Job Offer withdrawn after informing employer that I am pregnant.

[Char1997]

Hi all,

I originally posted this on as a pregnancy thread. As the situation has evolved I have been advised to post on here. I was offered a job yesterday afternoon and although I know I was under no obligation to inform them, I told the employer that I was expecting in December. Since then I have had the job offer withdrawn as they felt that I “misled them” and wasn’t honest. Is anyone able to give me some advice if I were to take this further.

I wouldn't take any chances with a man who had plans to go travelling, or a woman who was imminently due a baby. It's not about sex, race, gender, disability

And here we have it: an employer who cannot see that refuses to see that pregnancy has everything to do with sex, because men don't get pregnant. And I'm horrified that that employer is a woman.

While women are happily discriminating against other women, I wonder wtf has happened to solidarity. And I hope someone has you before an ET one day, @blockyy, it'll damn well serve you right.

OP, well done for your result yesterday and I look forward to hearing you've been just as successful come October!

If she does take legal advice that's probably in your interests as I would be astonished if she was not advised to settle PDQ

If she does take legal advice that's probably in your interests as I would be astonished if she was not advised to settle PDQ

Agreed. She’s hoping you’ll crack. If see gets proper legal advice I bet OP will get a starting offer to settle.

Well done OP, the world needs strong women like you who refuse to accept this sort of discrimination.

Those people saying this is unfair on the employer are, quite simply, wrong. Your rights are protected by law and it is absolutely correct that you should fight for them, otherwise this shit will never change.

Women have babies. This is necessary for the continuation of the human race and it shouldn't impact on our employment rights and opportunities. Discrimination against women is what's unfair here.

@Summersunandoranges not true about Hiring a man - my husband and I plan to share the leave when our baby arrives - so yes he will be taking several months off work to look after his child and I will be back at work! It’s not just woman who take the leave!

So technically it could be a risk to hire any man or woman of a certain age in case they have a baby 😂

I can’t believe a lot of woman’s attitudes on here it’s just awful

I have just been through this whole thread and want to commend you for seeing this battle through! You are definitely doing the right thing, if employers got away with this sort of behaviour then they would all do it so it’s brilliant you are making a stand. Good luck and keep us posted!

KaptenKrusty good for you but in what way is what you’ve said relatable to this issue?

Has your DH applied for a new job stating he will be off for a few months shortly after his start date? Still a few months isn’t the same as up to a year though is. Hope his new employer doesn’t mind too much!

If you’ve never owned a business none of you will understand and will only see it as wimens rights

But as a women businesses owner taking on an already pregnant woman who can only give me a few months of work - I see it as a PITA.

I have owned a business and have been in senior management of businesses. I've had a new employee tell me on her first day that she was pregnant.

Yes, it is a bit of a pain as you now have to recruit maternity cover, and you may have to pay them more than you would a permanent member of staff. But it is one of the risks of being in business.

Compliance with the law is not optional. I would never refuse to take on someone I believe is the right person for the job just because I'm worried she might go on maternity leave.

And yes, with the current parental rights, you may well recruit a man only to find that he is going to be off for a few months shortly after his start date. It can happen.

If you can't handle these things without breaking the law you shouldn't be in business.

But as a women businesses owner taking on an already pregnant woman who can only give me a few months of work - I see it as a PITA.

The point is though, as much as it might be a pain in the arse for you as an individual, it’s important to have these protections in place for the benefit of society as a whole. What you think of it is neither here nor there really, you don’t get to opt out of the law because it inconveniences you. That said, from the mocking way you’ve written about women’s rights I don’t think anyone on this thread is going to change your mind.

Women have babies. This is necessary for the continuation of the human race and it shouldn't impact on our employment rights and opportunities. Discrimination against women is what's unfair here.

100% agree. I have never been pregnant and don't know if I ever will be, but I have been asked questions in interviews that lead me to believe they are trying to find out if it's in my plans. I don't wear a wedding ring just incase they make assumptions. I've also heard colleagues say it's a pisstake for women to get pregnant less than two years into a job and all kinds of rubbish.

I don't want to have to put up with this for another 15 years or so just because I'm a woman of childbearing age. Attitudes need to change to respect the biological nature of being a woman and why having babies is necessary and a part of life. Some employers need to understand why these laws are in place. If women didn't have babies there would be no workers in the future after all.

I wish I had challenged my employer when I was pregnant 4 years ago. They moved my entire team to a different department to retrain but left me and another woman behind as we were pregnant. The other woman only had 2 weeks before maternity and could not complete training before then but I still had months to go. I was actually told that I was not worth training because I may not come back after having the baby. Really wish I'd been brave enough to do what you did op especially since my skill set is more suited to the new role than the one I was stuck with.
I didn't go back after baby but that was due to an incompetent company and other external factors

I wish I'd challenged my employer when I was pregnant with DD1. I started a role in a specialist department with an intensive training programme. Once they knew I was pregnant, they said they wouldn't train me because I'd just forget it all.

You said men don’t need to disclose if their wife was pregnant to a new employer because they wouldn’t be going off on a years leave! And I’m saying thats not necessarily true - men have the option to take the leave and the woman can go back to work instead!

I’m trying to say that regardless of if you hire a man or a woman there is always the possibility they will need to take either her a long maternity or paternity leave!

Business owners who think like this are bloody awful to be honest! Lucky that both myself and my husband work in great companies that are very understanding and offer very generous mat & paternity leave !

I can’t believe there are actually business owners who think it’s such an inconvenience- you get the money back from the government so it costs you nothing - the on out annoying bit is doing interviews to find the mat leave cover person - but that’s not too difficult surely

It is quite amazing how many people aren't aware of the paternity leave laws. They were implemented in spring 2015, they're more than five years old. How much of what's gone on in the past half decade has passed them by?

@Summersunandoranges I have owned my own business and still 100% disagree with you. You're so out of touch.

I run a nursery - almost all our staff are young woman - we pretty much always have someone on maternity leave! A little bit of hassle - but we manage!! You just hire a maternity cover staff member and a month or 2 is plenty of time to sort that - you get the maternity pay back from the government so it’s bullshit that it’s costly / the staff we get in for the mat cover usually stays on as another maternity cover inevitably pops up again! Obviously not the same for all businesses

I’d love to find out what @summersandoranges company is so I can tell everyone to avoid her and never apply for a job there - cus it sounds awful

Hello, just in the interest of people who wanted to keep updated the company has now asked to go through judicial mediation. I have contacted Citizens Advice and Legal Aid and I am on the right track to my case being taken by them.

I am well aware this thread is nearly full so I will start a new one to keep everyone updated.

Again thank you everyone who has been so kind and wished me luck etc on the post.

Hope everyone’s keeping safe!

Good luck

Good luck
I didn't think you could get legal aid this sort of thing so that is good,legal advice can make a big difference

Is that a good or a bad thing for you?

Only just found this thread and it is so satisfying that OP is standing up for herself.

I also am heartily sorry for anyone @Summersunandoranges employs. It’s also fortunate they haven’t disclosed anything about their business because I would 100% never patronise a company who’s owner holds such bigoted views and shows contempt for the law.

@Char1997 please post a link on here so we can all hop across!

Good luck OP, you are doing the right thing even if some posters can't see it.

last post on this thread!
new one linked here!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_matters/3928655-Job-offer-withdrawn-continued