Legal help

[Sae3005]

Following my previous post which was a shit show. I have fallen pregnant accidentally, and whilst I was trying to focus on my bakery business and growing it, I now recognize it is not as feasible to do full time as I am relying on others for income and sometimes, people do not wish to pay.
I am in the middle of job searching for a job to opposite hours of my partner (he works from 6pm to early AM, the time differs), as child care fees would wipe us out - quite literally.
I was wondering if anyone could offer me legal advice. I am only 8 weeks right now, and legally I know I am not obligated to tell employers about the pregnancy at interview stage, but I need to tell them at some point. I'm also pretty certain (correct me if wrong) I am not entitled to maternity leave after 7 months, however I would require minimum 6 weeks leave due to a c-section.

Any advice and legal advice would be appreciated, alongside how to make this work with studying for a uni degree, 3 kids (almost 4) and an at home-bakery.

Your 4th baby
bloody hell

You would have to tell an employer at least 15 weeks before your due date, so at 25 weeks. Although depending on the job it might not be safe to leave it that long depending on your duties. You need to have 26 weeks continuous service to qualify for SMP, but you may be able to apply for Maternity Allowance from the government. You would still get the time off so I would worry about only taking 6 weeks off just for c section.

I completed my degree whilst working part time, already having a child and being pregnant, but I really wouldn't recommend it. Is your degree something you can put on hold until all children are at school/nursery age? Most degrees it's only around 10 hours contact time at the uni so it's much easier to manage when they are at school. As you would be classed as a mature student with children you would get the maximum maintenance loan available and some uni's have childcare on site.

Yeah, I can put the degree on hold, however was unsure whether to because it would be a long time from me graduating. I guess that's not a big deal though? I don't know. My worry stems from the fact last time, I wasn't healed for 3 months. I had re-occuring infections and my scar re-opened multiple times. I know an employer would not want to have an employee off for 3 months due to pregnancy unless they were entitled to maternity pay.

It doesn't matter how long you've worked for an employer, you are still entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave. The only thing that's different is they don't have to pay you if you don't have 26 weeks service. Honestly I wouldn't worry about the degree right now. I didn't go to uni until I was 26, graduated at 29 and then had a complete career change at 30.

Ah right, okay! I never knew that. Thankyou. The problem right now is a lot of the job applications are for christmas only. I'm trying to find something permanent.

@Sae3005 I think that's the problem with this time of year. Keep at it, something will come up. You could always register a couple of employment agencies and put your CV on indeed.

If you carry on baking then change your payment terms. Much bigger deposit, full payment x days before.

Water tight contact and take them to small claims court if they don't pay.

Wasn't your earlier post about telling your parents? Hope that goes ok
Honestly you sound amazing what you're doing.
I agree with deferring the degree for a couple of years maybe until this child is at preschool.

My daughter is 31 and changed career aged 27, did an online law degree over 2 years instead of 3 and is now doing her traineeship.

She's not got a family though so you may need more time.

Your children will be grown up by the time you're 40 so you have years ahead of you. I know you're young to be having 4 but honestly I wish you good luck.

Yes it was! Thankyou, it's hard but I am trying.
I will defer for now then - I always wanted to be a lawyer but struggled to come to terms with the fact I may have to defend people who don't deserve it, so kudos to your daughter. I also wanted to become a midwife, but I did not pass the tests unfortunately (my dream career).

My life is not over, I have time to figure things out, however I am aware the area I live may be part of the problem (small town), I am not willing to leave it as my partners mum has a brain tumour, his family needs our support right now and my whole family is here. So we are riding the waves, trying to figure out where to go from here, but I will make it work. I always do.

It’s a tough one to balance with new employers and pregnancy really. Legally you don’t have to tell them until you are 25 weeks, and you are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave, just not necessarily maternity pay.

But there are extra protections you have while pregnant that you miss out on if you don’t tell them you’re pregnant, especially things for example sick leave due to pregnancy being counted differently which could be crucial in a new role when you would be in a probation period, pregnancy related sickness doesn’t count towards your record. Plus without disclosing your pregnancy they can’t provide an risk assessment or adjustments to keep you safe, this will be relevant in some jobs more than others but it’s still something that can be really useful.

However all that said despite all the rules in place to protect you from being not hired or sacked due to pregnancy it is incredibly easy still for an employer to get rid of someone for being pregnant without saying that if they want to, particularly when you’re brand new to the job so no rights really and in a probation period so they can let you go for any reason and never have to admit it was pregnancy.

It’s a tough one to weigh up. Good luck!