Referred to occupational health

[Hennaa97]

Hi,

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and work from home and have been for 2+years. My company want us to travel into the office once a week but it's an hour train from me (and a taxi to and back from the train station). I spoke to them and said Im struggling to come in once a week as my pregnancy is getting alot harder. (Cramps/UTI's etc) They asked for a Dr note to state this and I gave it them. Yet they keep asking me to still come in and now said they'll be referring me to occupational health so I'm not sure what that entails?

If anyone's got any advice that would be great thankyou

It is occupational health's role to evaluate your role and your health together so they can look at providing more tailored advice and solutions to your workplace rather than generic GP advice which might not apply to your role - I hope that makes sense!
Basically, they will chat to you about your health, abilities and expectations at work and then evaluate that and provide advice to your employer. They will advise your employer whether WFH or whatever is the most suitable for you medically, or if you require any adjustments to role or expectations throughout your pregnancy.

Be as honest as possible and give as much info as you can, the aim is for them to keep you in work in whatever way is safest and most practical for the rest of your pregnancy, however that looks. Hope that helps/makes sense!

Hey OP, as PP said, Occupational Health are there to assess your working environment and help keep you safe and working for as long as you can. They're usually really good (from my experience) - being honest is key so they can provide the best recommendations to your management about what you need. Hope it goes well :)

Sounds harsh asking for a doctor's note for pregnancy symptoms / struggles, but I guess they are just making sure they are covering themselves. Occupational health advisors normally look at what your job entails and the risk associated with it. They might suggest changes to your work station or job roles - they may say to continue to work from home...

Could they recommend I just continue working from home? It's not set in stone that we have to go in once a week and half the time the manager isn't in either. So I'm getting a taxi, train and tram there and back for a few hours to sit in a corner and work like I would at home?

Just want to make sure I can't get in trouble

You won’t get in trouble. You don’t need to be apologetic for being pregnant. Be honest, and don’t miss any details of how exhausted such a long commute can make you feel. Explain that you are much more productive when working from home.
You’re not saying you can’t work, just that it is much more beneficial for you (and therefore the company if you’re more productive) to work at home. That’s a very reasonable adjustment to give to a pregnant woman, and it’s only for a few more months anyway.
I would be shocked if occ health didn’t recommend working from home.

Yes they can recommend you continue working from home if that would be best for you. You won't get into trouble, please try not to worry x