Work expecting me in office when pregnant

[littlefawn]

I am currently 20 weeks pregnant and I requested to work from home a week before lockdown, they said it wasn't possible, I was then told it was "not recommended" that I come into work by a manager and told me to take sick (even though I'm not sick) I told them I could not get a sick line but that was fine.
About a month later I found out about 4 or 5 people had been allocated laptops and were working from home.
Manager rang about a week after this and said HR said they've done a risk assessment and I can come back to work. They said social distancing is in place, only one person per row of desks and people working one week on and one week off.

AIBU to expect a laptop to work from home when others who are not vulnerable have been allocated laptops?

Surely I still have to pass communal areas and touch door handles to get to my desk, there is a narrow corridor to my office and the building is shared by other departments (it's public sector)

From what I've read online employers must do what they can to help
Pregnant women work from home, my manager suggested I take leave as I have a lot but I've also sad they can't make you take leave and this is discrimination.

I'd try the union. Our civil service union usually lets people join when something like this happens because it gets their numbers up.
Ask nicely and see what they say.

I don't understand your employers response here.

If you can do your job from home, then you should. We might be past the peak, but if everyone goes back to working in offices at the same time, we're going to get a second peak and we'll be back in lockdown again.

I think too many people are keen to get out of this that they're not thinking about the long-term consequences. It needs to be done slowly and carefully. The economy won't implode if people who are currently working at home continue to do so for a while longer.

Have you seen the risk assessment? I’d ask for a copy before drafting your letter

I’ve heard similar from several people (not all pregnant, but at risk).
I’m generally supportive of what the Government is doing but this is one area where stricter rules should be in place.

Government has to tell companies that they must instigate home working if it is at all feasible and that it should stay in place for as long as possible going forward.

Many companies can’t follow, but those who can must be made to.

Perhaps now is the time to join a union. No good expecting employee rights but not bothering to pay union membership.

All the people I know who are working from home are just using their own pc/laptop. Can you not just do that?

Check out 'pregnant then screwed' they have some useful info on the subject

Btw when I say ask to see the risk assessment, I mean so that you can be better positioned to challenge their decision

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

Refer them to this

Question is what classes as feasible. If an employer does not have enough laptops to provide all the staff with one to work from home is it reasonable to expect them to source them? is it still reasonable if it is a public sector and would need to find the money from tight budgets?

Isn't the pregnancy risk assessment guidance covered by HSE legislation? I'd bet the cost of contravening that is a lot more than a laptop.

Definitely get it in writing, direct them to the specific guidance and ask to see the risk assessment which shows how the RA is in line with the guidance.

Just keep it short and to the point.

I agree that you can't bring health into it because you're not unhealthy, you're pregnant.

Employers have to tread a fine line when it comes to discrimination. Women don't want to be singled out for being pregnant and want to be treated the same as everyone else, yet sometimes when they are treated the same they shout "but I'm pregnant".

If the employer allows OP to WFH then they will get requests from other employees to do the same. However, the Gov have recommended people be allowed to WFH where possible, so employers should be looking into ways to facilitate this.

I would be surprised if you could join your union and get help now. They will be snowed under supporting their members who have been paying subs for years. It is still worth joining though as you never know when you might need them.

They are not obligated to have you wfh. They merely have to if its possible.

They have clearly stated its not possible.

At this time you're going to it afforded any more than your colleagues..unkess you are on the shielding list, which you're not.

They have stated that they have managed to abide by the social distancing requirements so you refusing to return will mean you choose to not work and not receive pay which in turn will impact your maternity pay.

Yes you can suggest using your own equipment to wfh, but this won't have the required security on it so is likely to be refused. Though you could offer to have it wiped by the it department with only work resources loaded - again I expect this to be refused. They don't have a laptop so are unlikely to just buy one now.

You could request that your pregnancy health and safety assessment is carried out remotely before your return.

