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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Work being difficult about working from home

68 replies

hporter10 · 24/08/2021 11:36

Hello all,

I am 23 weeks with baby number 1!

Symptoms at the moment include being very tired, heartburn, hot flushes, struggling to walk long distances (possibly sciatica) and the return of morning sickness and nausea!

When covid was at its height, my work place had a rule where women at 28 weeks pregnant had to work from home. Now, that the rules have lifted slightly they are saying that this needs to be done with permission from department heads.

I am a teacher at a College and work with two different departments. So, I emailed both my department heads and asked them if I could work from home from 31/32 weeks pregnant and then start my maternity leave at 35/36 weeks (so I would only be working from home for 4 or 5 weeks.

One department head said this was fine, the other has said that unless I have a letter from a doctor stating that I need to then I have to continue to come in.

I know my body, and I am already starting to struggle with the commute and the long hours on my feet. I know that realistically if I went to the doctors they would probably be more than happy to provide me with a sick note that says I should work from home.

Has anyone else had problems like this? When I first told work I was pregnant they were very accommodating but they seem to have dropped the ball a bit now...

Any help, advice or stories would be very helpful

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

NatriumChloride · 25/08/2021 04:18

@CustardyCreams

Are you vaccinated? I don’t see why you need to be at home. You aren’t medically unfit, you just aren’t comfortable? What do you need privacy for? Why are you wishing to chill out at work? I think if you can’t articulate reasons to wfh that a manager can actually latch on to, then they are within their rights to say no, it isn’t necessary. To my mind as a manager, there are millions of women who cope with the normal symptoms of pregnancy and manage full time jobs, you seem to be expecting some special treatment for something quite ordinary. Late pregnancy is often very uncomfortable so I would honestly not be complaining about a rejected wfh request at 23 weeks unless there was something a GP could sign off, but you say there isn’t.

If your chair is not comfortable, then get a workstation assessment done. You may need a foot rest or a different style of chair. Perhaps a small cushion at the small of your back or underneath you might help. Walking releases endorphins, and can reduce inflammation from sciatica, so it is a good thing to move around, also to avoid the risk of DVT and raised blood pressure. You definitely don’t want to be sitting or lying down all day, and then going to bed.

Swimming is a great exercise when pregnant , so perhaps you could find some time to fit that into your week and help strengthen you and relieve you from the possible sciatic nerve symptoms.

My reply sounds hugely unsympathetic, I’m sorry about that. But you’ve got to give your manager a stronger case to sign off, or buckle up for the inevitably uncomfortable ride.

This! Your excuses for needing to WFH are feeble. You need privacy? For what, exactly? There’s no place for you to chill out? Is there no staff room?

User5827372728 · 25/08/2021 06:48

Sounds like covid is being used when really you don’t want to commute.

I would take early mat leave if are struggling at work. So they can provide
Proper cover

2reefsin30knots · 25/08/2021 07:02

OP you are really conflating covid measures and maternity arrangements there. Covid is not a carte blanche to WFH for any reason.

The only reason you can WFH under covid measures is if you are risk assessed to be at elevated risk from covid. The arrangements for not being at work due to pregnancy will be in your establishment's policy.

You don't even mention covid- purely pregnancy discomfort. On those grounds, you have no more of a right to request to work from home that any other pregnant woman that has gone before you.

Goldbar · 25/08/2021 07:54

I feel for you but unfortunately this isn't a simple adjustment to your place of work. Online teaching is not equivalent to face-to-face teaching, it is a poor second to it. If you're too sick to go in, you should go on sick leave so that your students can be taught in person by someone else. I did some part-time online teaching last year and the student experience was far inferior to that provided by face-to-face teaching despite my best efforts.

gogohm · 25/08/2021 08:00

If you teach/support face2face then it's reasonable for your employer to need you in. You can choose to start maternity leave early, from 29 weeks as has always been the case. I started mine at 33 weeks for all the reasons you stated in your op, it's not sickness it's just pregnancy hence legally being able to go on leave from 29 weeks.

NatriumChloride · 26/08/2021 00:35

I guess the OP isn’t going to return.

Candycotton · 26/08/2021 09:28

*The following recommendations apply for pregnant women who are 28 weeks pregnant and beyond or with underlying health conditions that place them at a greater risk of severe illness from coronavirus
If you are 28 weeks pregnant and beyond, or if you are pregnant and have an underlying health condition that puts you at a greater risk of severe illness from COVID-19 at any gestation, you should take a more precautionary approach.

This is because although you are at no more risk of contracting the virus than any other non-pregnant person who is in similar health, you have an increased risk of becoming severely ill and of pre-term birth if you contract COVID-19.

Your employer should ensure you are able to adhere to any active national guidance on social distancing.

For many workers, this may require working flexibly from home in a different capacity.

All employers should consider both how to redeploy these staff and how to maximise the potential for homeworking, wherever possible.

Where adjustments to the work environment and role are not possible (e.g. manufacturing/retail industries) and alternative work cannot be found, you should be suspended on paid leave. Advice on suspension and pay can be found in HSE guidance*

The above is from the GOV website and was updated only last month. See if the social distancing circumstances apply to you.

I'm not going to judge you for wanting to work from home, I think we would all do what we could to make our lives easier if at all possible.

