Should I tell my boss early?

[Connelloni]

I’ve just today found out I’m pregnant with DC3, I think I’m 5 or 6 weeks along. At the moment I’m furloughed and my company have been making people redundant. I feel reasonably good about my chances of staying employed but of course there are no certainties.

Given the situation what should I do about telling my employer that I’m pregnant? On the one hand I feel like telling my manager would offer me more protection from redundancy, but obviously I wouldn’t normally tell work til my 12 week scan at the earliest.

Any advice or info on what you’ve done in the same situation would be very much welcomed!

I personally wouldn’t tell them, I think telling them would put you at more risk of redundancy. They couldn’t use that as an excuse to make you redundant but I personally think they are less likely to keep someone who is already furloughed knowing they would also have to pay you maternity pay (if you qualify) once you are on maternity leave over somebody who would return to work.

Jmo though

Definitely don't tell them, while they can't make you redundant because of the pregnancy, you can still be made redundant because your job is no longer available or the company need to save money

Noooo keep schtum!

There's a charity/org called Pregnant Then Screwed who can advise on things like this. They specialise in maternity discrimination.

I was required to by the new risk assessment procedure thanks to covid. I didn't want to for the same reasons as you, furlough and redundancy risk, but my baby's health comes above all that. I'll deal with the rest if and when I need to. My company are on tenterhooks, currently being sued for maternity descrimination so I actually feel safer than ever as a pregnant employee at the moment

Thanks so much for the replies, seems fairly unanimous! I’ll keep quiet as long as possible - much easier to hide a pregnancy when you don’t have to actually see anyone!

Thanks AintOver I actually follow them on Instagram so I will get in touch there too.

And congratulations to you Elephant