To refuse pregnant employee request to delay recruitment?

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I manage a small team of 6 people. One of the team members is pregnant (she is deputy team manager), her role requires a specific set of skills and a qualification that no one in the team can cover so we need to recruit for a mat leave cover - it will also take a good few months to train the cover on internal systems (ideally the pregnant team member will do the training and handover). She wanted to wait until 13 week scan until we recruit a cover as wanted to check all okay with the pregnancy. That has been and gone and she is now 16 weeks. All seems fine with pregnancy but she is very anxious (has paid for at least 4 reassurance scans since testing positive). She now wants to wait until 20 week scan to make sure all okay before we start interviewing for cover. AIBU to gently say we have to recruit now regardless of her view.

What's her concern? I honestly don't understand why, given that everybody already knows about the pregnancy, it makes any difference to her either way?

Given how long recruitment can take, even if you start now will you even be at interview stage by 20 weeks? So you can just reassure her that you're starting the process, if anything happens then you'll just end it before making someone an offer so nobody loses out (apart from the time spend sifting applications).

But even if (god forbid) she lost the baby after you'd arranged cover it's not like she then gets forced out of her job, you'd presumably either have to end the new person's contract early or keep them both on, neither of which is her problem, nor would it be affected by waiting until 20 weeks.

If she plans to go off at 37 weeks, and she's 16 weeks now, that gives you 21 weeks in which to advertise, interview, offer, onboard and train her replacement.

Let's say you get the role live on LinkedIn this coming Monday (week one). You'll want to give it at least a week to see who responds. Interviewing starts in weeks two and three (depending on the availability of your longlist). Second interview for the shortlist in week four. Obtain approval to hire and make the offer at the end of week four, and hope acceptance is quick. That's a month gone already.

If the role cover needs a specific qualification, how likely is it that there's someone out there who can start immediately? Let's call this scenario A, be optimistic and assume your new hire is a contractor who is at a loose end and can start straight away. HR checks, paperwork and IT kit ordering and laptop imaging etc are normally at least two weeks to complete. That's the end of week six.

Your new hire starts in week seven, and you now have 14 weeks left in which to train them. That's feasible, but only if you start recruitment now and get someone who's available immediately.

I would think it's more likely that they'll either have a bit of a contract to finish, or a notice period to work - let's call this scenario B and say its four weeks, in which case your training period has just been trimmed back to 10 weeks to accommodate notice. Might be tight given that you've said that the training will take time. But probably still do-able.

However if you can't start recruiting for another 5 weeks (waiting until staff member is 20 weeks and has had her scan plus results, which realistically takes you to 21 weeks), then your training time in scenario A is cut to 9 weeks. Tight but you can probably still make it work. In scenario B the training time is cut to 5 weeks - is this really feasible?

My advice would be to sit down early next week,and work out a training plan with your staff member, and then add timing points to it. That should give you a view of how long you actually need for training. If it's more than 5 weeks then you cannot delay recruitment any longer.

BTW I have been very generous and optimistic in the timelines for advertising, screening and interviewing. In my experience a fast timeline from the advert going live, to having a preferred candidate who accepts an offer, is four weeks - and that assumes that everyone has diary availability at the right times to do interviews....

Train up one of the team to her role and backfill their position with a temp.

All good to go then. I mean presumably this person is going to be needed whatever happens with her pregnancy.

Why?

Yup but this is also the reality. Cost cutting. Not one thinks but what if someone dies tomorrow.

This is a good point, and I think she may think this too. She actually said ‘just pretend I haven’t announced it’….but given the helpful timelines set out by the most recent poster, it’s just not feasible not to act from a smooth business continuity perspective.

Irrelevant- she has told them. So now they might as well get prepared.

A lot of health boards will not give you the MatB1 form until 20 weeks. I know that my work needed that before they could put all the formal stuff about my leave dates on the system and look at cover for me. Despite knowing before that date.

BTW, YANBU. Regardless of maternity leave, it sounds like you may need this additional capacity in the team anyway.

I can understand that, I would have been a very overwhelmed by this and “pressured” by thought if I miscarried you’d have hired and trained up someone and then either have to let them go, or even me.

But it’s not bonkers or unreasonable - the law is on her side

She doesn’t have to formally request maternity leave until 15 weeks before due date. That is point that you may have been told legally and she must tell you. 5is is point most sane companies start to formally document the request for maternity leave, not before. And it’s the point you could legitimately start a recruitment process.

right now, you are putting pressure on her, albeit not deliberately but very ignorantly, based on her telling you at a very extremely early point initially (which is why it is unwise to tell employers unless you have to until you have to) . Even the 20 week scan is way before the 15 week deadline and she is doing YOU a favour in helping you plan your business. You are taking a very dodgy advantage of her.