Santatizer · 28/08/2021 13:23

She doesn't want to WFH because of Covid though 🙄. If that's what she'd said in her first post, the responses would have been very different. She wants to WFH because of a difficult pregnancy. Those are two completely separate issues. She may have a need to WFH due to Covid. She almost certainly doesn't have a need to WFH due to pregnancy-related symptoms. She can absolutely ask for reasonable adjustments to help her to manage her pregnancy whilst remaining at work OR she can see if her GP agrees she needs to be signed off sick OR she can start her Mat Leave. It's nothing to do with C19...

Candycotton · 28/08/2021 19:31

@Santatizer she can still see if the social distancing applies to her workplace...

Santatizer · 28/08/2021 22:16

@Candycotton of course she can but given she never mentioned Covid at all in her original post, I'm assuming she wasn't concerned about it as a reason to WFH. It would be reasonable to assume that OP's workplace has already mitigated her risk to Covid in their own processes OR that she felt safe with regards to Covid regardless, making it very disingenuous to now try to claim she doesn't purely in order to WFH...

Yummymummy2020 · 28/08/2021 22:22

My gp wrote me a letter but it was back when it was recommended you work from home and I was an extremely high risk pregnancy due to other health issues. They still made it difficult and got hr in on it. Luckily hr recognised it was better for me to be at home as there was talk of a work doctor and a second opinion by my manager. If you have bad enough pain though your gp might sign you off for that rather than work from home if needed if it impacts your ability to get to work ect.

Candycotton · 29/08/2021 09:02

[quote Santatizer]@Candycotton of course she can but given she never mentioned Covid at all in her original post, I'm assuming she wasn't concerned about it as a reason to WFH. It would be reasonable to assume that OP's workplace has already mitigated her risk to Covid in their own processes OR that she felt safe with regards to Covid regardless, making it very disingenuous to now try to claim she doesn't purely in order to WFH...[/quote]
whether you think its morally right or not is irrelevant really. I would probably do anything to help ease difficulties in pregnancy, if that is one of the hoops OP has to jump through in order to be allowed to work from home for the 4/5 weeks she has requested then so be it.

Santatizer · 29/08/2021 10:49

@candycotton hopefully you're not a teacher then or working in a job where others depend on you. For goodness' sake, being pregnant is not an illness and employers are already required to put into place reasonable adjustments to support pregnant employees to continue working. Or, as others have pointed out, she can start her ML early or get signed off if needs be. We clearly aren't going to agree because you think it's acceptable to lie and be disingenuous to work from home simply because you're pregnant (if all pregnant employees took this approach, there'd be a problem!) and I don't.

Candycotton · 29/08/2021 14:33

@Santatizer no, I just think if there is ever a time your own health and well being comes first its during pregnancy. I dont judge anyone who tries to make their life easier during that time.

Kt1111 · 04/09/2021 14:34

Oh my word I can’t believe some of these comments. As
Op has said it’s her first pregnancy it can be a shock to the system with all the changes. How about a little bit of understanding?
OP i feel for you, I walk 3 and half miles to work and the same back. I’m cautious due to being in primary and working closely with 5 year olds who aren’t vaccinated. I would say go through the risk assessment , make sure enough is done because from 28 weeks there are risks of pre term birth if you were to catch covid. In the mean time make sure things are in place to make things easier, a chair rather than standing, maybe an extra short break.
It is hard, I plan to work as close to due date as possible but will get the bus instead of walking when It becomes harder.
Don’t let the rude unhelpful responses get to you. Some people think they’re experts and pregnancy is a doddle for everyone.

CurveYourEnthusiasm · 03/10/2021 17:04

@Kt1111

Oh my word I can’t believe some of these comments. As Op has said it’s her first pregnancy it can be a shock to the system with all the changes. How about a little bit of understanding? OP i feel for you, I walk 3 and half miles to work and the same back. I’m cautious due to being in primary and working closely with 5 year olds who aren’t vaccinated. I would say go through the risk assessment , make sure enough is done because from 28 weeks there are risks of pre term birth if you were to catch covid. In the mean time make sure things are in place to make things easier, a chair rather than standing, maybe an extra short break. It is hard, I plan to work as close to due date as possible but will get the bus instead of walking when It becomes harder. Don’t let the rude unhelpful responses get to you. Some people think they’re experts and pregnancy is a doddle for everyone.

Completely THIS!

The attitude of, ‘it’s pregnancy, get over it’ is really unhelpful. Disappointed to see these comments.

OP, I hope things got a little better for you. I’m at 21 weeks with my first and really struggling with tiredness and fluctuating BP. Don’t subscribe to the idea that you should just get on with it. Make sure you get your risk assessment and speak with your GP. I got a note from mine to cover me throughout my pregnancy, which states I can WFH if needed. I’m also using my annual leave to take every Wednesday off so I can have a break mid-week.

Hoping all’s well for you now!

SweetBabyCheeses99 · 03/10/2021 17:29

Just ask your GP for a fit note - they’ll write on it whatever you ask them to.

Kk789 · 03/10/2021 20:03

@SweetBabyCheeses99

Just ask your GP for a fit note - they’ll write on it whatever you ask them to.

I'm sure OP has sorted it now, with this thread being weeks old..

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