But basically I think that there will be more and more first and second trimester women having to make the decision of pay or no pay and no/reduced maternity pay.

Before you do anything , speaking as some who is facing pregnancy discrimination at work , join your union now ! As other pp have said they might take your case on , the union will give you far more backing than doing it alone. Your work place will also need to do an updated hs risk assessment due to corona , make sure this is gone through with your union!

Are you in a union, OP?If so they will be there to help you, if not I think you need to join one!

Question is what classes as feasible. If an employer does not have enough laptops to provide all the staff with one to work from home is it reasonable to expect them to source them? is it still reasonable if it is a public sector and would need to find the money from tight budgets?

This is a critical point that people seem to be missing. I have every sympathy with the OP wanting a laptop and wanting to work from home. Pregnant or not, I am sure everyone would prefer that option. And to be clear, I am public sector and almost every one of our 16,000 staff are working from home.

But there is a significant difference in our situation - our employer had spent the last few years moving to more flexible forms of working including the fact that there is no longer a single desktop in the entire organisation - everybody has a remote working capable laptop. And even then it needed a whole lot of planning. It's not as easy as picking up a laptop and moving to home for weeks on end. Do people have the screens and other accessories at home that they need? Our staff, for example, work on a whole series of massive spreadsheets at times, and you don't want to try doing that for long on a laptop. Do you have a desk and chair that is suitable? A space to work?

The legal obligations of an employer remain in place even during a lockdown. And in this case, although I sympathise with the OP, if the employer doesn't have laptops they can't magic them up, and even beyond that, unless a pregnant employee has had a proper DSE assessment they should not be working anywhere, even if it is their own home! Working from home doesn't make it safer. In fact, in my experience, people cut more corners with safety at home than most employers (certainly public sector ones) ever would.

It is what is reasonable. Few employers could not be reasonably expected to buy a laptop.
And yes health and safety law still applies. Not buying a laptop but putting staff at greater risk is putting their health at risk.

Anyway there will be future law suits. If an employee is left with long term health problems because they catch covid 19 and the employer's defence is they did not have enough laptops, don't expect to win the law suit.

Yabu.

Yes you can suggest using your own equipment to wfh, but this won't have the required security on it so is likely to be refused

We're allowed to access the VPN from our own laptops. Not only is the VPN secure, but all the systems holding sensitive data have their own security as well. DP could have used his own laptop, and he's a payroll manager for one of the emergency services, uses systems which are locked down very tight. He didn't though, because the "B" and "N" keys don't work!

My daughter is under the 12week shield, she works for a GP surgery. Offered to work from home but can’t, they’re only paying her SSP. She’s fighting for furlough but they said they can’t because they take funds from the public. She needs to now consider risking herself to come in and work as she can’t afford to live.

Misses point, but I’d love to know what sort of Public Sector job is completely computer based with no customer interaction or phone calls .

I sympathise with your situation but the Public Sector can’t just Source laptops for everyone, there will be huge cuts coming up when this is all over and many jobs, let alone laptops, just won’t be around anymore.

I have carried out remote risk assessments on staff wfh. None of this is that hard.
At DPs company staff can wfh with their own laptop if they have exclusive use, others have had one loaned. They have been given instructions on how to ensure security and GDPR are still met. Their IT department seemed to do this easily.
Of course if your company has poor IT support you my struggle, but any decent place should not find this hard.

*They are not obligated to have you wfh. They merely have to if its possible.

They have clearly stated its not possible*

But what is, and is not, "possible" is arguable imo. Why is it impossible for them procure a laptop? If there's a national shortage of laptops and the earliest delivery date is in 3 months' time, then it's not possible. If it's just because they're too tight to stump up £500, then it's possible, but they can't be arsed or don't want to. And while they might have already spent the year's IT budget, there's bound to be scope for £500 virement from some other budget line. Mileage, for example, will be much reduced as staff won't be travelling about as much.