When to tell work?

[zinaida]

I am 5+2 with our first so very early days! My husband and I had planned not to tell anyone until the 12-week scan, but I read somewhere on mumsnet that it was recommended to tell your work at once - otherwise you have to be quite vague about doctor's appointments, sickness, and why you don't want to lift anything heavy.

Well I have recently had a bad back and so far no sickness, so there's only the appointments to be vague about, so what do you think? My boss is really nice and I do think he will have trouble finding maternity cover for me, so more notice would be good from his point of view. On the other hand, I feel quite superstitious about telling anyone this early on, as I feel like I will jinx it (which I know is stupid).

What did/are you planning to do?

Well, I am now 16 weeks and have still not told my work . Partly because I was actually 7 weeks when I started the job and also because I lost my last baby at 22 weeks to a genetic condition so didnt want to tell anyone until I knew we didnt have to face that again.
Have been given the all clear so am planning on sharing with work next week if i can still conceal my bump in uniform.
I think that if the job you do poses no risk then waiting until 12 weeks is totally fine, good luck.

I didn't tell work till 12 weeks but apart from nausea was able to carry on as normal. I only had 2 appointments to lie about n just said they were drs ones. At end of the day it's completely up to you

I was planning on telling work after the 12 week scan but I had such bad morning sickness that I told them around 9 weeks I think. It meant that I could be off sick and not have to worry about it counting against me.

I think it depends what you are personally feeling and what sort of place you work at. If they won't mind/get suspicious of you having time off for appointments etc, then I think tell them after the scan but otherwise, it can be a big weight off your shoulders to do it earlier. I don't agree with the jinxing thing as a reason- but I generally try to be as positive and rational as I can be. Even with all these pregnancy hormones!

Perhaps leave it for now and see how you get on. When the morning sickness kicks in (which it may not do) you'll be able to think about it then.

I found out 2 days before we were due to move office so told my boss when I was 5 weeks as I knew I didn't want ot have to lift heavy boxes full of files etc. I am lucky that my employer is family friendly. They do have to do a risk assessment though to make sure you are not doing things you shouldn't.
Whenever you decide to tell, your boss should keep it completely confidential until you decide you are happy to tell everyone else. If your company is small then your boss may appreciate the heads up so they can sort out a replacement for maternity leave etc.

Tell them when you're ready - after the 12-week scan is fine. Until I was ready to go public, I just said I had a hospital or a doctor's appointment and didn't specify what it was for as medical appointments are personal. My boss and colleagues soon guessed the reason anyway, but knew better than to ask before I wanted to tell them!

Thanks everyone - think I will wait till after the scan then. You're all really helpful!

You must tell your employer you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due.

So any time before that is fine, and it's up to you to decide when you are ready to do this.

It is much easier to secure paid time off for ante-natal appointments if they know! And obviously they cannot be expected to carry out a pregnancy-related H&S check if they do not know.

I was able to tell my line manager in confidence, which dealt with day-to-day issues like nausea and appointments. I did that quite early on this time because I'd had 2 MMCs which meant a lot of anxiety this time - so he'd know why I might be more stressed than usual.

After the 12 week scan I officially notified the company (letter to HR etc and generally going public).

Well I've just told work at week 20, party because I wanted to wait until after the 20 week scan to make sure everything is ok, and partly because I only returned to work from my last lot of maternity leave 12 weeks ago

I told work as soon as I knew and in ways I'm glad I did as now been signed off 6 weeks with HG. On the other hand they have been arseholes about me being off sick. So its a catch 22 situation