Job interview when pregnant NHS

[MiniSmartie]

Hi all, any help you can give me would be great!

Background info: I currently work for the NHS, the job's around an hour/hour and a half commute from home. I'm 21 weeks pregnant and my work knows. They're also aware I'll be going on maternity for (hopefully) a year in March. Problem is, the job is too far for me once baby arrives and I'm back at work. I can't stand the idea that my child will be getting ready for bed/in bed by the time I get home. Plus, the team isn't great. I want to work closer to home in the same role, which is possible.

The issue: I've found a role that would suit and am currently thinking about applying. It's still an NHS employer, just a different trust. My issue is, how does this fit in with my maternity? When do I tell the new team I'm due to go on maternity in March (before, at application, at interview)? Is it possible to delay my start until after maternity or is this not necessarily important? I know maternity leave counts the same as long as you're employed by the NHS in some capacity. Apart from that, I literally have no idea how this works and how a potential employer might view it! But the team and location seem too good to pass up on.

Thank you for any help!

I would tell them up front. You can move within the nhs and still be entitled to full maternity but they may need somebody now. I want to move jobs within the nhs also but have decided to wait till I’m on mat leave and probably 5/6 months through it to apply for jobs that aren’t full time. You don’t need to return to your team/job, just the nhs for it not to impact your mat pay. Good luck!

Yes be up front. A colleague of mine, NHS, has done something similar. She interviewed when her child was only a few months old, got a new position in a different trust and will be going back to work soon, same job different trust. I don't think its affected her ML too much, but obvs she was much closer to going back to work than you will be.

Thanks @Oti21 and @TheLovleyChebbyMcGee! That's so reassuring. I would really prefer to be up front, especially as I'm so close to the point where I have to legally inform employers that i'm pregnant. I might actually get in touch before applying to inform them and make them aware, especially of my commitment to the role.

I was planning to leave it until I was on mat leave/close to going back but this team sounds awesome!

Just apply for it, you won't know how it will go if you don't try! :) Someone on one of my due groups has just applied internally for a new position earlier this week and was accepted, going on mat leave in April so they've already made a plan to get her cover on a casual contract from Jan and then full-time for induction and handover from March.

Personally I would probably wait until interview to mention it, as even though it's illegal to discriminate, you just don't know as it'll be pretty difficult to prove that was the reason you didn't make it to interview if that happens.

I would personally wait until after the interview/when they make an offer. As like a PP says, while they can't legally discriminate, it'd be tough to prove. If you mention it at the offer stage, you can say that you're x weeks pregnant, but that you're really excited, and didn't want to miss out on the oppurtunity.

Not quite the same, but I moved roles in the NHS while I was going through IVF. I didn't want to miss out on what would be an awesome move for me, so I went for it. I found out the week after I started that the cycle was a success, and so after 8 months in the role I'll be going on mat leave for a year. They have hired cover for me - so by the time I'm back he'll have been in the role longer that I was!

One thing I didn't think about was how hard it was to be pregnant and trying to learn a new job!

From a pay point of view, it shouldn't make any difference. I think the only thing if you change trust is that it's a new employer so you get maternity allowance rather than SMP. I think the NHS maternity pay cancels out any shortfall though but definitely check that out.

As it's a new trust, I wouldn't mention it until the offer stage unless by the time you're interviewed you can't hide it! As others have said, they can't legally discriminate but it would be difficult to prove.

I think with knowing how slow the recruitment process can be in the NHS, I think you'd do well to actually get a start date before your maternity leave by the time you've worked your notice period.

A year is a long time to expect them to defer for so I definitely wouldn't disclose the pregnancy until they've offered you the job. I changed trusts after I returned from maternity leave with my first and fell pregnant again after a few months in the role. I negotiated child friendly hours upfront as that was obviously a deal breaker but I don't think I'd have been nearly as successful had I already been pregnant and they'd known about it.

Just to share I was in your exact position OP (pregnant whilst in an NHS post 1.5 hours away) and I applied for a job in a specialist service in another Trust much closer to home whilst on mat leave. I was honest in that I would only be available to take up the post in 5 months time due to being on mat leave and was still offered the job, which I accepted. Can you wait until on mat leave as then you'll have had bubba so can offer a shorter start delay?

Meant to add I think the only challenge to applying for posts now (however awesome they are) is that the service might be in desperate need of someone who can start ASAP, so in that case if applying whilst pregnant I'd definitely be upfront as I've had experience of team members being appointed and then instantly announcing they're pregnant. Obviously this is their right to do so but it made a stretched service even more so as we then didn't have any time or budget to get someone in to cover their mat leave.

Oh, and another work colleague interviewed for an internal promotion at 32 weeks and got the job!! I don't think she actually started the new role before leaving, but its a positive sign that being pregnant isn't the career suicide its been in the past, Best of luck!

Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

Let them know straight away, I don't think it's going to be a problem (especially if you're upfront). Good luck with the job application and with the baby