Anyone requested to continue to work from home for the remainder of their pregnancy?

[blondeirishmummy84]

Hi,

I am still working from home as a result of the Covid crisis. Our managers are having a meeting in the next few weeks about people returning to the office. One of my colleagues has arranged to still work from home 2 days a week due to a health condition she has.
I still havent told my boss yet I am pregnant (I am almost 14 weeks), and was going to request I continue to work from home for the remainder of my pregnancy when I inform him.
Has anyone any experience of this or been successful?
So far my pregnancy has been fine apart from low iron, but I am really thinking how much easier it will be to work from home, especially in the 3rd trimester and not having to deal with public transport!

What kind of job do you do? It’ll come down to risk assessments, and whether you’re at any considerably higher risk by going into work in person.

If you’re office-based, do you have any contact with high-risk groups, the public etc?

I’m a medic and there are obvious reasons why we get to stay home from 28 weeks onwards.

I think for your bosses to consider your request it’ll depend on the business needs, your personal health issues in relation to underlying health issues, pregnancy complications and ability to wear PPE (from what you’ve said, you sound low risk).

The nature of the work and whether any risk assessment can identify you as being at genuine higher risk will be decisive too.

It’s such a grey area for many organisations, especially as things begin to somewhat normalise.

My risk assessment was that it's fine for me to be on the office and to be client facing daily - the client facing will be re-evaluated from 32-34 weeks. I can travel in off peak though (live and work in London so on the tube) so I can either come in earlier and leave earlier, or come in late and leave late. To miss the main rush and exposure to people.

Depends what your job is, but I think it's only in the last trimester when heavily pregnant that coronavirus is meant to be the biggest risk. My friends in office jobs have had similar risk assessments

I know a few people who have asked and nobody who has been successful since the guidance was changed, although I know a patient-facing person who is now working in the admin side for the third trimester.

I’m nearly 27 weeks and will be continuing as normal. I work with someone who is in remission, who got a sick note from 26 weeks, but her maternity leave will now automatically start at 36 weeks, so you have to weigh up the risks/benefits/downsides for you individually.

It’d definitely be much easier to work from home and I kicked myself a bit when the 28 weeks guidance was removed; but it’s always been the case that pregnant people have gone to work, and tiredness is to be expected. I’ve done okay so far, I’m hoping I continue to do so!

I'm 30 weeks and still go to in to work. I'd go mad if I didn't! I have had both vaccinations and get the option of starting/finishing from home to make it more flexible. To be honest if I was your manager I'd think you were taking the piss asking to work completely from home at 14 weeks. Maybe start by asking to do a bit from home and increase it as you go on.

@Wiltshire90 yes I kind of agree, if anyone I was managing asked for this at 14 weeks, I'd also think they were taking the piss. I'm happy to go in, for me it's only 3 days a week for now, but it didn't even occur to me to say I didn't think I should just because I'm pregnant

@Wiltshire90 I think a manager might think they’re taking the piss too, especially so early on. I think someone’d find it hard to justify wanting to work from home when, presumably, they are ok going to supermarkets/shops etc.

I was given the choice of what I’d like to do (currently 20 weeks). I’m going into the office once a week but my manager asked what I felt comfortable doing and gave me the option of not going in. I’ll be WFH constantly from 28 weeks but I’m still going to go into the office once a week at the mo to keep my sanity! I’m an NHS clinician but providing video consultations so doesn’t make a difference where I’m sat.

What do you do for work? I’m office based but with a busy commute on public transport. My manager was happy to let me continue working from home, but I don’t think he HAD to.

I am office based and 'we' went back to the office in Mid-August (just one day a week, and increasing to 2 days in September) I was 28 weeks on the 1st September. In the third trimester you become high risk of covid, I requested temporary continuation to working from home as I was nearly at the 28 week mark. I'd done my research, got articles to back me up...I'd spoken to my line manager and H&S both agreed it was a good idea to continue at home...however, I needed approval from my actual main manager - he was new to the role, he only started at the beginning of August, so I didn't even know if he'd entertain the idea...lots of fretting, lots of worry, lots of discussions, I sent him an email...2mins later I had a reply saying it was fine :).

It will ultimately depend on your companies risk assessment, technically until you are 28 weeks you are the same risk as everyone else. But if I were you, I'd get work told sooner rather than later so they can plan something in.

Me! My workplace were requesting people were back in the office for at least one day a week, exceptions were to be made for clinically vulnerable people are those In care of vulnerable people. As I’d be returning to the office and using public transport in my 3rd trimester (when covid impacts seem to be the most serious) I asked to be exempt, they were pretty cool about it. I think it was just the assumption that I’d continue to wfh xx

The pregnant teachers at my school are all still working, teaching classes of 30 as normal until their maternity leave starts. Most are getting public transport in as well.

I was supposed to be back in the Office last week for the first time, currently in my 34th week and asked them to keep wfh and they were cool with it.

Not sure what they would have said if I would have requested it way earlier in my pregnancy.

I wouldn't request it at 14 weeks unless you have any other health conditions which put you at high risk. Wait and see what happens, the government might bring back wfh anyway.

My company are letting me wfh but I’m in the third trimester. Others have been asked to return to the office 2 days a week.

Why do you need to work from home at 14 weeks? I think it highly unlikely they will agree to this unless it is the case for others who are not pregnant as well. There is no reason you can't go into the office at this stage in your pregnancy. From 28 weeks you could request it in line with government advice to minimise risk of contact in the third trimester.

I work in retail and I am approaching 28 weeks. H&S mentioned that I should no longer be working in a customer facing role. I was going to chat to my midwife to see if this is the case. There is very little I can do working from home. Does anyone have experience of a retail environment when pregnant?

@Redlocks28

The pregnant teachers at my school are all still working, teaching classes of 30 as normal until their maternity leave starts. Most are getting public transport in as well.

Same here. Infact it was one teachers last day yesterday. She's worked throughout in full classes. Infants so no SD or masks etc. Her baby is due in just over two weeks time.

No idea if she requested work from home or out of classroom work - though the job obviously isn't really possibly generally from home.