She’s not 20 weeks yet- FGS she cold decide to get an abortion up to 24 weeks for personal reasons or because of abnormalities found at later scans. Remember that. And that it is none of your business. There is No viable baby and no guaranteed need of maternity leave until after 24 weeks or beyond. And no, that’s not a coincidence of being just shy of the 15 week before due date deadline, it’s EXACTLY why the deadline is where it is. At the 25 week point where a pregnancy becomes likely to result in a viable live birth and need for maternity leave. Do the maths.

At the 15 weeks deadline you have time to recruit and train up a replacement- if you haven’t, more fool YOU. This is not her problem to solve. You do realise she could get run over by a bus next week and not be able to come into work for a year, or 2 or ever. what would you do then?

I’d also warn you that if she has not given you permission to discuss her medical condition and pregnancy you are breaking the law to discuss it with anyone else including starting a recruitment process. You actually need her express permission to even post a job for “maternity cover” if it is identifiable as her job, which given specialist role I assume it would be, if she is before the 15 week deadline. Otherwise you are sharing her private medical information very publicly. Right now you are putting pressure on her to do that sharing and are flying close to the wind with data protection.
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If you were in a big organisation with an HR dept who had a eye out for the law and duty of care, you’d not be able to get away with this and putting that sort of pressure on her.

leave the poor women alone and stop trying to jump the gun. Sometimes things can’t be done in the way you want or a business wants, for a bloody good reason. And I was a boss too, so know it can have a big impact- but a good manager knows when to bite their tongue and suck it up where the law is concerned.

😂

16 weeks seems very early to recruit for mat cover. I hadn’t even told work I was pregnant then, and when I did it wasn’t public knowledge for a while.

I’d also add 15 weeks is a potentially longer than you’d have if she handed in her notice- you’d cope then wouldn’t you? even if she has a 3 month notice period.

Genius! 😝

Yea just recruit, she has no say in this as she'll be busy with other things soon!
Can you get an internal
Secondment to do it, quicker to teach someone who knows the background?
Good luck

Her anxiety shouldn't be allowed to dictate how you run the business! What if she gets to 20 weeks and that suddenly isn't good enough for her? Do what you think is best for the business, not her.

@Appleofmyeye2023 thank you so much for this, I couldn't have said it better. I lost my baby at 25 weeks pregnant and after taking some of my maternity leave I went back to work just after my original due date. My work place hadn't yet advertised my job and whilst I was off they used a temp until I was ready to return.

I was anxious about my pregnancy from them beginning so the pressure from OP seems so unreasonable and I am so thankful this didn't happen to me. I understand cover needs to be found but not at the detriment to current staff. If the employee wants to wait until the 20 week point as passed I do not think this is unreasonable in the slightest.

It sounds like you don't have much resilience in your team for this specific skill, and you should be training more people in it anyway.

See I’m the opposite, I have my own team and only me and someone on it have the skill set to replace me , I just found out he will be on leave too as is expecting a baby a month before me so where before I would have waited longer to say , I told the company now . They need to recruit someone from another office or outside so it was important to leave my team in good hands and still be involved in the recruiting/training as I feel it’s my obligation to do so .
personally I would go ahead and recruit someone now . If something was to happen then you would need to be other keep them or let them go within their probation period but either way seem like having someone ready is key

It’s not just reasonable to wait until 20 week scan, it is advisable. No one, even if they are visually pregnant has to announce that pregnancy, discuss it or say what due date is until the deadline of 15 weeks. That’s the law.

The law was put in place after years of people like you fighting for maternity rights.cos bozzos like this boss can’t put horrible pressure on women . The law was made after much consultation and 3 hearings based on what was judged to be a good balance for business vs the employee. As I said it’s a bloody sight more that almost all notice period or if she went off sick .

im sorry for your loss - I had an employee loose her baby at 27 weeks , it was unbearably tragic and I’m ashamed I cried when she got back to work and talked about it to me .

I would recruit asap - what if she went off sick?

she does not get to dictate - put an advert out tomorrow

She doesn't need to inform you officially until 15 weeks before the baby is due, so 25 weeks. Has she given you a mat b1 form?

It's really very early to be recruiting mat leave cover and quite unusual (in my sector anyway) to expect the mum-to-be to train her own cover.

Er , whilst she can’t dictate, she’s not. She is expressing her reservations. And the law is on HER side. She’s just clearly not aware of her rights which might help her telling her boss politely to do one. This is the law in the uk , Not whatever you think it should be in your land (imagainative) . But crack on in that situation and see yourself in court.

I will add, that yes they can recruit for sick cover of course…but that is not what’s being discussed …the discussion is mat cover.