Working full time in first trimester

[Gem2819]

Hi,

I was just looking for some advice on how everyone managed to work full time at a physical job in the first trimester before work knew?

I’m around 8 weeks pregnant and this is my first pregnancy. I work in a hotel where I do the cooking, housekeeping and waitressing. I work 7/8 hours a day I do not get a break, there is no staff toilet, no staff room and no time for sit down breaks we have to eat and drink while working. The kitchen is boiling in the summer with no window or door to the outside, I’ve been struggling to get up so early ( I have to get up at 5:30am) when I have quite severe nausea all day, no appetite and tiredness. I have also been suffering with back pain.

I was hoping I’d be able to wait to tell work I’m pregnant till I’ve had the first scan or my midwife appointment, they know I’m having back problems but very little adjustments if any have been made for me. A lot of heavy lifting and stairs are involved and we do not have a lift. I’m just wondering how I can carry on doing this job especially in later stages of pregnancy, I can’t afford to drop any hours and I do not get company sick pay.

Any advice would be welcome!

If you're in the UK then it's illegal not to get a break if working a 7/8 hour shift so if you don't want to tell your employer you are pregnant yet then you could start by insisting on your legal right to a break (could tell them you have a health issue for now if you wanted but you are entitled to this regardless).

Once you are happy to tell them you are pregnant then you can ask for a risk assessment which may recommend amended duties and would be no detriment to your pay.

Honestly I think you need to tell them so they are legally obliged to do a risk assessment and make adjustments. I told work and then had a miscarriage, and it actually made it easier to then have sick leave as I was honest with them about why and they were very nice to me. Subsequent pregnancy I also told them when I was about 7 weeks. But I’m very pro telling early, there’s no magic safe point of Pregnancy

Yes if you are in UK this is completely illegal. You are entitled to a break and to use a toilet (surely staff need to wee over an 8 hour period, what do they actually do??). If they don't put this in place pregnant or not, I'd be leaving and reporting them.

Yeah that's illegal even outside of pregnancy. A normal human needs to eat, drink and use the toilet within 7-8 hours.

Sorry, but agree with the other posters, this doesn't sound legal!
In these circumstances, I think you will have to tell them sooner rather than later as it's not worth the risk.
They are legally obliged to carry out a risk assessment and make sure basics like breaks, fresh air and a toilet are really available.

If it were me I would tell someone I trusted so that reasonable adjustments could be put in place. However as it sounds like your employer is already breaking the law I think it’s unlikely they’ll have regard for this during pregnancy! I would suggest you read up on what you are entitled to during pregnancy (paid time off for appointments etc) as you will be much more protected during this period and might need to stand up for yourself.

In my job I have to tell them straight away. I have found it has made life easier in the first trimesters as I tend to need time off for sickness and fatigue.
For me the decision on whether to tell someone is whether any alternative answers will sound like a lie and pregnancy was the answer that made the most sense I say it's pregnancy related. Pregnancy adjustments and sickness are counted differently

Clearly other posters have never worked in hotels. They skirt either side of the legal line for most of their staff.

OP I was an events manager in a hotel when I was pregnant and it's brutal. I had to do close/opens regularly (sometime as little as 4 hours between 12 hour shifts). I had to tell my manager after I was given a written warning for being physically unable to keep going one day. I was running back to back weddings and I passed out in my office after throwing up in the bin. The DM noticed I was missing and reported me for abandoning my team.

Very few changes were actually made after I told her, I just kept getting "ah well I had to do it when I was pregnant so buck up".
The customers cared more! They would see me waddling with a massive bumpy trying to roll a 8ft round table between rooms and they'd insist on taking over. Obviously they couldn't because we weren't insured for that but it just felt nice to see people caring.

My honest advice would be to do whatever it takes to get through and leave as soon as you can or get signed off. It probably won't get easier!

Also, if you throw around terms like "legally entitled" and start insisting on crazy things like breaks and fresh air, you're often dubbed "not a team player" and managed out of the business. Then, because hotels are all interlinked, word gets around and you find it much harder to get a job.

Speaking as someone who had this exact thing happen to them and no longer works in hospitality

It says a lot about hospitality when I was surprised once when I was sent home after fainting whilst pouring a pint and I was fully expecting to reprimanded for wasting beer!

Yes they definitely do push the limits of what’s legal, every hotel/ guesthouse I’ve worked in so far has been the same in regards to breaks.

I feel guilty as it is an independently run business and there’s very few staff but trying to keep going on these hours is so hard. I’m hoping my midwife will be able to offer some advice on getting signed off etc!

I am in the UK, l was never expecting to fall pregnant while working here as I was looking for other work! We have to use the guest toilets when they check out but there is still around 4 hours there is no toilet to use on a morning, but I can imagine it’s only going to get more difficult the further along I am.

Whoa! That is surprising! Was it their fault you fainted by any chance?

Stress!! I was 2 days from being made homeless...but at work rather than sorting it out. I faint as a type of panic attack - certainly the most embarrassing time I fainted! We found a backpackers hostel and all was ok in the end.

OP once you get very pregnant you won’t be able to go 4 hours without using the toilet, you just won’t. Please look for other work!