Early pregnancy on furlough

[MichelleOR84]

Anyone else in their first trimester and on furlough leave ? Have you told work yet ? When do you plan on telling ?

Not on furlough but working from home. Was brand brand (seriously brand) new to the role before lock down started. But didn't qualify for furlough.

Currently 6 weeks and I'll be telling them after 12 weeks and we've had the first scan whether or not I'm back at work.

Hey, OP. I am on furlough and just over 12 weeks waiting on my scan.

I haven't decided when to say yet - on one hand, id like it to be in person as after a bit of a TTC journey, there are some people I'd like to tell face to face as they have been a great support.

On the other hand, I might not be back to work until I'm 20 weeks and I think walking in with that bombshell might be too much 😂

@wannabebump I feel the same ! I’ll likely not be back until 20 weeks at this rate . I’m nearly 12 weeks now but my scan isn’t until 13+6 weeks .

Even my bosses are on furlough so I don’t know if there is a point in telling them until I return . And I can’t just show up pregnant lol. It’s my second pregnancy so I’m already sharing now so by 20 weeks I’ll be proper pregnant.

I’m leaning towards calling my boss closer to when I’m returning to work . I just don’t wanna bother now while on furlough when it’s not really necessary yet .

Hello, I've been wondering what to do too. I have been with my company for 6 months (literally signed me off probation the week of lockdown). My boss is still working but our team are on furlough until the end May. We work alongside salons so could be longer. I work for a big corporate company and we are getting full pay which is amazing. I'm just worried this might result in redundancies. I'm worried about telling them too soon and risking my job. I know they're not allowed to discriminate but how could I even prove they were if I got made redundant. I feel like I can't tell family and friends until I've told work. I'm currently only 10 weeks and got my scan in two

@rainbows20 oh I feel for you !!! That’s a tough one !

I also feel like I can’t announce my pregnancy properly until I tell my work . I was thinking about redundancies myself . If they were making a bunch of people redundant it would be hard to prove I was discriminated against .

I know yeah because obviously they have very good reasons to make people redundant. I imagine a lot business will have to. It's just worrying isn't is

From an HR point of view of what furlough is (a job retention scheme) I would tell your employer as soon as possible. This will protect you from redundancy (as much as possible anyway) should lockdown be extended and the current government funding not extended.

It also means than you will be fully accounted for in any return to work planning.

I already know that once lockdown is relaxed I will not be returning to my place of work before maternity leave (expected to be end of September/early October). My work have already put contingencies in so I
will be working from home until then.

You don’t have to call your boss, just email HR to notify them. As soon as you do that your protected period begins.

Thank you very much for that it's really useful. I guess like you said as soon as they know you're pregnant your protected as such, they know they can't discriminate. I would rather give more notice anyway as I feel guilty as I've only been there 6 months