Work problems

[jellyjem]

This is a what would you do question really.

I'm 25 weeks and absolutely worn out working, mainly from the commute. I leave my house at 8:00am every day, walk 15 minutes to the train station and then have another 15 minute walk the other end when I get off plus the same again when I go home. I don't get home until nearly 7:00pm.

Its killing me, I get leg cramps, the stitch right across my bump and my heart pounds like I've been running a marathon. All this is made worse because I can't sleep at night, I just can't get comfortable.

I've aske my boss if I could work through half my lunch hour and shift my hours slightly starting work 15 minutes later and leaving 15 minutes earlier which would mean I could catch an earlier train home and would be in at about 6:15pm instead of nearly 7:00pm. He won't hear of it. Told me theres no way as we're short staffed at the moment.

I have an appointment with my midwife on Friday, does anyone know if she would be able to force my company to reduce my hours. I still have at least 6 weeks at work before I go on maternity leave and I'm really worried what all this is doing to the baby.

Sorry about the misserable me, me post but I feel so tired and emotional with all this I could just sit down and cry today.

Hi Jellyjem - I'm 22 weeks and also in a stressful, short-staffed job. Last week I was so exhausted, I saw my GP who immediately signed me off for two weeks and has told me not to go back to work until I've seen him again. I've never been signed off sick before, but the relief is amazing - I now have a whole fortnight to relax, eat properly (not so easy in a hectic job) and look after myself and my bump.

BTW I think anti-discrimination law states that if you're signed off for a pregnancy-related reason, it won't affect your sickness record. So please do follow all the great advice on this thread and, if they won't accommodate your request for different hours, take a break - your health is SO much more important than your job.

Best of luck and hope you feel better soon.

Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, but has anyone given you a risk assessment at work? You should have one every 6 weeks and the problem should be addressed in that.

Well - after all that they've agreed to my request to start work 15 minutes later and leave 15 minutes earlier making up the time in my lunch hour. My director said in return he'd like me to arrange all my appointments as early as possible so I don't miss too much time off work. Honestly, you'd think I was asking for the world the huge deal they've made of this, its not even like I'm cutting my hours. He spoke to me like I should be sooo grateful they're allowing me to alter my hours and I still can't actually do it until he's spoken to HR

I'll see how I go with it, if I still feel rubbish after a couple of weeks I will get my midwife to sign me off.

Jellyjem ? sorry you are so tired hon I can empathise with you, I?m a week behind you and getting very tired again.

My commute is very similar to yours and a few weeks back, my blood pressure was through the roof and my MW was making noises about having to cut back on work. I was also miserable because I felt I was always at my worst so I approached my manager and it was agreed that I could work from home twice a week. It makes a massive difference, I can get up at 8 instead of 6 and I can be ?home? at 5 as opposed to after 7 like the days when I have to commute.

I?m sorry your boss is being difficult, that is just not on. I have to say, my company wouldn?t want me signed off early on mat leave (I am working, hopefully until I am 37 weeks) and so they would prefer to give me this concession now. A point worth making to your HR department.

I think your MW will agree that you need to cut back somehow and I think your boss has to take your requests seriously. Have you got an HR department you could involve? Do you have holidays that you could take so you could work 4 day weeks until you go on mat leave or is there any option of starting mat leave early? Can?t remember what the earliest time you can take it is.

Any word from the director yet? Ignore the bloke who is p*ssed off that you went over his head...what can he expect if he's being so intransigent and unhelpful?!

As other people have said, you've got to put you and your baby first and you won't win any prizes for being a real trooper at work. You can usually take a week off sick without a doctor's note so maybe just take a week off, recharge your batteries, and then maybe they'll realise that it's not in their interests to be so unhelpful about your working hours.

good luck!

jellyjem see here about working while you are pregnant.

If in doubt, get your GP to sign you off sick while this is resolved, your employers have responsibilities towards you while you are pg as people have said.

