26+4 weeks teacher

[Lfjrjcjsjaja]

I am really anxious about returning tomorrow, Ive been stressed and snappy all day! I asked about wfh from 28 weeks well before Christmas and was told that I would hear before we broke up but I didnt.
I dont like confrontation and find it a huge source of stress, and now it feels like I am going to have to start all over again in my request etc.

Have any other teachers been allowed to wfh in tbe 3rd trimester?

Thanks for reading!

@Weredone At present the union is saying anyone who is currently pregnant regardless of trimester should be considered for wfh. I would speak to your line manager and show them the neu updated advice due to omicron. They might take it from there and speak to head etc. If they are not helpful I would then speak to union rep (if you are a member)

I shared it with my head who shared it with union and they seem to have completely misinterpreted the advice and taken it to mean that the wfh from 28 weeks has been removed- which means wfh recommendation has been removed. They have offered to tape me a box at the front of the room and give me an air purifier. I am feeling really frustrated and not listened to.

@Moonstar4982

I’m a member of nasuwt - would they help?

Sorry that should say *I shared it with my head of department who shared it with the headteacher and hr (long day!)

@Weredone That’s a clear “misinterpretation” and I’m not sure how they have taken it that way? It has removed 28 weeks but now recommended wfh for all pregnant women! I would contact your naswut rep as it is joint union advice with neu. They are all following the same guidance. I know neu reps are having a meeting tonight to go through the new guidance so your union will probably be doing something similar. Hopefully they will be able to assist with this with the up to date advice. Your midwife and gp can also support your case and provide letters recommending wfh/non contact with pupils. I’m still battling myself, but got to keep going as I don't believe school is safe right now.

@Moonstar4982 when I last spoke to my midwife she said they can’t put anything in writing !

@Weredone contact your union rep immediately your school have made a mistake

I am surprised as my midwife was very keen at the 28 week appt to get me working from home. In retrospect should have pushed harder with school following this advice! The RCOG guidelines clearly state the risk to pregnant women and babies. So midwives should be supporting women in this.
Your Gp might be more useful anyway as another poster upthread said midwife letter didn't do much but gp letter did. Only issue is getting this right now as gps are very busy! I requested online and still waiting.

So glad I read this thread, but also annoyed at my own work.

I work for the nhs and deal with Covid and non Covid positive patients. I've been told I've to continue working as normal until I stop for may leave.

I've been pushing for wfh/admin role from 28 weeks but getting nowhere.

I have my 16 weeks consultant appointment next week and hope they are on board with me.

X

Can someone provide a link to government guidance on this WFH at 28wks?

I work in a special needs school so remote teaching doesn't work and when I had my 1st trimester risk assessment review in November the headteacher didn't want to budge on giving me any out of class work. That was before Omicron hit.
Now I'm 21weeks and we managed to compromise 4days of out of class as part of a handover to maternity cover at 36weeks. But of course now Omicron is here I'm worried about the last trimester, even though I'm triple jabbed.
A link to official guidance (not just union) would be really helpful.

@Zibidee Official guidelines are more vague and can be found here www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-pregnant-employees/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-pregnant-employees
The onus is on your employer to mitigate the risks and if they cannot alternatives such as wfh should be offered. During your risk assessment you would need to show why their suggestions will not mitigate risk fully.
The rcog guidelines might help as they outline the health risks of exposure. 1.4-1.7 are particularly useful for this.
www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/coronavirus-pregnancy/

Just found this on nasuwt union website

New Government guidance for pregnant women during the Covid-19 pandemic removes the distinction between pre- and post-28 weeks’ gestation and removes the general advice around working from home in the third trimester, except where the woman is not fully vaccinated

That seems quite clear to me there is no longer guidance for working from home at any point in pregnancy. Is that correct?

@Zibidee unfortunately hr at my work have taken this to mean that there is no need to wfh at any stage!

This is the NEU website:

This official medical advice sets out that

Pregnant women of any gestation should not be required to continue working if this is not supported by the risk assessment that employers are legally required to undertake.
Although it is an individual decision, vaccination is the best way to protect from the known risks of Covid-19 in pregnancy for both women and babies, including severe illness and pre-term birth (Having a vaccination does not, however, remove the requirement for employers to carry out a risk assessment for pregnant employees).
Pregnant women who are unvaccinated, or not fully vaccinated, are at greatest risk. Employers are urged to consider how to maximise the potential for homeworking for this category and should allow paid time off for staff to receive vaccinations and boosters where necessary.
The joint union position is that, although it is not a Government requirement, until more is known about the effects of the Omicron variant, it would be prudent for settings to permit pregnant women, of whatever gestation, and vaccination status to work from home. For some staff that may mean agreeing to a temporary re-deployment to other duties that can be undertaken from home. Where this is not feasible, or a pregnant employee chooses to be in the workplace rather than working from home the risk assessment should take account of the factors set out in point 2 above.

