Asked for reasonable adjustments at work whilst pregnant AIBU?

[Lemonsqueez]

I work in a consultancy where you basically can pickup as much work as you can. I've been working there for years and I work very hard, doing overtime regularly. I've been out forward for a promotion but because of budgets ect won't take effect until March. This promotion isn't a new role I'm stepping into it will be getting the title and recognition I've been working for for over the past year. I recently found out I am pregnant and didn't tell anyone until recently. The Christmas rush came along and I was barely supporting my workload before and suddenly the pregnancy fatigue hit me harder than ever, combined with pregnancy complications and I was crying at my desk multiple times a day. I tried talking to my project director (she isn't my line manager) asked her for help with either getting more resources on the project or helping me prioritize my work because I told her I was really struggling with my energy and can't keep up with the sickness. I have been working very hard recently so was very upset when she completely ignored my messages and basically said it is what it is and had to get done. I am travelling next week for work and I was asked to do such a high workload in two days. I finally cracked and sent a message to my line manager asking for reasonable adjustments to my workload. When I listed everything she even admitted that it was way too much for a week. We came up with solutions but now I'm sitting here feeling unsure if I just looked like a big old baby asking for this?

I really don't think this is a pregnancy adjust thing - this is them dumping way too much work on you full stop, as acknowledged by your line manager. Glad it's been addressed, but don't devalue your contribution by saying it's pregnancy that's made it hard - it sounds like you were given an impossible task.

I’m 13 weeks and have been off sick for at least 6 weeks. I’m a big baby who has barely moved from my bed, only to vomit

I hope you feel better soon

You're neither unreasonable nor a big baby! Workplace adjustments are there for good reasons; pregnancy is one of the more obvious ones tbh. Refer anyone who gives you grief straight to your LM. And congratulations on your pregnancy ☺️

Sounds grim but reasonable adjustments are specifically for disability.

You can remind your employers that:

• you have a right to reasonable time off for pregnancy related conditions and health checks
• you are entitled to sick leave if you are too unwell to attend work
• maternity is a protected characteristic and they need to not discriminate against you because of that
• Your employer has legal duties relating to health and safety and unreasonable workloads may impinge that

To be fair I have had many people tell me my workload is way too high for one person. The only person who doesn't see it is the project director who's giving it. Possibly just feeling so tired from pregnancy though that I can't see the wood from the trees anymore and feel too ill to manage a high workload.

That sounds rough. Hope you feel better soon!

They haven't done a risk assessment or even looked at my workload. The company is full of workaholics though so maybe it's the culture.

I work in a workplace adjustments service, and yes you can request adjustments during pregnancy. Your employer can either agree these directly with you or you can go to occupational health to discuss 😊