrimination laws are in your side, but life isn't fair sometimes. Definitely apply for the job but be prepared to get a weak reason for not getting it because the real one is because you're pregnant.

I work in the NHS and, from an HR point of view they are absolutely not allowed to discriminate against you for being pregnant. You will be judged on merit (at least on the surface)

BUT. Budgets are horrific at the moment. Most places have an absolute freeze on hiring non-clinical staff, and generally only allowed to replace individuals, not expand teams. There is no provision for hiring maternity cover, the rest of the team need to suck it up and cover sickness and maternity between themselves. It's crippling.

If you were to get the job, you'd be there for about three months max. Then off for a year. That's not going to give you time to build relationships and show value and the rest of the team will just see you as the source of more impending work for them. I doubt it will be a great atmosphere.

Which isn't fair, but I've seen similar happen before when there is a hiring freeze on and it really wasn't pretty. Go into it with your eyes open about the situation you would be getting yourself into.

Cinderella I'll be back once baby is 3/4 months old

Do it. I got my promotion after a tough interview at 35 weeks pregnant.

Shocked by some of the dinosaur attitudes on this thread. Childcare is a responsibility that should be shouldered by society as a whole - as enshrined by law. That means that we all have a right to maternity / paternity leave and organisations just have to suck it up - the same way they would if an employee had an accident or went off sick for some other reason. The OP is talking about a long-term position, so if she is the best person for the job, she should be hired.

I was in a similar position and it was all ok-
I was made redundant at 14wks pg (ish) and started a contractor role right away, the contract was for 6 months which would have taken me right up to mat leave so the plan was to do that then find another job after baby and I would be entitled to Stat Mat Pay as a self-employed person. Anyway this company offered me a perm role within a few weeks, I did the interview then when they offered the role I told them I was interested in the role but that I was pregnant and if it would pose any issues (I was prepared to walk away if it was a problem). By this point I was 22 wks. They agreed, however they did not recognise continuity of employment from my contractor role (fair enough) and so I was not entitled to mat pay ( or their generous enhanced package) but still able to claim Stat Mat Pay.
HR, management, etc said this was perfectly acceptable for me to do all this while pregnant, and I work in a pretty cut throat male dominated industry so I was surprised.
So as you are moving within the NHS you will probably have continuity of service recognised, and just be aware you have to make your employer aware you are pg by around 24 wks.

My DM and MIL were off the same opinion as yours, however they had children in a very different time and everyone I got advice from told me this was perfectly acceptable.

How long would you plan for ML?

Apologies just seen you are planning 3/4 months. Again you may be able to use some of your annual leave, as this will be accruing all the time you are off.

What if a man's wife was pregnant when he was being interviewed for a new job? He can share maternity leave. But would it even cross anyone's mind to considerq it a possibility he might be off??

I think people need to realise that there is a gulf between ideals : that it shouldn't make any difference, protected by law etc etc, and reality: that you ARE much less likely to be hired when visibly pregnant and a lot of people will be unimpressed if you start a new job for a matter of weeks and then go on maternity.

My company took on someone who wasn't obviously showing, nor did she disclose that she was pregnant at her interview. She requested that she didn't start for a couple of months as she had to give notice at previous job etc. Once she arrived, she was obviously pregnant. She worked for a whole 7 days in between being signed off for sickness on several occasions and then starting her maternity leave as soon as possible. Twelve months later she handed in her resignation and we had to pay her a full year's accrued holiday pay - for someone who had actually done seven day's work for the company in over twelve months.

My company would never take on a pregnant lady again and there are plenty of reasons you can give for not taking someone on that aren't related to their pregnancy.

whats the point if you are about to go on mat leave? It will let everyone down and start you off in a bad place with your new employer (you can moan about whether that is right or wrong, but the truth is you will have deceived them and they will be understandably annoyed, and why start a new job with that bad feeling?

do you want a job where people resent you already when you have barely started? because you certainly can't forbid them from feeling impacted by you swanning out after a few weeks on maternity.

"Swanning out"? She's not off to tour the Amalfi coast. She's having a baby.

We do all realise that attitudes like this are really holding women back in the workplace, right?

OP has made it clear that she is a hard worker and this is a long-term position, so this time next year, she might well be picking up the slack for someone else on maternity (or paternity) leave - or a male or female colleague off sick. Agree it's not ideal that OP's time out will happen so soon after starting, but it will all even out in the end - if people are "unimpressed" to begin with, this will soon change when they see that she is hard working part of the team in the long term.

What does the fact that the employer is the NHS have to do with anything?

It's potentially relevant (in terms of entitlement to mat leave etc) because she is moving around within an organisation rather than changing organisations. It's not relevant because it's the NHS per se - would be the same if she worked for an accountancy firm and was moving to another regional office of the same accountancy firm.

I would go for the interview, then, if offered the job, disclose the pregnancy (if they haven't already guessed). They can't legally take the pregnancy into account, so telling them at interview just muddies the waters imo - if they don't know then everyone is confident that you were assessed purely on your ability to do the job and there's no question of discrimination.

I don't consider that dishonest any more than say hiding your wife's pregnancy (and so potential paternity leave) or a history of extended sick leave for depression (for example). If you're offered the job, you were the best candidate and a few months off for maternity doesn't change that fact in the grand scheme of things.

To smooth things over I would just reassure them that you take the responsibility to the job seriously, and intend to only take a short leave. As others have stated, maternity is a fact of life and a good employer can adjust. Also, anyone at any time can go on long term sick, which is at least as disruptive as maternity leave and usually gives less notice.