Being off work sick whilst pregnant.

[Megan91]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone has been worried about being off sick whilst pregnant? I have been told not to worry about it as I'm protected whilst pregnant but I still cant help but worry. I have been off 3 different days over the past week as I have tried to go into work a couple of days but I'm struggling with sickness as I'm in my first trimester. I work for a large company whos policies are very strict with normal sick absences and worry incase this can have an impact on me?

If you're off sick due to pregnancy related illness, they cannot penalise you as it is discriminatory.

Just watch your sickness between weeks 17 and 25 as that is when your SMP is worked out, calculated based on your earnings in that time. You'll be fine if you get full pay whilst off sick though.

I'm 9 weeks and have been off sick with extreme nausea since the start of Jan. I feel pretty bad about it, but I've spoken to my boss and I have sick notes from the GP. I'm on cyclizine for the sickness, but still feel terrible. I work shifts and I would be neither use nor ornament if I was to go in... I would probably end up feeling even worse shifting my sleep pattern around.
You just have to listen to your body if you feel bad and you're protected by law when you're pregnant for any absences.

Thank you for replying, I assumed I would be fine anyway just my conscience playing up 🙄. I have just been given Cyclizine for the nausea I'm really hoping it helps as iv felt awful for weeks. Iv also went off all hot food I can only eat cold things such as fruit and cereals. Struggling with food at the moment so im hoping these will help 🙏

Have you told your work your absences are pregnancy related? The protection will only kick in if they are aware of the pregnancy is all.

If you are really struggling the GP may sign you off for a bit. Just ensure they put "pregnancy related sickness" or similar on the fit note.