Work advice needed if poss

[jilljill2891]

Hi all, I'm after some advice if possible! I'm 29 weeks pregnant and work is a total nightmare. Basically, the company I work for is going under, all senior management have left except one who works at a weekend on a consultancy basis - meaning no one sees him as its a mon-fri job but he does keep in touch via email. As senior management left, there were two of us left in charge of our respective depts, me being one. They have put me in charge of the finances - I am in no way an accountant or confident with numbers! - as well as the day to day running of the business but have also dropped my salary....so a lot more work and responsibility for less money. There may be a buyer for us which is why the consultant is sticking around but in the meantime we just have to plod on until finances say no more.

Well all of this is making me stressed, I have a much bigger workload, I work some long days, a lot of the time without a break and the office is crazy hot - it's the top floor in a city centre with no air con. There's only three of us left with no one else to back us up so if someone is off the others obviously can't be and can't be off sick. One day last week I wasn't feeling too well but had to go in because someone else was already off. The place could not function on one person and we have contracts in place where it would also be impossible to close.

I have made a docs appointment for next Friday and I'm contemplating asking for a week or two off - is that reasonable? I've not had a day off sick since being pregnant, in fact it's been a few years since being off sick at all! I just feel so guilty for leaving the other two. I've even arranged this docs appointment around days off for the other staff.

I've also been asking this consultant at work about maternity cover and at least getting an agency to sort out cover. I'm really concerned that a colleague is off for two weeks when I'm going to be 34-35 weeks - who says I'm going to still be ok to be there (fingers crossed I am ok!). My husband says I'm mad to be worrying about it because it's not my problem but I can't help it.

I'm just really worried about work in general. Am I being daft and seem like I want to leave because the going is getting tough? (This whole mess at work has been going on since January). Is it even possible to get a sicknote from the doctor for this?

Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading if you got this far!xx

I'm not totally clear - what reason do you want signing off sick for?

Personally I'd be contacting management and warning them that you are struggling and asking what plans they have in place for if you are sick or need to start maternity leave earlier.

Your health and the baby come first - if you are too ill to go in then you have to ring in sick, unless it's your own business then ultimately it's the manager's job to deal with that, not yours!

Contact ACAS. They are brilliant and you can go armed with all the facts. My bosses took heed of all my concerns and implemented changes to my job description etc. Worth a try.

Hi Jill, hoping I can help on a couple if points...

Firstly -what reasoning were you given to drop your salary? Were you consulted with on this? If not there may be potential breach of contract

Has a risk assessment been done/actions put into place prior to senior management leaving? The organisation has an obligation to protect you in the workplace and to me it sounds as though they are very much falling short on this. I appreciate you have this one consultative senior manager remaining, do they have sole responsibility for the org now? A strongly worded email (if phone convo is not doable) detailing how that are not protecting you should wake them up to this... HSE website details maternity specific risk assessments etc

Please don't forget you have a legal right also to attend appointments without concern for any negative action, and certainly speak with your doctor about having time off, your priority needs to be you and your baby, nothing is more important.

Can I suggest also speaking with ACAS if you feel you need more support on your rights and the organisations responsibilities towards you.

Good luck xx

Jill I think your husband is right! The company seems to be taking advantage of your diligence. Is it likely that they will pay anything towards your mat leave if they are in such dire straits? Do you desperately need the money?

If they need you so badly I would drive a hard bargain - say you want a retention bonus, payable immediately (or put in escrow - even if they agreed to it there's no guarantee the money will still be in the pot), to stay on and you're reducing your hours to X to match the reduction in salary. The reality is that your bargaining position is far stronger than theirs - no one is going to want to join them and they need you to keep things going. I note the management consultant is not making him or herself sick with work!!

Jill, if the company is going under (are you in administration or just nearing that point?), and all senior management has left, then there is no conceivable reason for you to work beyond what you find comfortable. Get signed off if you can. Feel free to try, but any attempt to renegotiate your contact will be vv unlikely to work.

Even if the company does find a buyer, you cannot predict whether they will take on any current staff, and any such decision (especially as you are pregnant) will be probably not be based on your current performance. So in the short term you can take it easy. Your colleagues may have to take on extra work - but frankly there is little reason for them to work too hard either. If staff has been reduced to the point you say, the sale of the company will likely be on the basis of transfer of business (i.e. contracts get handed over) not transfer of an on going concern (i.e. your office). It is not your responsibility to save the business.

As for the future - sorry if this is seeming pessimistic, but as it's late I'm trying to be honest - as you are past your 15th week you will receive statutory maternity pay regardless of whether there are further redundancies (in fact that is good for you, any buyer will be more likely to just transfer you to their books), but you will not be entitled to any additional benefits you would have had under your current contract. It is still illegal for them to make you redundant just because you are pregnant - so if your firm does get bought, and you are made redundant but your colleagues are not, then you have a very straight forward claim.

If you were not pregnant, I would say make looking for another job your number one priority. Unfortunately that is not an option for you. Definitely keep your fingers crossed that you will have a job to come back to. In the worst case, and if I were you I would calmly prepare for the worst case, you will get SMP and redundancy to see you through to the point that you need to find a new job - so you will not be left without income without warning. I don't know what/where you work and how easy you will find a new job. Think about preparing your CV now (lots of recent extra experience to talk up!), and start thinking about your tactics for job seeking.

Your only priority is looking after your health, and the health of your baby. Beyond that what will be will be... and you will have an amazing and exciting experience to look forward to before you need to decide on your long term job future. Good luck!!

Oh and no doctor in the world would even think twice about signing you off work for a week or two if you just repeat what you wrote above.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I've never asked a doctor for any time off sick before so I don't even know if I have a valid reason for it! I just feel guilty for leaving my colleagues in the lurch!

In terms of contract stuff - they told me back in march/April time to either take a pay cut to keep my job or be made redundant. They did know I was pregnant. I had to stay because I couldn't have got another job while pregnant and obviously it was too early to go on maternity leave. I've never signed a contract to agree to it though, it was all verbal.

As there's a buyer in for us I feel like I have to keep working hard to make it look attractive as possible to buy to help my colleagues keep their jobs and for me next year when/if I return after baby.

The company is on the brink of going but my dept is self sufficient as it is able to cover its own costs and as long as we can keep doing that we can stay with the help of this consultant and the board of directors who are still around and they will keep trying to find someone to take us over. I wouldn't mind being made redundant tbh but as I verbally accepted my new terms (I.e. salary) I've apparently lost that option. I don't think it's fair that some others in different depts can still take it and I can't.

The company policy was only ever to get SMP so maternity pay isn't affected with them going under.

Think I will ring ACAS to get some advice.

Thanks so much everyone for reading my whinging!xx