Work

[avacadooo]

So I'm 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant and I work with a private company doing care, I work with a girl who has a boyfriend who basically lives with her.
The guy is a nutcase, he leaves bodily fluid around, doesn't have great hygiene in regards to using the bathroom and has deliberately rubbed raw meat onto my food items and enjoys making the carer's lives hell.
I'm so stressed with work because of this guy but I can't go to another person as there's no other clients I can work with for the area.
What can I do to protect myself and the baby?
My boss is fantastic and she's trying to sort the situation out but I'm still scared on how to deal with being pregnant in this whole situation and I'm just worried instead of happy for a very wanted baby.
I honestly don't know how I'm going to cope because I'm already feeling tired and sick and I don't want anything to happen as I'm already petrified of having a miscarriage.
Sorry I really need to talk to someone I'm at breaking point.

The service user -unfortunately- has the right to have whoever she wants there so your boss needs to risk assess and either decide that a)whilst he's a dick he isn't a serious risk and everyone needs to put up with it, b) he is a risk to everyone and the SU is given the choice that either he isn't there or the care package be removed or c) it is only you that he is deemed a serious risk to on account of being pregnant. If it's c you should be being removed and given alternative duties/calls IF possible.

Oh yeah I mean it's totally her choice to be with this dick I just mainly want to know how I can prevent myself from catching any nasty shit from him touching every surface with disgusting hands and putting raw meat everywhere.
And I needed to rant cause I'm hormonal and stressed about everything going on right now.

Aw it sounds really tough . All you can really do is be scrupulous about your own hygiene; regular handwashing, gloves and aprons worn for cookery and personal care tasks, change your clothes once you're finished and wash separate to everything else.

It is pretty shit at the minute. I can take it when he verbally abuses us and when he decides to keep us awake all night but his hygiene is proper scaring me, he rubbed raw pork all over teabags I ended up using and then told me he did it after I drank the tea
Luckily it was a few months ago, I can barely cope with the nausea right now so I want to avoid food poisoning.
Thank you so much for your advice, I feel like I might be buying quite a bit of hand sanitizer too and just wearing gloves all the time!

Wow that sounds tough.

I would wear gloves, wash your hands often and maybe keep a stash of food/teabags somewhere he can’t access? I don’t know how practical that would be, but I wouldn’t be afraid of stashing teabags down my bra if I had to!

I've just told my husband I'll be taking in my own spoon and bowl so I can eat my bowls of soup without fear!haha if I could fit tea bags into my bra but I've barely got space for the girls right now 😂
Gonna speak to my boss and ask to drop a shift a week to ease off the stress a bit and maybe get day shifts so I don't have to eat in that house!

Can you take a lunch bag with that stuff in it and stick it in your bag or car if you have one? I work in a naice office and we all bring our own crockery rather than using the same stuff as our lovely -but less than hygienic- visitors.

Does you boss know your pregnant? If so they should be doing a risk assessment, and if they deem this service user inappropriate for pregnancy they will have to find you alternate duties or send you home on full pay.

The service user can have who she wants at the property as far as I'm aware, so that's not going to change they may need to get another care assistant in and maybe put you with a different service user.

www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/faqs.htm

You may need a doctors note before they can put this into place.

@undomesticgodde55 yeah they know. Got signed off cause of HG and went back today. It was awful.
I'm really not coping well at all and think I might have to just quit because I don't feel safe.
There's no way they'll put another carer on or move me either.

Has your workplace not done a risk assessment OP? I am surprised they are allowing you in there x

Not yet, got a meeting the end of January for it

Crikey. It's tough, I would not want to be in that situation. Is it feasible to stop working? I know this will implicate maternity pay etc so I'm assuming not.

Ultimately you don't want to put yourself or baby at any risk though, no job is worth it. I work I as a vet nurse, so lots of potential hazards for pregnancy. A vet once saw someone ask me to do something they shouldn't have while I was pregnant... she stopped them and told me that although it was my job, it is 'just' a job and that no job was worth potential harm to my baby.

She said this job you have while you are pregnant is just a moment in time. Other jobs are out there, and not to ever risk my health or my baby's health for someone else.

What she said really stuck with me and from then I refused to do anything I considered risky, even if other pregnant nurses would do them and in would be considered a snowflake.

I now work at a different practice anyway and my old work place is a distant memory... I'm so glad I didn't take risks for them.

I know it's different to your situation as you either have to do it or quit, but this guy sounds unsafe. When you have your regular risk assessments, are these issues not flagged? How will your boss reduce your risk?

Don't quit, you will lose out on maternity pay etc. When baby arrives. Ask you Gp to sign you off until work have carried out a proper risk assessment. While you are pregnant any sick leave you take does not count towards your sickness record because if workplace discrimination. Especially at this early stage stress can be harmful. Take a look at your work policies etc. These rules are across the bored in the UK so you workplace needs to abided by them

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/rights-while-youre-pregnant-at-work/

Read this before you put that notice in. You may have to pop on some big girl pants if your like me and not confrontational, but remember you have rights as an employee. Stand your ground especially with care work your baby needs you and you need to pay rent etc.

I hope this helps and let us know how you get on

Hey guys, here's an update. Things have really escalated in the past week to the point I was threatened so I'm too scared to go back and trying to find a solution.

That’s awful :(

Can your bosses not do anything?

Hope you can get something sorted soon x

Are you in the UK? You could ring the citizens advice as per the person suggested earlier or contact the HR department of the company you work for. I would be tempted to ring citizens advice though for advice tomorrow morning first thing. In the mean time you could get signed off from the doctor due to stress regarding the situation. That way you shouldn't loose your maternity pay.