Telling work with in probation period...???

[salsasalsa]

Hello, I am 12+4 with twins.
I think I am over the struggling stages now which is good for me at work.
My 12 week scan isn't until next Friday (7th July) when I will be 14 weeks.
Me, my partner, my family are all desperate to get the news out there now (only close family know so far) and once I know they're both okay in there I obviously want to share the news, as is everyone else itching to as they've known for weeks, but I have work friends etc on facebook...
I would love to tell work next Friday as soon as I've had the scan, however, I started my job in January, and am still with in my 6 month probation period.
I have had a review at 1 month, 3 months, and due one any time now for 6!
My line manager will most likely send an email this week or next regarding a review appointment date, however this could be the one time he forgets to do it on time, and also I heard a colleague say he may be away in July!!!
If he is, and my probation review is forgotten/delayed (I'm not going to ask about it as I'm a quiet character and he would suspect something) I was just wondering, if I went ahead and told him next Friday if all is well anyway, with my 6 month review being due, can he use it against me as I'm in my probation period in any way!? I don't imagine they would as they're a great employer, and all my reviews so far have been fine, I think I'm doing well, but I just want to make sure i'm covered...
I just want to be excited and open!

Assume always he can and will use it against you. You don't need to tell them until 24 weeks. So secure your position, reach out for that review and push it forwards before anyone properly guesses, and then tell them when you have your job secure.

Honestly honestly, do not assume he would never do it to you.

Agree with the post above.
Keep it to yourself until you know your job is secure

He cannot legally use it against you but that doesn't mean he won't and it is fairly easy to get rid of someone if they are on probation. Sad but true. Won't hurt to wait a little longer.

Thank you everyone. I think in the back of my head I knew this was the case. My mum keeps saying the same, but at the same time everyone seems more desperate to tell the world than me! If all is okay at the scan next Friday it's going too be a killer but I do value my job too. I am only 5'4 and started at 8 stone and have already put on a stone however, and there is a definite bulge going on down there already!!! luckily my uniform is frumpy enough (hopefully) and will just have to avoid the changing rooms when others are about! Nightmare :) x

I started my job pregnant and told them straight away. I have now been in the role 3 weeks and they have been very supportive. It is illegal to discriminate against you for being pregnant. You can share with friends without putting it on Facebook if you are unsure though surely?

acquiescence a few of my close friends do already know, it's not so much the facebook thing, and I'm more than happy to tell people once I've had the 14 week scan, it's just hoping non one will then put anything anywhere on facebook as I have people from work on there. I just want it all out in the open so I don't feel like I'm hiding from being caught out on something, it's not my style!
It's a shame as I know my employer is good and will be supportive, but I do think it's important to secure my position, even though legally you're right they can't, doesn't stop anyone making up another reason...
Just have to hope its not too far after my scan and that no one finds out before I get the chance to say! X

I was in a probabtion period a few months back when I found out I was pregnant and told them immediately. I was dismissed for 'poor performance' at my next review, it had all been great up until telling them I was pregnant. They were pretty dodgy though and the manager was horrible. It wasn't exactly my dream job so I wasn't that devastated. Definitely secure your position and tell them at 24 weeks!

As others have said, unfortunately you really should wait until you have been told that you have passed your probation (and preferably wait until you have it in writing!). Unfortunately employers discriminate all the time. It shouldn't be that way and the law protects pregnant women, but enforcing your rights is incredibly hard if they behave badly.

I'm sorry if there is pressure from other people to announce this. Hopefully they will stay quiet if you explain how important it is that you pass your probation.

I'm amazed at the feedback here. With a twin pregnancy especially how are you going to keep it quiet til 24 weeks?

It is illegal to discriminate against you on the grounds of pregnancy and by telling them you gain that protection.

You may also need reasonable adjustments and a risk assessment which they cannot do until they are informed.

Also if you have any time off work I'll due to pregnancy related reasons this cannot be counted against you in any disciplinary matters. It is still recorded but cannot be used against you.

And you have no more legal protection once you pass your probation - you have minimal legal rights until you've completed two years continuous service with the company. Passing a probation period gives you nothing other than usually a longer notice period - if they're going to make up a reason to get rid of you once they know you're pregnant they can still do it after your probation ends, and you still have redress to a tribunal process.

I'm sorry those above have experienced discrimination and I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but don't let the probation period thing become a red herring.

I work in HR for a large corporate and would never advise an employee to hide a pregnancy. It's happy news, we need to make sure the employee is safe at work, and it helps the business to make plans to cover maternity leave.

If you work in hr for a large corporate you've experienced things being done the right way obviously Handbag. Many smaller companies don't even have an hr representative. Of course it's illegal to discriminate based on pregnancy everybody knows that but it still happens all the time. As an employee it's incredibly difficult to prove any maltreatment is due to discrimination- the onus is on you to prove this and now with tribunal fees on top of everything very few employees are willing to take action against discriminatory employers which is why many continue to get away with it. I've seen it happen including to myself, and no sadly I wasn't willing to get into a legal dispute.
After you've passed a probation, you at least have a formal record that your performance was deemed good enough to pass- you may even have a formal record your performance has been excellent if you have impressed them so far- and so an employer would have to get quite creative in making up a reason to get rid of you so soon after that. Much harder for them to build a defence against that so it is at least some deterrent to them.
Noones saying wait til 24 weeks- it's only a few weeks past op's first scan til she passes probation. True she will not have rights/ health and safety check til she tells them but most people wait until end of first trimester anyway unless it's a very physical job.

