Terrified I'll lose my job due to pregnancy :(

[CobaltRose]

Hi everyone.

I'm only six weeks gone with my first child, so won't be telling work for a while, but I'm worried about what will happen once I do.

I work for a VERY small family run business. It's owned and run by a husband and wife and their son, and there's only a handful of part time staff. There's no HR department. I've worked there for nearly three years and so far have enjoyed it. They're a nice company to work for and I get along well with my bosses, but I'm terrified of the impact my pregnancy will have on the business.

I plan to work for as long as I possibly can, but of course I'll need to have the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy off, and some time off after bubba is born. I obviously cannot guarantee how long I'll want off until I've had baby, but I'll imagine it'll be at least a few months.

With other former staff members, they've ended up being replaced after taking extended time off. For example, a former colleague was diagnosed with a chronic health condition. She was allowed time off for hospital appointments, but when she told them that she needed an operation and would be off for at least two months, she was told that they couldn't guarantee that her job would still be there when she got back! Sure enough, she was replaced.

A similar thing happened to another colleague. He was planning on going backpacking for three months and was also subsequently replaced. However, he was planning on quitting anyway.

I'm terrified that I will also be replaced once baby is born. On the one hand I get why it's not really feasible for a very small company to keep jobs open for extended periods of time, but on the other hand, couldn't they just hire someone temporarily to cover me until I come back? I enjoy my job and so definitely want to return.

I know it's technically illegal to fire someone for being pregnant, but not if that's not the reason given! Perhaps they'll treat my absence differently because it's pregnancy related... I can only hope.

I really don't want to lose my job and am utterly terrified to tell them I'm pregnant

It would be illegal to not allow you maternity and pay

Join a union if you are worried, they can assist you

Statutory Mat Pay is paired for by the government, so you will be entitled to that regardless. They also have to keep your position open for you for 12 months, they have to bring you back into a job one the same level with very similar responsibilities. If they don't, they won't have a leg to stand on.

Just make sure you do everything right. In a small business sometimes sending an email seems really formal, but make sure you have a written copy of you telling them. I'd leave it until you can't physically hide it. Make sure you've thought about how king you want off, then send them an email with the news and let them know how concerned you are about the impact of this on the business so you want to sit down and make a plan that works for everyone. If you tell them well in advance that you are going for a year, they can hire a fix term employee, you can do a good handover/training and it won't have much of a financial impact on the company at all. They will know your return date, if they want to keep the other person on they can, but they can't not have your job available for you when you want to come back.

Good luck.

I would do all communication about the baby via email (or follow up all conversations with an email detailing points made on both sides).

The basics you need to know are...
You are entitled to SMP which they can claim back from the Government.
You are not legally bound to tell them until 25 weeks pregnant.
You are entitled to a full year off on Maternity Leave and your employer has to work on the assumption that you will use that year unless you tell them otherwise.
You are entitled to all usual benefits all other employees get (annual leave, payrises, etc).

Thank you everyone for the kind and helpful replies!

I'll definitely inform them formally via email, that way I've got a record. Thankfully I've not had many symptoms (slight nausea and tiredness but that's pretty much it) so it's not obvious I'm pregnant, and I don't plan on telling them until I'm at least 12 weeks gone. Plus, hopefully that'll prove to them that I can still perform my duties even when pregnant!

Thanks again everyone, I'm not feeling quite so terrified now

Just read that you are only entitled to maternity leave if you have a contract of employment. As far as I'm aware I don't....

IF you’ve worked for them for a decent length of time then you do have a contract of employment with implied terms. Your employers have screwed up by not putting it in writing but that’s their problem not yours.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/basic-rights-and-contracts/contracts-of-employment/#h-employee-s-right-to-written-details-about-the-employment-contract

Yeah, I've worked for them for nearly three years.

I do get a payslip, so perhaps I have a contract too. I've just never seen it!

I think it would be good to contact citizens advice/acas/maternity action to get some advice. Definitely don't say anything just now until you get some clarification on your position.

You definitely do have a contract even if nobody’s ever written it down. The precise terms may be a matter of dispute in some areas but you can normally work out most of it from what’s happened in practice, your payslips and legal requirements.

I’d also advise that you do research on your childcare options and costs to decide whether you definitely do want to return to that job, full time or part time, because that will determine your tactics.

They would have a hard job saying you didn't work for them if they have been paying you a wage and giving you payslips for 3 years.

You know what, they might surprise you.

But if they try to do what you fear they might you are protected by the fact that having worked for them for 2 years you have accrued some employment rights regardless of being pregnant.

Maternity rights mean that legally they have to offer you your job back after maternity leave as long as you stick to the statutory timescales.

They can't sack you for being pregnant. They would have to come up with a very good reason to sack you for any other reason.

Your colleagues who took extended time off didn't have the same protections (the backpacker made a choice, but I feel sorry for the person who needed the op. That's a bit shit).

Do you have annual appraisals at all?

Not annual appraisals per se, but I've received a couple of pay rises in my time there. I've never had any complaints about my work performance before so if they suddenly started being unhappy with me after I tell them I'm pregnant, it'll certainly be suspicious.

Part of me thinks they'll be more understanding because they're a family run business and not a big corporation, but you never know.

Thanks everyone

I work for a small business too and what made me feel a bit better was finding out that they don't actually fork out for your maternity pay..... they claim it back from the government. So if you agree on the amount of time you will have off and ask them to get in maternity cover then they aren't loosing any money and have someone in doing your work in the mean time congratulations on your pregnancy OP and I hope it all goes well.

I am in a really similar situation. There are five people in my company. I think you are pretty well protected during pregnancy and leave. I only get statutory pay. So the government pay that. So I do t feel to guilty. Plus I live in London so need to save a lot of money each month for statutory pay to cover my basic expenses. They were very supportive when I told them at 16 weeks. I think they know they can’t really do much.
It should be the same for you.

My worry is returning to work. I have t discussed how long I’m taking off or returning yet. I want to take 9months - a year. Terrified of telling them that. I also worry about going back as I don’t think I want to go back full time and I doubt they will accommodate that. A year off then a reduction hours is s lot to ask.

In all honesty I think I’m going to start looking for something else during leave. If I have a second child I will never be able to save up for like I am now to cover the shortfall in maternity pay. I really need to be somewhere that can accommodate that.

It is scary but we really should try not to feel guilty. People have babies! We need the next generation. It just so happens it’s women and not men that give birthso we get a hard time.