Problems with Work

[SuzieNI]

Hi, I was wondering if any other pregnant ladies were having difficulties with their Line Management at work. I have been working for the same company for 11 years and have an excellent attendance record etc. I am now 28 weeks pregnant and have already informed my work that I intend to commence my maternity leave 4 weeks before my due date as a consequence of complications with my pregnancy. I was called in for an interview on Friday afternoon just before leaving work whereby I was informed that my Line Manager (this was conducted by another manager as my Line Manager obviously couldn't be bothered to do it herself) had concerns about my performance and attendance record since becoming pregnant. To put the whole thing in context my annual appraisal is 4 months overdue and the interview was to highlight the fact that this would be reflected in my report. Now Im not worried about this as I fully intend to tackle this issue head on and have researched my rights etc and if need be will take it all the way to court but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced poor man management/discrimination during their pregnancy and if so how did they deal with it?

didn't want you to go unanswered so just showing my support. All sounds very out of order. You know your rights but try to stay calm and get things sorted asap with your manager and a HR rep if you have one. Pregnancy related sickness and time off shouldn't go on your long term record and you should have a documented pregnancy risk assessment covering your work, priorities and support you may need.

As a mum to be you are very well protected by the law and entitled to all sorts of time off, sick time and reallocation of work while pregnant.

I am lucky and have a really good HR manager who makes sure everything is followed to the letter. If my manager had acted like yours she would have been down on him like a ton of bricks.

Good luck

Second what slimak says, get HR involved. If they are any good at all they will deal with your crap line manager for being completely out of order.

Attendance relating to anything with your pregnancy can not be held against you, whether that is antenatal appointments or illness. Performance - well, this is a different area, e.g. if you did anything that was considered gross misconduct they can take action (just as an extreme example!) but they need to give specific examples with proof, not just vague "you haven't been performing as well" comments and if there are aspects of your job which are not suitable due to being pregnant then they do need to look at adjusting it.

It does sound like your line manager is just not very supportive or understanding of you being P though. Do you want to go back after ML?

It doesn't stop this being a horrible stressful situation for you though. My only advice (I am in a somewhat similar situation) is to stay strong, take offers of help and support from friends, union, etc and put your health first. Having a supportive GP will really help as well if you need to be signed off during the process if it all gets too much.

Thanks guys, I am in the military so I won't be going back to that particular job but will be returning to work after ML. They haven't conducted a Risk Assessment and their interpretation of "poor performance" is in relation to a request I made to be removed from a roster that required me to work on my own from 2200hrs until 0800hrs the next day.

I am trying to stay strong and will fight this all the way because I will not have another pregnant women experience this level of neglect/discrimination. Hope you all have a nice Christmas and a very happy New Year :).

Hi Suzie,

good luck with your fight.

I've been lucky with my work but I know of others that haven't been including someone who was posting here are few weeks back about problems with the targets she was being set.

I think your request to be removed from the roster sounds totally reasonable and should have been enacted as a response to your risk assessment.

Keep posting if you need more support, we're all here for you. Sending very unmumsnetty hugs

Sounds like you are determined to fight this all the way and I salute you. I have worked all the way through my pregnancy and had three different temporary jobs. I found it very hard to find work and experienced no end of discrimination because of my pregnancy but at no point has my performance in my work ever been compromised because of my pregnancy. I have not been in a position to "fight" anything as you have limited rights as a temp worker and any discrimination I suffered would be very hard to prove. Your employers have been so BLATANTLY discriminatory that I am so glad you are standing up for yourself. Good luck!

It doesn't help that the welfare system view pregnant women as perfectly capable of working, yet most employers are very prejudiced and find subtle ways to discriminate against pg women all the time. Good on you for making a stand. I'm sure MN will provide lots of support if you waiver. x

Sorry, just read back on your previous post and realised you are in the forces. "I salute you" was not a crap attempt at a really bad joke as it may appear

Gliteryballs, I thought that was a genius response!!!! So glad I have found this forum and it is very distressing to find that women are still being discriminated against whilst bringing life into this world, life that will sustain this economy and support these insensitive individuals in their old age! Am going to tackle the issue tomorrow when they are both back in work, I'll let you know how it goes! Hugs to everyone xx

I know - I've never been a raging feminist but I have always been a very independent and hard-working person. I love being pregnant but it makes you realise that even in this day and age there is still a lot of inequality, and at some points I have never felt so demoralised. So glad to hear you are taking it further, the law itself is right and there to protect women, but it relies on people actually doing something about it when it is broken by ignorant people who think they can get away with it!

If you're in a union (do they allow that in the forces?? I suppose not actually!) that would nail it for you; otherwise get onto HR or someone more senior who will understand the implications of having a discrimination case brought against them. Your manager sounds hopeless. I admire your attitude so much!