Telling my manager that I'm expecting - what are reasonable requests from the employer?

[VegemiteSandwich]

Tomorrow morning I am telling my line manager that I'm pregnant and I'm a bit worried about it. Background: I am face-to-face with the public most of the day so every minute is accounted for. Oh, and of course we are short staffed so my news will not leave them overjoyed.

I'm four months pregnant - haven't told work earlier for a couple of reasons. For the last three months I have been really limping a long - yes I know that pregnancy is not an illness, but for me it's been more of a chronic disease: I have been feeling SO ill/stressed/fatigued (thank god I only work part time!).

I am hoping that by telling work that things will get easier.

What is reasonable to ask of them? I do not have faith that they'll voluntarily offer anything to make things easier.

1. What are "reasonable rest facilities"? Once or twice a week I am on the road for half a day and manage this by drinking less the evening/morning before. It is tricky to find services to stop at for a loo stop, and in any case they are pretty manky and I'm generally too short of time to drive around looking for one. Is it reasonable to ask for the rota to be changed so that I'm not out for more than 2-3 hours at a time? Is it reasonable to ask for a bit more time free through the day to allow for the need to run to the loo? I'm getting a bit dehydrated at work as I'm cautious to drink too much water.

1. I am tolerating stress extremely badly at the moment. We're short staffed and this makes things a bit more stressful. Normally I'd cope OK with this but I find it just awful. Am I reasonable in asking for my working day to be less stressful? Like not being put into unfamiliar sites and having a bit more time to do stuff so I'm not constantly running late?

1. Lifting anything heavier than my handbag gives me pelvic pain (already! Had this from about 8 weeks!). I can manage, but it means that everything takes longer - for example 3 trips from the car instead of managing it all in one go. This takes more time. Is it reasonable to ask for a bit of spare time in order to allow for this (as well as the ever-increasing need to run to the loo?).

I know I sound really whingy, but I'm just getting really stressed about work. All I want out of work is to not get sick - which is in both their interests and mine. And also I'd like to not have to spend the day in bed after being at work because I'm utterly exhausted - I think that an element of work-life balance should (might??) be reasonable?

Well done if you've read this essay! Hopefully I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill but I'm a bit worried about it all!

I don't have any 'legal' advice, but I'd say all the things you are considering asking for sound reasonable to me. I would frame it as you said at the end of your post: you want to stay healthy and able to work during your pregnancy.

Perhaps have a think about how your emplyer can achieve all these things so you are presenting some solutions as well. How can you give yourself more time when you are shortstaffed? Could you change your hours a bit to allow yourself more time? Could someone in a different role start to cover aspects of your role?

Oh and don't let yourself get dehydrated, you can find time for loo breaks surely!

Yes to all the questions. Go on the government maternity pay site - google will bring it up.

As you're pregnant your employer is really on a hiding to nothing here (I'm speaking as an employer and not an up-the-duff person here!). So this is in your favour, especially if you phrase it, as already suggested, as looking for ways to enable you to stay working for as long as possible. But first:-
Lifting should be out straight away. That's a big no-no in employer terms.
Again, as already said, you need to stay hydrated - so you need to tell your manager that you will need the loo more. They will have to live with it if they want to keep you, i.e. not pay you sick leave when your GP signs you off because you've made yourself ill! Actually, I believe refusing you this time could be classed as discrimination under the Equality Act.
I'm not sure regarding the driving thing - maybe you could try to be accommodating here and offer to research routes so you can make adequate, timely loo breaks. If you can't, I suspect they will just have to do without you, or shorten your on-the-road times.
In terms of trying to find compromises - can you offer to re-jig your hours to cover their most busy times? Are there other things you are willing to take on at the expense of some of the more stressful things?
Ultimately, they have to accommodate you, pretty much entirely (but of course within reason). As long as you show willing and try to find solutions they should hopefully do the same.
Good luck. I'm going to have to do the same thing in a month or so!

Thanks for your replies. I'm pleased that you're not all thinking I'm being precious. I've written down my aims (no sick days and not being in bed the day after work), my main probs and my suggestions so hopefully it'll all be clear! I have a midwife appointment on Thurs, and the maternity policy says that the midwife or GP having written concerns will result in occ health referral (not that they were helpful with my carpel tunnel syndrome last year!!). But I guess they might be scared of putting a foot wrong if it's maternity related.

The problem with working in a short staffed NHS department is that they can rather lay on the guilt trip when additional work needs to be dished out. But my family are pushing me to be a bit more "selfish" (for want of a better word) about it.

Oh and yes, really, finding 5 mins to go to the loo can be really tricky!

There is a legal obligation for your employer to undertake risk assessments and take care of you under the health and safety at work act. If you go to the HSE website they have details of what should be considered and assessed.

From memory it covers traveling long distances, heavy lifting, stress, working hours and lots of other things.