What do human resource departments do?

[sotough]

hi, by law i need to inform my company that i'm pregnant in the next ten days. (i'm currently 23 weeks and the law says 25 weeks.)
The timing is appalling as a major promotion is hanging in the balance. i have been told by my line manager (not the top boss) that there are no other strong candidates and that i'm most likely to get the job, but the top boss seems totally unable to make a final decision. this has been going on for almost two months now.
I'm sure once he knows i'm pregnant i won't get the promotion.
Once i tell personnel that i am pregnant, will they automatically inform my managers? ( i work for a huge company so word of mouth is not an issue.) I am obviously supposed to tell my managers so they can plan for it, but no specific deadline is given for that on our company handbook. is it worth telling HR of my concerns about discrimination, or pointless?
do i just have to take this on the chin and accept losing the promotion? (it will be next to impossible to prove discrimination.) Any advice appreciated.

They may tell your line manager. Personally I'd tell you line manager and HR together. I'd feel pretty narked if I got an e-mail from HR telling me one of my team was pregnant and they hadn't told me.

I wouldn't mention discrimination as that just sets a reg flag to say "find another reason why she didn't get the job" where as if you don't and they do discriminate they'll be less prepared most likely for your questions.

You have to remember though that HR look out for the company not the workers. They will help the company comply with the law in terms of making sure they don't get taken to a tribunal and lose.

I really think it's asking for too much to expect the HR department not to tell your line manager you are pregnant if you will be 25 weeks. The rule is your employer needs to know, and I think although the law doesn't specify your line manager, really he needs to to. I agree with seeyoukay that you should tell your manager yourself though, it's really not on to keep quiet and let HR do it for you.

I disagree that mentioning your concerns about discrimination would be a red flag to HR and cause them to find other reasons. I don't think you are more likely to be discriminated against because you raised concerns. You might be discriminated against because of your pregnancy but I think if anything, raising concerns will reduce that risk at least slightly. HR should tell your manager that he should be absolutely certain you are not the best person for the job and be able to demonstrate why. If you don't raise your concerns and then don't get the job HR may well help your manager find and prove other reasons, yes. But if they are told beforehand that there's a risk of discimination, or that a candidate is looking out for it, they should at least try to prevent it happening in the first place.

HR departments are primarily there to make sure that the employer does not expose itself to the possibility of being sued, and keeps it's staff as happy as possible within the law.

Secondary to this, they will offer employees advice.

If your HR department is any good, and gets a sniff of this potential discrimination, then they would rightly warn your boss - in your position I'd ask to speak to HR i confidence in the first instance - they will not wan your boss o discriminae in any way, because if he/she does, then the company is questionable and sue-able.

They spread evil from their covens until it causes serious upset in everyday lives.

"They spread evil from their covens until it causes serious upset in everyday lives"

You're kidding, right?

They protect workers, but they work for employers.

I wasn't entirely serious.

I thought that was really obvious (hence my lack of emoticons).

Cool easywriter - I have actually seen some quite serious expressions of this sentiment! LOL

Easywriter there was actually a (serious) thread along exactly the lines of your first post not that long ago, full of ignorant people clearly without a clue, hence not entirely obvious you weren't serious!

They do not protect workers.

Its the biggest misundersanding about what the HR dept does tat most peole have. They work for the firm and if you have a grievance thay do not work for you. Their job is to make sure the firm does not get sued and if they do get sued their job is to make sure the financial impact is minimal.

They will sit in meetings with your manager discusisng every aspect of your grievance and keep you completely in the dark.

They DO support workers in a SECONDARY function. By protecting the company (their primary purpose) they also protect workers.

Any good hr professional will advise where a grievance is up holdable and will ensure an errant manager is pulled up on errors!

I agree with Beta - their only reason for existence is to protect the employer's interest. They will give advice to an employee, but it will be slanted to teh advantage of the employer.

Sotough - I think you are being very naive to think that your HR dept will not contact your manager immediately to tell him that you are pregnant. Why on earth would they not? They have an employee who is going to be leaving on maternity in teh very near future. They need to make provision for that. You say "I am obviously supposed to tell my managers so they can plan for it, but no specific deadline is given for that on our company handbook" - I think it is very selfish for you to try and keep your pregnancy a 'secret' til the last minute. If you have a job of any responsibility it will take more than a couple of days to perform a handover.

I would inform your manager now, and at the same time inform HR, in your conversations with both say 'I really am interested in this promotion, I hope that my pregnancy will not affect my chances'. You have then put your cards on the table. To try and do it as you suggest would be career suicide, as it seems very underhand.

"Their only reason for existence is to protect the employer's interest"

Fortunately I've never worked in a company with that approach, perhaps I've been lucky. Providing legal protection for the employer is only one part of what HR is for in most organisations.

Personally, I would just comply with the legal requirement. I would also try and get something in writing from your boss confirming at least that you have discussed the promotion and that his/her view was you were the only person for the job.

Keep that document (even an email would do) safely at home along with copies of any other appraisals and key employment emails you have had. Especially ones that praise your perfomance or show you were/are rearded ina good light. Even an email calling you to a meeting to talk about your future job prospects with a date and time on would be good.

You may need them in future.

GetOrf thanks for the lecture! I'm quite shocked to be called "selfish" ... This is a huge company, with multi million pound budgets at its disposal. it would be quite different if i worked for a small business in a culture of openness and equality. i simply didn't want my pregnancy to be a factor in whether or not I got promoted and it seemed better from everyone's point of view to take it out of the equation for as long as possible.
For the last seven weeks I've been doing the job of two people- my own job, and the job that was vacated when my senior colleague left - and there is no sign of this situation ending soon, as the boss simply hasn't decided what he wants to do about filling the senior vacancy. I am picking up the slack in the meantime - something i have been prepared to do for a while, but not indefinitely.
Against this very difficult backdrop, I haven't felt any particular obligation to do anything more than the law requires.
I would have told them about my pregnancy weeks or even months ago - it would have made life easier for me in many ways - if they'd been remotely open with me about their plans and timescale for filling the vacancy, but i've been left in an apparently indefinite limbo, doing about 150pc my normal workload, while the boss dithers.
Selfishness on my part just doesn't come into it - the company is getting two for the price of one at the moment, and has been for some time...it's a pretty shit situation. but at the end of the day i still have a decent job, promotion or not, which is not something i'm losing sight of.