Work

[rwatson1992]

Hello there!
So I am currently 30 weeks pregnant with my first baby, I am a community health care assistant which basically entails me going into elderly peoples homes and helping them with every day tasks such as showering, dressing, food prep and toileting, I work in three shifts, 6 days a week from 7am to 7pm working in my local area doing mornings, lunch times and evening calls, I don't drive and have been walking my round since I first started.
I told my manager I was pregnant back when I was about 10 weeks, due to excitement and another of my colleges finding out around the same time and even though she mentioned it then and had taken a client which I did at the time off me due to him being unpredictable I have never actually had a risk assessment! But trying to steal a 5 min window with my manager is like trying to get blood out of stone!
I gave in my first request for MAT leave at 24 weeks on the 16th January 2015 stating that I wanted it to start my mat leave on the 1st April 2015 with that in mind I still had four weeks (28 days) of holiday to take before hand, which means I would actually start on 3rd March, it took 29 days and 4 phone calls to find out that I wasn't actually entitled to any more holiday due to them running from totally different dates than I had been told! .. So I wrote a second letter of request on the 11th February asking to start my mat leave 28 days from that day (12th March) .. I still haven't got a reply and today is the 25th February.

For the last two months I have found my job very demanding and tiering, and have tried numerous times to cut down my hours to only be told I need to give them four weeks notice and to fill out a "change of availability form" .. There's no point in doing this I am hoping to leave within two weeks!!
I look after a lady who is in a wheelchair, who only has one leg.. She is mostly independent and manages most things her self but I go in at 7am I help her dress and use the toilet, although she can do most things herself she is proving to be very difficult for me to do as her call means me bending over and stretching and holding her still for long periods of time and it's physically exhausting!!
When I spoke to my line manager she said she would take this lady off me (this was Tuesday 24th march) today I get a phone call off another of my line managers telling me that I have to meet her at the lady's house on Friday (27th march) to "show her why I find this lady so difficult!!!" .. I feel very small and undermined by my managers and I feel this is totally unfair of them!
As you can see my work have done nothing but cause me stress this whole last 20 weeks of my pregnancy and this is really the last straw for me!
My question is really if I go and speak to my doctor, do you think I have enough grounds for him to sign me off! .. I don't think I can cope even for these last (Hopefully) two weeks!

Thanks for reading my essay! ??

Didn't want to read and run! Unfortunately I do not have much advice at all, only that is it possible for you to go above your managers head?

Google ACAS they are experts in employee advice and rights. May be worth a quick call to them and see where you stand and get some advice on how to proceed.

Good luck

Your gp can offer you a fit note with reduced hours and reduced responsibilities as well as signing you off.

If signed off work at 36th week en maternity leave starts at 36 weeks.

Definitely tell gp or midwife or concerns about no risk assessment.

Also copy everything to your HR department and manager of it will help.

I read this in horror at how , quite frankly, negligent your employer is being in not managing the risks to you and conducting risk assessments- let alone challenging you on what your finding hard!

I've been on reduced hrs for a few months now ( down to spd) even though I'm currently doing an office job and the dr has always been fab. I was also on reduced hrs at the start due to horrendous morning sickness.

If anything was to happen due to struggling your employer is leaving themselves wide open to be at fault for not effectively managing the risk to you and I'll be honest- I'm shocked at your stage of pregnancy your still dealing with what you are!

Speak with your GP- explain what your struggling with and they can write a 'fit for work ' note stipulating what measure needs to be out in place ie. what you should be avoiding / or what you should be doing.

Also- demand a risk assessment at work! Your exposed to risks helping people toilet - that alone should have control measures in place.

Good luck- hope you get something sorted.

I echo Cisforcat this is appalling. Do you have an HR department or occupational health? I would also contact them as well as see your GP and tell everyone you can there has been no risk assessment, you're struggling and can they help. For the sake of two weeks, I'd be tempted to just be signed off but as you've not had confirmation of when you can start your mat leave this might not be only for two weeks. It us my payroll dept that need to know when I'm starting mat leave as they need time to sort it out. Might be worth calling them to see if they have a confirmed date and you've just not had the official notice of it.
Good luck but do NOT put yourself at risk. If you do the joint visit on Friday, do even less than you feel able to to make the point you are not physically able.

My work is also an absolute joke. I am a support worker for adults with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. One person is quite violent. I'm only 18 weeks but my manager said I didn't need a risk assessment, when I said I was going to look into it as believed this wasn't company policy, I suddenly had a risk assessment (given me permission to swap if I needed to swap service users) to read and sign 7 hours later.
My company are now saying I can't use holidays before maternity as need to accumulate them before taking them (but can add onto and of maternity when I won't have work) so I am looking into this. I'll be taking maternity as soon as I turn 29 weeks as I can't risk it, how do you replace a baby if something bad happens? Im on annual leave now but have already said I'll be going on the sick if nothing changes when I go back fri. Id go higher than your manager or go on the sick. Good luck