New employer completely humiliated me for being pregnant.

[tabzz]

Hi all, sorry if this isn’t the right place to write this post, I’m new here. Just needed to vent!

About a month ago I got an interview for a job I’d been wanting for a very long time. It’s in health & social care and I’ve never had that sort of job before so I was, of course, over the moon when I was offered the job on the spot.

The paperwork and onboarding process took a while and in that period of time, I found out I am pregnant. I found out two weeks after the interview, the pregnancy was not planned but myself and my partner have made the decision to go through with the pregnancy, and we are happy with our decision.

A few days ago I was invited to come to an induction for the new job, it lasts about a week where we get all trained up. I wasn’t planning on telling my employers I was pregnant until the end of the first trimester (I’m 9 weeks as of now) however I was given a form to tick off any health issues or conditions I may have that could affect my ability to take part. Pregnancy was one of the options and I didn’t want to lie, so I ticked it. This hasn’t stopped me from doing any of the induction tasks since it’s all my own choice and risk, although I’ve been feeling very much up to the job.

This is where the title of my post comes in. Yesterday I had just finished yet another day of induction and the manager called me into her office to discuss my pregnancy and do a “risk assessment”. At this point I’ve done nearly all the training and am nearly ready to start working shifts on the floor. She asked me if I knew I was pregnant at the time of the interview, to which I said no (which is true!) and she raised her eyebrow at me as if to say I was lying! She then said “you can work but this might not be the job for you”.

Not the job for me? Because I’m pregnant? Seriously? I feel really discriminated against tbh. Just the conduct and her tone of voice and passive aggressiveness has made me feel really humiliated. Why make me go through all the training, KNOWING I was pregnant, only to imply you may or may not fire me? I’m so upset.

You will be more exposed to infection than in a lot of other jobs, so always, always use ppe, if you are caring for dementia sufferers be aware they can lash out, scratch, nip etc. Other than that as a care home manager I employed staff who became pregnant and we encountered very few problems between us. Try to give as much notice as possible for your pre natal appointments, to avoid your manager having to find short notice cover, it's not the type of job where you can work short handed.

Ask the employment lawyers at Maternity Action. They ran an online clinic with Mumsnet this week. Their advice is free.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/work/5122821-mnhq-here-post-your-pregnancy-maternity-work-questions-here-for-free-legal-advice-from-maternity-action

Re - HR protecting the company, they may do so
but one of the ways they do it is by ensuring the company doesn’t get into hot water by breaking laws!
Also, I was going to suggest Pregnant Then Screwed if the OP gets any more trouble but I see a PP already has.
The company may find a way to push the OP out but I think she should watch like a hawk for any reference to her pregnancy as the justification. I second the suggestion of making notes including details of any witnesses.
In terms of whether the OP knew she was pregnant at the interview stage, surely the details of the expected date of confinement on the form she will have to give her employer will prove that she did not.
If it comes to a possible dismissal, perhaps this is not an organisation she will want to stay with (although she should fight to avoid being out of pocket).

Will they then also not higher someone with a high bmi? It's isn't any more difficult to have a pregnant tummy thab a fat one?

I’m assuming this is NHS? Sadly this kind of bullying is rampant.

You need to join UNISON as soon as you can. If you joined during induction, contact your local branch and they will support you.

Good advice and the pregnancy RA is a legal requirement to support your wellbeing

Thats a strange logic, if a fat person gets hit in their big belly it’s not really comparable to pregnant lady being hit on their bump!

She might be, if that manager acts on her prejudice!

Who told you that you can hoist a patient without touching them?

You're the one who has failed to grasp the concept. Yes, that's the function of HR - but what HR will actually be doing is demonstrating how the organisation complied with its legal obligations, and that the process was fair! They'll be using all the evidence that was referenced during it, not coming up with new stuff!

At least you made me laugh!

So what would you do if you unknowingly recruited a pregnant woman? Would you discriminate against her too?

You must be easily amused @Runnerinthenight , if you find MacDonald's perfectly factual post entertaining.

No, just better informed!

Pregnancy is a protected characteristic is, so yes it is discrimination.

Presumably the previous lady who went off on maternity had worked there a while though before becoming pregnant, so I wouldn't say you're being singled out. Yes the law is on your side however a lot of the staff will be thinking that you are taking the mick. I should imagine the manager didn't say anything before as they were checking where they stood legally. I understand the manager being a bit fed up. They will have to follow careful procedures with a pregnant lady so just because you feel up to it doesn't mean they can ask you to do things they would ask a non-pregnant lady. Unfortunately it's the rest of the team who will have to pick up the slack. I'd be thinking exactly the same as your manager but legally you have the right to continue if you choose.

This makes zero sense.

In what way? Several other people before me have also pointed it out so you are quite frankly, wrong.

By law (Equality Act 2010), you must not discriminate against someone you employ, or are considering employing, because of:

• their pregnancy
• an illness related to their pregnancy, including related time off
• maternity pay or leave they take, or plan to take

The law applies regardless of how long the person has been employed.

https://www.acas.org.uk/managing-your-employees-maternity-leave-and-pay/discrimination-because-of-pregnancy-and-maternity#:~:text=By%20law%20(Equality%20Act%202010,take%2C%20or%20plan%20to%20take

Obviously a care or nursing role which overwhelmingly employs women who are ofc going to get pregnant. No wonder the care sector is on its knees - wages and benefits at the bare minimum and shitty treatment of women who dare to get pregnant. Can’t quite believe the utter griminess of some of the attitudes on this thread, esp in 2024. Rotten.

You keep saying "this is discrimination because you're pregnant".
What is? How exactly has op been discriminated against? Someone sounding dubious that she could do the heavy lifting required in the job is not actually breaking any law.
Frankly op's assertion that she can lift people in a hoist without any physical touching is nuts.

Multiple PP’s have pointed out how it’s discriminatory and you are just wilfully choosing to ignore them. Do you think no nurses or carers in the history of the profession have ever been pregnant? This is just pure laziness on the part of the employer in not wanting to make the appropriate concessions for what is relatively a short period of time.

A lot of the comments on here really make me thankful pregnancy is a protected characteristic.

It is not really for the employee (who has never worked the job before) to decide whether or not she can manage a hoist/move whilst heavily pregnant. The employer has a better idea of what is involved and the physical demands. The onus is on the employer to do a risk assessment of whether it is safe for a heavily pregnant employee to continue do the job and if not, re-deploy her to a less physically demanding role. The employer does this to comply with their legal H&S obligations as well as to avoid liability if the employee gets hurt on the job.

OP is not in a position to decide whether or not pregnancy affects her ability to do the job. If the employer has input and responsibilities in relation to OP's wellbeing.

Perhaps that is what the manager means or said and the OP misunderstood.

I work for the NHS, this would be my advice. Send an email to your manager stating that since you've started your job you've found out you're expecting, and kindly request details regarding what risk assessment will entail.'

Not a necessary email but leaves paper trail of you informing them you're pregnant, and opens up conversation on what happens if there's something you can't do due to being pregnant and how you should work around that. You cannot be fired for being pregnant, by law they must do risk assessment, and it's very important to leave paper trails of discussions around this. Connect with your HR department too so you can ask them questions directly.

@tabzz were you working before this new job? If it's only a month since the interview and you have done several weeks on onboarding already I'm assuming not as it doesn't appear that you had to give notice, but I could have read this incorrectly.