Got the job without telling employer I am pregnant

[Emma70459]

Hi ladies!
So I'm looking for advice desperately.
I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant and 3 weeks ago,I had an interview for a zero hour contract admin job. They asked if I was able to start work full time immediately and I said "I am able to work full time for now".
They couldn't see that i was heavily pregnant as the interview was done online.
I wasnt expecting to get the job,so naturally I was thrilled when I found out that I got it.
Now my line manager is asking if I am available to work next week but I will be on maternity leave from next week.
How do I tell her that as much as i would love to start working for her i cant otherwise i would lose all my SMP? But i would definitely want to start working as soon as my maternity finishes.

Its 1 thing not to mention you're pregnant at 12 weeks, another thing completely when you are 36 weeks pregnant and off on Mat leaves

I just couldn't do this. For so many reasons.

Feels dishonest

Probably be a post in legal shortly regarding discrimination.

Yummymummy2020 I completely agree. Other people here are just ranting like theres no tomorrow but at the end of the day it is a bank role that is zero hours, they hired other people, not just me to do the job. Surely they shouldn't withhold from offering me hours when I return from mat leave on the basis that I didn't disclose my pregnancy in the interview? (Which is not a legal requirement)

I’m not well versed in this kind of thing but I don’t really see what op has done wrong? if it’s the type of contract where you are offered hours with no obligation to take them (and equally they are under no obligation to provide them) surely they will just keep op on the books until she can work? I presume they have a number of people they can offer the hours to in the meantime?

I dont think they'll withhold hours because you're pregnant. I think there won't be any hours as they'll take someone else on and that person will get the hours because you're not there to do the hours.

@Emma70459

It is a bank position. And like I said I dont mind doing unpaid work for them if they really need me to

I can’t believe how many people think this would be discrimination. She wouldn’t be discriminated against for being pregnant, the problem isn’t pregnancy it is that OP from next week can’t actually work for however many months!

Are you entitled to SMP from your current job? You’ve previously said that you earn £300 a month but you need to earn on average £120 a week to be eligible.

www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/eligibility

I recently interviewed for a post and one person did not reflect their application particularly well hot air. Another pulled out on the morning. Fortunately we had an outstanding candidate and even a strong appointable reserve in the mix or it would have been a case of having to interview new candidates (with at least a 10 day delay).

If you were one of say three selected as their target and they let other appointable candidates know they were unsuccessful, you may have caused time and financial delay. It feels really selfish and, as someone who also manages a zero hour team, my expectations of your reliability would be low. I wouldn't appreciate BS about how a few months ago you were available, but in interview you knew you weren't.

The honest approach is your best option... You are super keen, feel you match job description / person spec (advertised post), need to let them know you will be on maternity, but weren't sure when to raise it, but had said this on a form that they can refer back to, extremely sorry for any inconvenience.

Actually, at the time when the interview was conducted, I was available to work. From next week however I'm not able to. So technically I wasnt speaking BS.
I dont think my credibility or reliability should be questioned since I chose to not disclose my pregnany but clearly people here dont agree with me.
I was waiting for all my references, DBS to be cleared before letting my new employer know im pregnant because they specifically told me not to hand in my notice until all this is done. I just didn't expect her to call me already, asking me to work.
I really wish I could. I would do almost anything to start working for them but because its zero hours, the pay is not guaranteed and I'm not willing to put this job over my SMP, especially when there is a chance that I might get paid less in my new job.

@Emma70459 if you were only earning £300 per month in your last job then you won't get SMP.

When you interviewed you could work for, what, 3-6 weeks maximum if they started instantly? That's not exactly practical or worth it for them is it? Then you could be gone for up to a year and they do have to plan for the longest possible time so used be basically a new starter again.

Also could you have started working for them while employed at your first job? Because if not you'd never have started the new job because you'd have lost the SMP entitlement.

@Emma70459 - you've not stated how much time you expect t to take off between SMP and starting- surely that makes a difference? As would a risk assessment if you'd started several weeks ago depending on the actual field you applied for, and I'd assume some basic training would also be expected?

I think that given that you did let them know you were pregnant in March (even if they didn’t realise it) and that it’s a zero-hours contract, I can’t see that you’ve done anything wrong. With any person hired on a zero-hours contract an employer takes the risk that they may not be available for shifts as needed. It’s the pay off for a fundamentally exploitative form of contract. All that will happen as a result of you being on maternity is there will be more shifts available for other people to pick up until you return. Given that employers usually employ more workers than the number of shifts requires in order to ensure they always have cover, it’s very unlikely to change anything for them.

I would email them to let them know the following:

1. Remind them that you are pregnant and tell them your due date

1. Give them an idea of when you expect to return to work (this doesn’t need to be a firm confirmation, just an idea)

1. Ask what the process will be when you are available to pick up shifts - do you need to email them to let them know, or inform HR, etc.