Just to add yogagirl has said that pg-related sickness can't affect your sickness record due to anti-discrimination law. I must correct this. You can't be disciplined for pg-related sickness, but your sickness record is a factual record of sickness absence, so pg-related sickness must be recorded as any other sickness - so your total absence will be affected.

Having said that, do go off sick rather than risk your health, and of course if you went for another job and they were concerned by your absence record, pg-related sickness would not be a problem in the same way as multiple tummy bugs or headaches on a Monday morning..

Not much of a concession hon. I think you need a few weeks off sick - also come back to the New Year thread - you won't feel as isolated and we are all in the same place as you

Thanks Mrs MrsMcJnr I will come and join in again. Just found it quite difficult to keep up with you all

Girls for all you who missed my reply, if you look a few posts down the director has agreed to my original request albeit with one condition and I was made to feel like I should be incredibly grateful .

Hey Jellyjem, don't back down - your employers are really out of line for laying it on so thick and being so inflexible - its not like they're being particularly helpful at all. Frankly, they don't deserve your consideration or commitment.

Useful to bear in mind - this is what the law says (from the Equal Oppurtunities Commission website):

"Sickness during pregnancy

From the beginning of her pregnancy until the end of her maternity leave, a woman must not be treated less favourably on account of any pregnancy-related sickness absence. This applies to her access to promotion, training, dismissal and other benefits.

An employer can ask for proof of her sickness provided a pregnant woman is treated in the same way as other sick employees.

For example, if a woman is sick from the beginning of her pregnancy until she goes on maternity leave, it will be unlawful to discipline or dismiss her, and it is irrelevant if a man who is sick for the same amount of time would be disciplined or dismissed."

Here's the full version:
www.eoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=15660

And thank you - I am totally enjoying my time off work... lots of naps and good healthy food... ahhhhhhh.

lightwind

I honestly cant believe that they made such a song and dance over essentially 30 minutes, which you are not even taking all at once.

Ridiculous.

Hope the 15 mins at the beginning and end of the day make a difference but sounds like your employers are living in the dark ages! I saw this on the HSE website in its guide for pregnant employees - thought it was particularly relevant to you.

"Can I rearrange my
hours to decrease my
stress levels?

If, as a result of your specific risk
assessment, stress has been identified
as a possible risk then your employer
should, where possible, remove the risk.
If that is not possible your working
conditions or hours of work should be
adjusted. This could include changing
your hours of work so that you do not
have to travel during rush hour."

Anyway you sound stressed and a couple of days off with some proper rest might do the trick. They haven't shown any concern for your health or followed the right procedures (risk assessment) so sod them! Hope you feel better soon .

Jelly,

Just to add, if it doesn't work out or you are having more problems, it might be worth posting a follow up on the Employment board. Quite a few people post on there, including me and Flowerybeanbag, who work in the HR/legal area and so can give specific advice. Not sure about Flowery, but I check there more often than this one, so you might get quicker answers.

This is not, before I offend anyone, to undermine the advice others have given or anything. Everyone has said really useful stuff. Just trying to lend a hand in case there's more...

Absolutely - I only happened to see this when I was taking a peek at Active Convos and the thread title caught my eye.
Hope it gets sorted but if it continues to be a problem, hop over to Employment and we'll sort you out.

Thanks girls, I will do if I get any more problems.

Just shows you it doesn't get you anywhere tryin to please your employers though doesn't it. I have a feeling they might be trying to get me to leave as the firm is merging with another company and moving offices in the next month or so.

I'm still planning on mentioning all this to my midwife tomorrow but I'll probably just carry on at work for another week and see how I feel.

Thanks again for the advice.

