Pregnancy and work requests

[Frillyhorseyknickers]

I told work at 12 weeks I was expecting, gave them my due date etc. They didn't seem too thrilled which I expected as I'm a few earner with a lot of clients in a professional environment which is fairly male dominated after the secretaries. HR have been great.

However, I do a lot of lone work out on valuations and inspections and I'm not really thrilled I'm still expected to drive all over England meeting strangers to value large, old and offer vacant buildings. In addition, my boss had asked me not to say anything in the office until they have notified clients. Can they do that? I'm not putting my personal life on hold so they can decide when I tell my clients - is this normal? Ima bit 😢 Because I want to tell people in the office and I'm expected to keep it a secret. AIBU?

ETA - I'm now almost 15 weeks

Congratulations.

Women have fought hard for equality at work. And that includes equality to continue working while pregnant. What's the problem with driving around at this stage?

Presumably the delay in informing clients is so they can explain how your maternity will be covered so clients don't head off to other businesses.

Yes I'm very grateful we have equality to continue working whilst pregnant - it's not fair only the men working whilst they are pregnant

The issue is that I have been having a few dizzy spells. Driving in itself is not a huge issue but I do worry about working in large old buildings in case I have a dizzy spell - my job on site can be difficult enough without not having all of my wits about me, at times.

I have long standing clients on long fixed term contracts and to be honest as I work in a three tier team (with me being in the middle) it wouldn't take a great deal of staff planning to ensure we have a team and go back to clients.

I'm a small size 12 and I'm starting to get a bump - am I seriously expected to dress in horrible baggy shirts for another three or four weeks because my boss asked me to keep it a secret? I just think it seems unfair when I want to share my news?

This was brought up a while ago. But then it was somebody who had to do some lifting. You should ask them to do a risk assessment. Not sure about the legalities of asking you to keep it a secret. But there's absolutely nothing they could do about it if you told. It's annoying but I'd probably go along with it if I thought it would help the company.

They should do a risk assessment. Can you email your boss and say as you are starting to show, you will need to start telling people in the next week or so. I didn't tell anyone until 16 weeks and no one had noticed (and I'm a size 8). If you mostly work with men they are even less likely to notice!

I told my work at 4 weeks as I work in emergency services so I had to be placed on restricted duties. I have suffered terribly from sickness so no way I could have hidden it. I'm very grateful that I can carry on working - however I know I can't do the job to the same standard I was before. I spend half the time in the toilet being sick, and due to low blood pressure I feel dizzy a lot of the time. I was honest with work and told them I didn't want to work nights as would be working alone and they accommodated that. They know how hard I work the rest of the time and that I'm a good enough worker they want to help and retain me. Another woman is pregnant in the office - further ahead of me. She hasn't said anything at her risk assessment because of the attitude above, and has soldiered on. She is really struggling and is constantly moaning about how unhelpful work are.

Pregnancy can be a fantastic time for some, and an extremely difficult time for others. If you're struggling, tell someone and have it documented. Don't just go to them with complaints, but structured reasoning and reasonable adjustments.

I second the post about having a risk assessment.

I can understand why your work would want a plan in place before you tell clients- do you need to tell them at all?? However telling colleagues I can't understand why this would need to be a secret.

Can you speak to your boss again? If you want to be rebellious don't tell people and start wearing tight clothes!

You should be risk assessing anyway pregnant or not and following line working guidelines.

I'm guessing you're a surveyor? I'm my firm it's up to the individual how jug they go out / to site and proper risk assessments need to be in place. If that means no driving / lone working / desk based activities so be it.

I can't see what the risks are? Maybe at 8 months you won't fit behind the wheel or be able to walk up lots of flights of steps but until then everything should be as normal.

Dizzy spells might be irregular food in take and if not get the gp to do blood tests.

I would keep it to myself about pregnancy for as long as possible. IMO 12 weeks is very early.

By all means as for risk assessment which possibly hasn't been done before but I would expect HR to be on top of this.

Assuming you want to go back to work when baby is born I would do everything repectfully and keep records.

If the OP is having regular dizzy spells, then I wouldn't be happy with knowing she's on the road travelling long distances alone. As mentioned I have low blood pressure and regular dizzy spells - no amount of eating regular can help with this. When I have a dizzy spell I have to sit down with my legs raised - I couldn't do that on a motorway or in an old vacant building.

If the op were to have a car accident due to a dizzy spell, and knew beforehand she is likely to have one, I would be surprised if the insurance would pay out - and would dread to think what would happen if she harmed someone.

Thanks for the responses, I spoke to my line manager yesterday and I feel as though I have resolved my concerns.

bagit I'm suffering with dizziness as a side effect of pregnancy. As above, the driving itself is not an issue at the moment. I broke vertibrae in my back out hunting four years ago so the midwife is expecting that at some point I will struggle with the sitting for long periods when the bump grows - I've discussed that with work. My main concern is having a dizzy spell when I am at an isolated place, alone.
shirley I always do my own risk assessments, however it isn't really acceptable for me to decline instructions based on them. We have agreed I can take a graduate out of the office with me to assist, which I'm happy with. I suppose I wanted to know whether I was unreasonable to even bring this up with my boss. Mixed bag as ever on mN :)

Not sure if it the case with your work risk assessment but mine had a large part about lone working and how it should not happen whilst pregnant due to physical demands of the job, perhaps yours has something similar?
With regards to telling people, it's your decision at the end of the day as it's your body and your pregnancy. Stand your ground in a professional manner

It's possible for a doctor to give you a fit note that says unless certain conditions are met you are not fit for work. So they could say that you can't drive long distances or have to work reduced hours. If the employer can't meet the conditions then you are signed off. Might be something to consider if the dizziness/back issues continue or get worse. I was signed off completely for 8 weeks of my pregnancy and then returned to work on reduced hours for the remainder.