Don’t offer to do voluntary work - you aren’t obliged to, and the company is not likely to be set up to provide this anyway. It will just undermine your position and make you look guilty when you don’t have anything to feel guilty for.

So technically I wasnt speaking BS.

Did you say "I'm only available for a week"? By saying "for now" when you really only meant "for a week" then it's hardly being honest is it?

I dont think my credibility or reliability should be questioned since I chose to not disclose my pregnany but clearly people here dont agree with me.

I think your credibility is certainly questioned given you weren't honest about your real availability regardless of the reason. It would be the same if you have planned to go on a round the world trip for X months starting next week and not mentioned it. (Obviously holidays are not protected in the same way as pregnancy though)

I wonder if a lot of the posters on this thread realise that what they’re essentially saying is ‘you’ve behaved badly because you haven’t given your potential employer the opportunity to discriminate against you on the basis of your pregnancy’...?

@Wickerbaskets

I wonder if a lot of the posters on this thread realise that what they’re essentially saying is ‘you’ve behaved badly because you haven’t given your potential employer the opportunity to discriminate against you on the basis of your pregnancy’...?

I got told to boil my head when I pointed out something similar with my 'legal crap'!

The company isn't allowed to discriminate against her on the grounds of her pregnancy so the job offer can't now be withdrawn once the op does her grand reveal but it does seem rather engineered and the company's hand will be absolutely forced in this scenario.

@Wickerbaskets

I wonder if a lot of the posters on this thread realise that what they’re essentially saying is ‘you’ve behaved badly because you haven’t given your potential employer the opportunity to discriminate against you on the basis of your pregnancy’...?

Exactly. I chose not to disclose my pregnancy because I didnt want to be discriminated purely because of this reason. And if this makes me "bad" then so be it. But ladies, discrimination in pregnancy does exist, and it is STILL an ongoing problem.

Actually, at the time when the interview was conducted, I was available to work. From next week however I'm not able to. So technically I wasnt speaking BS.I dont think my credibility or reliability should be questioned since I chose to not disclose my pregnany but clearly people here dont agree with me

Honestly at least own what you did. You still needed to do dbs and references, there was no way you were starting immediately. The bottom line is you lied by omission and mislead them.

If you’d simply said in the interview I cannot work past x date as I’m pregnant as per the application form, but would love to get this job and start when I return from maternity on x date, you’d have been in a much better position as it’s bank.

Straight out misleading them and then acting innocent and saying well technically I could is just silly, just own what you did and deal with the repercussions
.

You still haven't enlightened anyone as to how you're going to manage to work voluntarily or otherwise, on a zero hours contract (or a bank contract - you can't quite decide which it is) when your current job only pays £300 a month (so no smp) and you already have a 2 yo and a 1 yo and will have a newborn added to the mix?

I know but there was a chance that my job offer may have been withdrawn anyway, if my references didnt come through. I was waiting for my confirmation letter, with a start date before announcing the news

What is the difference between bank and zero hours contract?
My interviewer said it was zero hours but the position is bank

Exactly. I chose not to disclose my pregnancy because I didnt want to be discriminated purely because of this reason. And if this makes me "bad" then so be it. But ladies, discrimination in pregnancy does exist, and it is STILL an ongoing problem.

Oh please don't try and argue you were doing this for women rights. Discrimination in pregnancy exists because of people like you who are looking to take the piss and in doing so make it worse for the rest of us.

It's a zero hour contract on which you are never going to work any hours and they are never going to offer any. You've wasted everyone's time, including your own. What was the point?

Oh please don't try and argue you were doing this for women rights. Discrimination in pregnancy exists because of people like you who are looking to take the piss and in doing so make it worse for the rest of us.

Just to be clear, it is employers who would refuse to employ a woman who is pregnant who make things difficult for women, not people like the OP. Discrimination in pregnancy exists because companies put maximising profits over other considerations, such as investing in their workforce or contributing to a more equal society.

In an ideal world, OP could have said at her interview ‘I’m pregnant so can’t start work until September’ and the employer would have thought ‘no problem, she’s clearly the right fit for the job so we will hire her and she can start picking up shifts when she returns from maternity’. It is not OP’s fault that we don’t live in that world, and she is under no obligation to facilitate her own discrimination.

I’m often astounded by how easily people take the side of employers over actual humans in situations like this. The entire point of things like unions and EU employment law and pregnancy discrimination laws is to protect people from the kind of exploitation that leaves workers (and particularly women) shafted by their employers. You wonder what it’s all for when a hundred posters seem to think sticking up for the rights of an employer over the rights of employees is the right thing to do.