At what stage did you tell work?

[theressomethingaboutmarie]

I'm coming up for 17 weeks gone and haven't told work yet. When I was 6 wks pg, our CEO indicated that there would be a redundancy in our department and without saying so directly, made it pretty clear that it would likely be me. I have been waiting to get to the 20 week stage so that I would qualify for SMP but am so evidently pg now that it seems silly to wait and if they did try to let me know, I would make a claim for SMP.

I dont think you have to say anything until 25 weeks...

I've told work this week, I'm 14 weeks. If you feel ready to say something, I would say it. I'm no expert in employment law but I think your boss is on dodgy territory to make you redundant while you're pregnant?

I told my work really quite early so they've known a while. I didn't realise that you had to get to 20 weeks to qualify for SMP. Think they might be on dodgy ground making pregnant person redundant. If you are really worried tho I'd wait till after 20 weeks

I've just hit 12 weeks and I'll be letting my employer know after the 12 week scan. I work in a small office and they need lots of time to prepare.

XX

I have one direct manager here in London, who actually has very little to do with my work, and one indirect manager in New York who I report to daily. I told them both at about 5 weeks because I was already struggling to cope with my workload and didn't know how the MS was going to pan out. I was in the middle of a massive project and just thought - I'd rather they know why I'm off/feeling peaky/clearly not giving a fig about things than feel weird about random days off. I have issues with feeling really guilty when I'm off sick, and the stress of that would have been worse.

Manager here - old guy, like Mr Burns, has a reputation for not handling thing in the correct way (most of the time to his employees benefit ) just laughed uproariously as the team PA has just had her first baby. But I was just frank about it and said I'd rather he know early and would understand my approach to work now. He seemed to appreciate it.

Boss lady in New York - much more modern and likable - squealed with delight, told me lots of lovely anecdotes from when she was pregnant, and is very understanding of my workload. Checks on me all the time, especially when I was really sick with a stomach bug.

I told them at 15 weeks, could not really hide anymore - 2nd pg so belly came out very quickly.
Reaction from the MD : congratulations, I knew it ! I am very happy for you.
Reaction from my direct boss, the FD : we will certainly be closing 2 out of the 3 of our businesses, i.e we will need only one accountant ( I am one of the 2 in the team !!! ) I leave it to you to find a solution if you want to come back part time ... glups glups... but hey, I spoke to a lawyer and I cannot be laid off nor made redudant because of the pg unless they make an proper offer at the end of maternity leave.

I don't know when your baby is due, I am 21week and the latest date by which I must have notified my employer of when I plan to start maternity leave is 14th April 2012. that is 24 weeks. so you can work out your date

Re SMP I think that the 20 week deadline is due to the fact that the MAT B1 certificate will not be given before 20 weeks and HR/payroll dept need this doc to submit SMP to the relevant authorities but you qualify for SMP as long as you have been employed by the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week your baby is due, if that makes sense ?

I told my manager and the rest of my team when I was 14 weeks.
Told the wider team / other relevant work collagues at 15 weeks.
I dont think I could really hide it much longer past that anyway as bump had started to show!!

I told my team leader at 6 weeks as I was really suffering with sickness. HR didn't actually know til 12 weeks, though, as we kept it our secret.

You cannot claim any pregnancy employment rights until you tell them you are pregnant. You wouldn't be able to take to tribunal for example if they weren't officially aware (they can suspect all they like until you've officially told them)

Surely your better off telling them early as if they no your pregnant they are less likely to make you redundant as you could potentially say it's because of pregnancy & sue them

Like the others have said, its illegal to make a woman redundant if they are pregnant so if you think there will be redundancies you will be in a better position if they know you are pregnant or will be able to work out some kind of deal that in your favour. If they don't know you are pregnant then you don't really have a leg to stand on. I told my boss yesterday as I had a mc in Jan and he didn't know what was going on and i felt really bad about that. He's a good guy, and wanted to keep him informed, just in case, I'm 5 weeks.

