Returning to work pregnant

[millicentmagnificent]

I am due to return to work in the near future from a year's maternity leave. All being well i will be around 12 weeks pregnant (I expected it to take so much longer to conceive second time round after over a year TTC with my first!). I work for a relatively small company who weren't overly impressed when I announced my first pregnancy however due to the nature of my job I need to inform my boss as soon as I go back from a health and safety perspective. Any advice from anyone who's been in this situation before? Can I insist my line manager keeps my news confidential? She told my entire team and another manager last time round.

Yes I have. I was pregnant when I returned from my maternity leave. I asked for a meeting prior to returning to work and made them aware at that stage and also asked specifically that they did not share my news until I had done so myself.

You can ask them to keep it confidential but it is difficult to keep things from a small team, esp if there are parts of your role which you won't be able to do.

I compressed my working week to 4 days and used my annual leave 2 days a week to reduce my working week down. I went off at 35 weeks too. I was done.

Weeks 17-24 are your qualifying weeks so ensure you're working or on annual leave during that time to maximise your maternity pay for the first 6 weeks.

Congratulations too OP! 2 close together is good fun. Xx

Make sure you know what your rights are. Maternity Action's website is really helpful.

maternityaction.org.uk/

@proudwomansexmatters

Yes I have. I was pregnant when I returned from my maternity leave. I asked for a meeting prior to returning to work and made them aware at that stage and also asked specifically that they did not share my news until I had done so myself.

You can ask them to keep it confidential but it is difficult to keep things from a small team, esp if there are parts of your role which you won't be able to do.

I compressed my working week to 4 days and used my annual leave 2 days a week to reduce my working week down. I went off at 35 weeks too. I was done.

Weeks 17-24 are your qualifying weeks so ensure you're working or on annual leave during that time to maximise your maternity pay for the first 6 weeks.

Congratulations too OP! 2 close together is good fun. Xx

Thank you that's really helpful! I think I'll request a meeting. It's hard to describe my job without being too outing but essentially I work in a team but only really have face to face meetings with them periodically, the majority of the time I either WFH or I'm doing site visits.

All the best op

If you're site based @millicentmagnificent then they may need to do a more robust risk assessment for you but suspect they did this first time round anyway. You'll need one each trimester as a minimum plus if anything changes.

I would be very clear about how sharing your news without your permission made you feel last time so that there is no miscommunication about it x

Oops sorry forgot to add- they may need to tell certain people in the management team depending on the demographic of the team set up but certainly shouldn't be telling anyone else.

@proudwomansexmatters

If you're site based *@millicentmagnificent* then they may need to do a more robust risk assessment for you but suspect they did this first time round anyway. You'll need one each trimester as a minimum plus if anything changes.

I would be very clear about how sharing your news without your permission made you feel last time so that there is no miscommunication about it x

I actually had no risk assessments done last time thanks to Covid as by the time I disclosed my pregnancy I was permanently WFH as Covid had closed all of our sites. From what I gather I was the first colleague to become pregnant in the fairly new department which was apparent in their handling of the situation.

@millicentmagnificent being home based and Covid is no excuse. They are failing in their responsibilities as an employer. Poor management knowledge is not an excuse that stands up at tribunal I'm afraid!

If they don't offer one, ask for one. Tell them the information is freely available on HSE website for pregnant workers and also via maternity action (for you)

You need the risk assessments done regardless of where and how you are working x

[quote proudwomansexmatters]@millicentmagnificent being home based and Covid is no excuse. They are failing in their responsibilities as an employer. Poor management knowledge is not an excuse that stands up at tribunal I'm afraid!

If they don't offer one, ask for one. Tell them the information is freely available on HSE website for pregnant workers and also via maternity action (for you)

You need the risk assessments done regardless of where and how you are working x[/quote]
I actually had no idea this was the case! I was pretty much told to remain home based to avoid the need for a risk assessment. I can't say I'm surprised though 🙈