That was posted on Tuesday as ‘January 22’ guidance

The government guidance needs to be way more explicit as it can be misinterpreted. Lots of employers are just going to produce a risk assessment and claim they’ve mitigated the risk successfully when the reality is it’s not possible when face to face teaching. I taught at least 5 students today who had positive siblings living with them at home.

This is taken from NASUWT;
In respect to women who are pregnant and in their third trimester (more than 28 weeks’ pregnant), advice and guidance produced by the UK Government expects all employers to take a ‘more precautionary approach’, particularly as there is evidence which suggests a link between the symptoms of Covid-19 and complications in and around the time of birth, including premature birth, pre-eclampsia, the need for an emergency caesarean, and stillbirth.

Those who are pregnant and in the third trimester should therefore still take care to minimise contact with others from outside their household and should only return to the workplace if it has been demonstrated that it is safe to do so.

Whilst advice from the Department for Education (DfE) advises that pregnant teachers who are clinically vulnerable can follow the same guidance as everyone else, there is an expectation that schools adopt the ‘more precautionary approach’ referenced above as part of any risk assessment for those who are pregnant and in the third trimester.

This includes consideration of how best to redeploy teachers who are pregnant and in the third trimester, including adapting duties and looking at how to maximise the potential for working flexibly from home/homeworking.

I agree and union position is not legal requirement so schools don't have to follow it.

I don't even know if I need to be worried or not. I'm triple vaccinated so maybe I'm ok at work. Who decides that?

I'm more worried about the physical strain of special needs work, I'm so tired and achy at 21weeks, can't quite fathom what the next 16weeks at work will be like.

The neu guidance seems clearer but I think many employers will interpret it as they want unfortunately!

I cant comment on midwife note as I havent seen one for 11weeks but i was told that it would supercede the gov guidance so maybe worth going down that route!

Sorry to hear its a battle!

@Zibidee that’s what I don’t quite understand- how has the risk to myself been adequately measured when I’ve only completed a generic risk assessment which has the had some additions made to it by my line manager?

Surely there needs to be a way of actually measuring the individual risk based on outbreaks in the area and/or school and this should also be taken into account.

I flip between feeling ok about it all and then freaking out that I’m expected to so casually put my health and the health of my unborn child at risk working with so many positive cases, all while the majority of people are being asked to work from home.

Same position here, yet to meet to discuss and I have 4 weeks from now until I am 28 weeks. It seems as though it is luck of the draw as to what efforts your employer is willing to put in to protect you.

Since providing this guidance I have also provided a letter from my consultant (private healthcare) to back up to RCOG reccomendations and still anticipating a resounding "no"

Morale is on the floor when at the time in the school term where the children need me to be switched on the most. Which we have the resources in place to accommodate me doing safely from home from 28 weeks!!!!

Fingers crossed for everyone coming into their battles to keep themselves and babies safe.

If your workplace can guarantee it’s safe for you i.e. that you won’t get covid (which they obviously can’t) then they don’t need to do anything. Otherwise, they should be adapting your job role and reducing your contact or allowing you to WFH.

Hi,

I've lurked on here for a while but this thread has got me to sign up and share my experience.
I'm not a teacher, I'm a Level 3 LSA (TA) in a primary school. I'm currently pregnant and soon will be reaching 28 weeks.
When I told school around the 12 week mark, the first conversation we had was what are the recommendations for covid now, having seen several teaching colleagues wfh last academic year at 28 weeks. I was told that the guidance at that point was still in place, however since then it is no longer a government recommendation, it is at local authority discretion.
My LEA' s position is then to put it in the hands of the individual school. My head was unequivocal that wfh at 28 weeks should still be in place. As he put it, " can we 100% safeguard you against covid at this critical point in your pregnancy?"
The only concern really is that not being a teacher, it's been even harder to feasibly come up with a wfh plan for an LSA but together with the teacher I usually support, we've come up with a remote learning timetable of short focused remote interventions I can do from home, stuff for SAT'S prep etc (I'm Year 6)
I'm incredibly grateful to be in this position with such a supportive school and SLT but having read some of your posts here, feel so badly for those of you who are NOT being offered this option. It would have been easy for school to say LSA job cannot be done from home but I'm so glad they've explored things for me to do at home. Given all the mixing I do (we all work lunch duties - yard/first aid/canteen) it is a relief to know I will be stepping away from that in just over 2 weeks even though I am triple jabbed, cases at school remain high.

Of course no school can risk assess as 100% safe against Covid. My query is, am I actually any more at risk than a non pregnant person, now that I am triple jabbed and Omicron is less severe?