I told my manager & hr at 6 weeks as I was feeling rough & didn't want them to put me into disciplinary process if I was off sick. Told the rest of the team after 11 week scan as I was so excited!

Have a look on department for work & pensions website about legal rights in pg as it's all spelled out quite clearly what the regulations are there (sorry, on phone so can't link). I agree with others though, think you'll find it harder for them to touch you if you've informed them you're pg. Good luck (& congrats!) :)

Sorry, should have said "its illegal to make a woman redundant because they are pregnant not if.....

I told mine at 6 weeks and a couple of weeks later also put it in writing and made them sign receipt, as there were redundancies happening at the time. My boss laughed and said 'we aren't going to make you redundant you eejit.'

I have similar worries - not yet working but down to final interview for a few jobs. My pregnancy is unplanned and I was travelling when I found out so had quit my job. I desperately need to work now and save as I won't get maternity pay.
I am struggling morally with starting a new job at what could be 16 weeks pregnant. Can I really not tell them for 2 more months do you think?
Sorry to hijack!
Re not being able to make a pregnant woman redundant, I used to work for a record label and they made my boss redundant about a week after she went on maternity leave. Disgraceful - she was the cleverest person there, but music is a sexist old boys club. I think they paid her off well, but still.
I read you don't have to say until 26 weeks - but don't people really show by then???

Was actually quite good friends with my immediate boss and she knew we were ttc so she guessed pretty much straight away due to my inane grinning. I told big boss at about 6 weeks as I was really tired and was worried he'd think I'd developed a drink problem wanted him to know why I wasn't fully up to speed. I didn't tell anyone else at work until after my 12 week scan.

I suppose it depends a bit the type of environment you work in as to what you feel comfortable with. The firm I work with now is quite small and we're a close-knit team with (generally) supportive management. One of my previous employers however was a much larger organisation, and had some interesting ideas about the sort of people who make good team leaders! I could imagine that I would have waited as long as possible if I still worked there.

Also, think they have to tread super-carefully about redundancy (or any sort of dismissal) if you're pregnant eg giving written reasons irrespective of how long you've worked there. Might be worth posting in legal or employment to see if there's someone with specialist knowledge who can help.

Hey Polly, my employers employed a pregnant lady last yr, she wad 3 months when she interviewed and mentioned it in the "any questions" at the end, when we all discovered who had the job I'm shamed to admit we were all shocked but she was genuinely the best candidate for the job and currently on maternity leave with her little girl.
It made me think maybe I should give my employers more credit, they are a rare breed but proves they are out there! Good luck job hunting x

Surely you'd be best off telling them before they make you redundant. I'm certainly no employment expert, but I know you have certain rights if your employer knows you're pregnant, but not if they don't know. I would imagine it would be far more complicated for them to make a pregnant woman redundant. And I think you qualify for SMP as long as you've been working for your employer for at least six months. Good luck!

pollyindia make sure you look into maternity allowances, if you can't find work soon or only get some temp contracts I believe you're still entitled to some form of payment, needs to be claimed through job centre though. I'd also be wary about telling potential employers too early in the interview process as it can cloud their judgement even though they're not supposed to discriminate... Good luck with the hunt!

Thanks for all the feedback. I was thinking of waiting until 20 weeks because as I've 6 years service, I would hit the threshold for qualifying for SMP (20 weeks + 6 weeks stat redundancy pay). I ended up telling them yesterday as I wanted to relax into it but also as OMGBFP and blushingmare said, confirming the pregnancy gives me more rights so I went for it.

I received a couple of emails back (I emailed it to our HR dept address that the CEO and COO are copied in on) with congratulations. Phew! I can finally stop trying to cover up!

Glad you've got that weight off your shoulders, you can enjoy being pg now! (well, apart from the nausea, swollen ankles, needing to pee all the time, sleepless nights... :o )