Should I raise pregnancy brain as mitigating factor in poor work performance review?

[stella1w]

I am in a dilemma and a very bad work situation.

For reasons too complicated to explain I decided to retrain as a lawyer. Shortly after making the transition, I was lucky enough to fall pg with number one. I managed to get through the exams, and work fulltime in my old job as a journalist until I finished the studies part.

I started the two year compulsory onthejob training in September and a few weeks later fell pg with number two. I had horrible fatigue etc and got a terrible evaluation in December. I had hoped my performance would improve but if anything, it has got worse eg. making printing mistakes on documents about to be submitted to court. The kind of mistakes that basically would keep you from being taken on full time at the end of your training.

I have a real problem with keeping on top of the workload and do make errors. Other people also make errors but they are not leaving the office at 5.30pm and have more opportunity to show willing etc. So my department really don't rate me at all.

I have to submit my evaluation on Monday and am expecting a slating which objectively is kind of justified. However, I do feel that a lot of my mistakes are due to pregnancy brain - forgetfulness and inability to focus are recognised symptoms.

The question is - should I mention that as a mitigating factor? I don't want to make excuses but I think it is a factor in the situation. And legally, I think the law on pregnancy discrimination is that you have to make some allowances for pregnancy in these kinds of issues. So it might be worth putting down a marker as the situation is so bad. Or maybe I shouldn't mention it.

I think you should only mention it if you genuinely think this is the cause. If you do mention it, it should be in a non-emotive way.

No- and if I am being brutal here it does read like you and job may not be suited if you are repeatedly making errors . Also even of you do raise It now and are given benefit of doubt , is it likely to get better when you have 2 dc? You will still have to leave on time, battle and nights, illness in them or that you pick up (and I have sympathy here as I know how all this can affect work).

Also am sure someone expert will correct me but pregnancy lee way is for medical appt or if you are actually signed off sick (eg someone I worked with had blood pressure issues so had dr note letting her work at home more etc). IMHO if you aren't in the more high risk category of pregnancy then it's not likely to be a valid excuse.

Agree with 'hardandsleazy'. It just sounds like you're making excuses for poor work. I've been pregnant twice and certainly not had 'pregnancy brain' as you call it.
I actually thought you were joking when you first said it but did google it and found this:

Here

Maybe I didn't have 'pregnancy brain' because I'd never heard of it???

Hmm - tricky - have as pp said - have you had any time off sick -
have you raised it with your line manager that you were still finding it hard going because of your preganancy?
Did you mention it in December when you had your poor review?
It depends on the organisation and the person - I had a simlar issue with my 2nd preganacy - I knew I wasn't focussing and performing as well I could - and had other health issues - so I kept them up to date - but I knew my line manager was supportive - and as i said there was another health issue that I had suffered from before so we were all on the outlook
Just a thought do you have an occupational health adivisor and have you had your risk assement around preganacy - when I had mine done it was very helpful

I wouldn't mention it tbh.

Pregnancy is hard work when combined with F/T work in a demanding job but I don't think women can ask for and expect equal opportunities and pay in the workplace and then blame poor performance on (non-proven) physiological changes.

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic OP, as I know how tired I get during pg, but I do think it would not reflect well on you if you raised it.

I wouldn;t to be honest.

D you think you maybe need to take a break and return to this in a few years time?

Thanks for all the feedback. I take on board all the comments.

My "What to expect when you are expecting" gives absentmindedness/forgetfulness as a symptom at every stage of pg.

But I also take on board that not a proven symptom and even if it were, it's up to me to work round it.

I guess the workload, stress, tiredness are having an impact but it's up to me to deal with it.

Having had terrible pregnancy brain I am sympathetic. However, raising it as mitigating circumstances at a performance review is bad form. If you have an issue at work - any issue - it's best to say before someone points it out to you and take steps to mitigate the issue with your employer's help.

That said if you really feel pregnancy fatigue/baby brain is an issue you must say and get it documented asap and that might be at your review. Once it's on record you, arguably, have a bit more protection.