HR in the big company have no idea how I was screwed. But that's the thing with discrimination, it felt at the time like I shouldn't rock the boat with the temp contract they were giving me. I had been promised a perm contract and was told at the beginning of the meeting that it was almost sorted. I then disclose my pregnancy and was told that changes things by my boss! I pointed out the legality of that statement and he backtracked but weirdly 1 month later the chance of the perm contract magically disappeared.

My work is a large company, and they do everything by the book, properly, a university. I believe it is very hard to get dismissed here for anything.

However, I have no been invited to my 6 month review appointment by my line manager, which is Weds 12th July - so the week after my scan, which is next Friday, 7th July, when I will be 14 weeks.
Thank you for every ones help, opinions, advice and responses.

Can anyone help me now with how long after my review appointment I should say? I don't want it to seem like I've just waited for the review and then say, it is just really unfortunate timing.

I am worried that by 14/15 weeks it is going to be visibly obvious, I'm only small and already round and have to get changed in a room with a lot of colleagues morning and evening. Morning sickness seems to have passed though which is fab at work. Xx

If you've had 2 decent reviews so far he'll be pretty hard pressed to get rid of you without discrimination alarm bells ringing. Probationary period doesn't really mean anything legally speaking. You have rights not to be discriminated against from day 1. The fact you have good reviews would back up the fact that you're not a bad employee. I would say the sooner you tell them the more likely you are to be protected against dismissal as the employer will have to be careful. (I'm an employment law solicitor BTW).

My last job I was an assistant to the directors including the HR director who was "restructuring" a department to get rid of someone (it was all very nasty and sneeky). In a meeting she brought it up about getting rid of her and I naively said that I thought you can't get rid of someone when they're are pregnant to which she replied it's a choice not a illness! Do what you can to secure your job x

As soon as your probation date has passed, no matter if you've had a review or letter, you have passed! If you can I would wait until then however if you are showing, have complications etc. you need to put your twins and yourself first and inform sooner. I'd not wait until 24 weeks that's crazy. I have worked as a HR generalist and now HR Manager and it's very different per co. You shouldn't be discriminated against but it does sometimes happen. Whatever happens you have to put you first! X

In neither of my pregnancies did I inform work until I had my 20week scan. Personally I wanted to wait until I was happy that things were okay for me to be open, plus I wanted to get through pay reviews and a change in job contract without that colouring their decisions. I am absolutely aware of what the law says, but really you would need pretty hefty evidence that you were discriminated against. I say this as someone who was discriminated against during maternity leave and had a very costly, legal disagreement to get a resolution. If you had to wait a month or two, then things would be different, but it's a few weeks. Even if you are showing, you have to be the one that legally informs them. I agree that for discrimination purposes you'd have a case if they tried to get rid of you now, but even if you win that dispute you'd still have that stress while pregnant and no job in the months before maternity leave.

When will the midwife give you your MatB1 form? If you get that soon you could always announce to your manager and provide that at the same time. Then if you felt uncomfortable you can always say you were waiting for that to give to them. If not say soon after the review meeting, especially if you are involved in anything physical requiring a health and safety assessment.

Thank you everyone!

I think my plan is... scan is this Friday, absolutely terrified, so that's all I care about anyway, that they're both okay.
In an ideal world... I would love to be able to go in after my scan Friday morning and just say, but I won't... My 6 month review has been scheduled in for the Wednesday after... So I'm going to see how that goes, and I think, my next midwife appointment is Monday after that... So I may go in after that appointment and just say, so that's only two weeks today, 5 days after review, I will be 15 weeks, probably very round, but, I know, no matter how nice I think my employer is I should just definitely wait, even though it's not how I would've liked it to happen, as I think it is going to seem very suspect it's just after my review, but hey ho. Doesn't feel like there will be a right time so just going to have to do it...

On another note... how exactly should I approach my employer with the news!? We have an ok relationship but it's not like I talk to him a lot at all, like what do I go in and say!? He sits in an office with another guy I'd rather not say it in front of at that point lol. I suffer with anxiety and this whole situation is just stressing me out a treat x

They can't legally use pregnancy to end your contract but they can find a small infraction to use instead.

I was 3 weeks pregnant when I told my boss. I had started there 2 weeks previously. I fully expected at my 3 month review for them to tell me it wasn't working out. But it was rather the opposite. I had worked for the company before and had started fertility treatment way back then, so they knew how long we had been trying. They were amazing, even when I needed a month off after being hospitalised for my bp. I went back for one day before I was readmitted and baby was born next day (25 weeks). They have held my job open and said they understand if I don't go back. (Daughter is on oxygen and needs someone confident on it to keep an eye on her all the time). It is for this precise reason I am choosing to go back. They have said I can choose whatever days and hours I want to work. It's not often you get treated so well by a company.

I hope yours treats you well. Ask if you can schedule a meeting just you two or take an advocate with you.

Probation periods are pretty meaningless anyway OP, they usually mark an entitlement to certain benefits and in no way mark employment rights as you dont have these until you have been there for 103 weeks.

You are protected from discrimination from day 1 so it doesn't matter when you tell them about your pregnancy, but IIWM Id tell them asap so its noted.

Congratulations OP!