Jem x

Poor you jellyjem, I too am 26 weeks and on my knees. Glad to hear they finally agreed to your request, albeit without any grace. I found that the magic way to convince work to reduce/ rearrange my work hours was to say, "I really hate to do this, but I'd much rather plan ahead like this than be forced to go off sick". They soon realise that losing you for half an hour or an hour a day is nothing compared to losing you for a week when it all gets too much. I also do some work at home (in bed!), and am also using up my spare annual leave at one day a week. All this is keeping me sane, and meaning that work still gets done. Your boss is a short-sighted idiot, and you were absolutely right to go above his head. Let us know how you get on.

Hi

This is all rubbish for you.

I can't believe they're making it so hard for you. I had a total commute of 3 hours a day (37+5 so have finished now), and reduced my lunch hour to get an earlier train.

Low blood pressure is also difficult to cope with. My experience was that low bp (80/50) and a wee infection made me collapse (on Regent Street!). All was well after antibiotics.

Take care, don't stress and yes - get signed off if it doesn't get better.

Hi... Hope this helps you..

The rules are that if you're off sick with something pregnancy related, in the last 11 weeks before your due date, they can start your maternity leave.

If you're off sick with something that isn't pregnancy related, you have until 4 weeks prior to your due date (had to check for a colleague the other day).

Have a look here - it explains it better than I can.

www.dti.gov.uk/employment/employment-legislation/employment-guidance/page34246.html

(sorry if anybody already posted this link - haven't read the whole thread).

Also - if it's any help - I was completely exhausted at 25-30 weeks, but it seemed to ease a little after the 30 week mark. Not sure if it's the same for anyone else, but went from being compeltely dead to at least being able to function normally (almost )

Mind you, I am trying to take odd days off here and there to break up the weeks.

Are they letting you have your time off for antenatal check-ups?

Sorry kekouan must correct you. If you are off with pg-related sickness at any point during the last 4 weeks, your employer can start your maternity leave. If not pg-related, you can be signed off sick until the date you planned to start your maternity leave (although of course depending on your sick pay entitlement you may not get paid.

Sorry to jump in and correct but I don't want anyone acting on the basis of that information. It does actually say that in the v useful link you posted though

Sorry, I thought that's what I said... it's what I meant at any rate. Obviously didn't explain myself properly (brain is mush)

Sorry!

Its all come to a head again today. We're moving offices and now they want me to "help out" and file loads of paperwork for a colleague who is currently off work after fracturing her shoulder a few weeks ago. Some of thes files are kept on a high shelf so I'll have to use a step and some of them are really heavy. They also want me to do a load of dead filing which means thining down some of the heavy files so I'll have to lift and carry them around the office. I told my boss I can't do it and he said just to do a bit at a time I'm NOT doing it.

A slight glimmer of good news is I have managed to finally get a risk assessment promised. Someone from HR is coming to see me tomorrow morning so I'll go through all this with them. They did say they can't do anything to help with my hours (which have still not been changed though) as apparently thats between myself and my manager.

Right, I'm going to be strict now. Go and tell your midwife about that. Get her to write you a note saying that you mustn't do this sort of thing (like getting out of PE as a kid, but more serious).

Then think seriously about my suggestion of getting the midwife/doctor to threaten to sign you off if they don't change your hours.

Kick some annoying employer a*!

OMG that is totally unbelievable!!!! there is no way you should be climbing on a step or lifting files!!!! totally unreasonable. Say you are happy to help with the filing etc, but someone is going to have to get the files down for you, put them on your desk and remove them once your finished..and of course move all the heavy files around for you.......unbelievable!!!!

Ribena (hug) thanks, it pathetic but I'm feeling really sorry for myself again.

I'm going to see what HR say tomorrow and if they're no help I'll go to see my GP and just see if he can sign me off. I mentioned it to my midwife last week but she said she couldn't do anything and I needed to get a note from the GP.

Sigh... I'm just so fed up of this. I had to have IVF for this baby and work were pretty supportive in letting me have time off for all the appointments and stuff. I think thats why I feel guilty if I don't come into work now but they're just taking the piss.

You poor thing, I really feel for you, what a horrible situation, your boss sounds like an absolute ass....I hope HR can help x