Has your employer done a risk assessment yet?

I told my boss and assistant at 7 weeks pregnant because I was not operating at full capacity. I was fine by about 11 weeks though. Did get q bit scatty towards the end but wasn't such a problem because i'd moved to flexible working and had begun hand over to my colleagues.

Stella fatigue is an accepted symptom of pregnancy. Is it possible you're anaemic? That can make you feel awful.

It is illegal under the Equality Act 2010 to treat someone unfavourably due to pregnancy/maternity.

Thanks for this. I have had my health assessment at work. My supervisor is aware I am struggling and I have been trying to improve.

This is true. It's hard to tell how much is me and how much is the pregnancy.
I do take some work home but some work (like bundling) can't be taken home.
I am a single mother, so can't rely on a dh.
I hope that once I qualify, I'll be able to afford a nanny to give me the flexibility.

Thanks for the advice.. I will try to explain the context but also take responsibility for everything!

Good luck stella :) I'm sure it will get a whole heap easier when you're no longer pg.

It's a law firm. Generally they are not very pg friendly so I wouldn't mark yourself out more than you already are doing.

Good god.
No, please don't. You give the rest of us a bad name.

I wouldn't, and that's speaking as someone virtually incapacitated by fatigue by and off work for weeks on end with each pregnancy. Certainly, it's illegal to discriminate against pregnant women. But that does not remove from us the responsibility to seek the help we need (either within the workplace or by getting signed off sick by a doctor) to avoid making errors at work.

I think a better way forward would be for you to admit that your ability to self-appraise the quality of your own work may have been adversely affected by pregnancy-related health problems, and that now that you have realised this you are initiating X, Y and Z steps to address this...

But having said all that, I think it would still be very difficult for them to get rid of you on performance grounds whilst you're pregnant...

What bringing home the bacon said.

In some ways larger firms (I'd imagine this is a large firm - City? Regional?) are more sympathetic to these kinds of issues than high street ones - they are more aware of their obligation to appear to be non discriminatory, at least; and HR in large firms probably has slightly more influence than in a small firm where it is one or two HR bods under the cosh of the equity partners to carry out their will

That said, you don't know if you just aren't cut out for it, do you? Is this your first seat? If you know you are prone to making mistakes you need to check, check and check again before submitting your work to the team leader. Is this the area of law you think you may want to practice when you qualify - if not it may be best to be honest and say "I know there have been issues in this seat, I've learned x y z from that and I am absolutely determined that there will be a significant improvement in my next seat because I will do x y z" and hope you can redeem yourself - you've got another 18 months, a bad first seat doesn't have to be terminal.

The bad news is that currently you are not showing the capacity to do the work and do not have the flexibility that your peers do. Realistically the only way you are going to be able to improve your performance is by going part time so that you get some 'down' time. Being PG/new mum might explain what's wrong, but the only thing that can 'cure' it is by taking some time out/cutting down your hours. Which is probably not a palatable option at the moment.

The good news is that your employers aren't stupid and will know all this without you waving a neon sign at them. So you don't really need to explain your issues away as being a result of PG. Anyone who's got kids will know that you simply have too much on your plate at the moment.

The question is: how to deal with it? TBH I would do a self-evaluation pointing out that you are concerned that the current temporary work-life issues around dealing with PG and a new baby may have affected your performance slightly in the short term but that you are confident that this dip is temporary and you remain fully committed to the organisation and your career, even though you are not currently able to show the same amount of flexibility with regard to the working day as some of your peers. I would leave it at that and then see where they take it.

Any reasonable employer (or legally astute one) will accept that, say something similar, put in a supportive appraisal that says they are committed to you and willing to support you through your career and happy to discuss any changes you may wish to make to your working environment, and will leave it at that. They will know that doing anything else could have nuclear repercussions. You might get a below par appraisal for this year, but in the scheme of things that doesn't really matter as they won't discipline or get rid of you or anything (unless they are really dim).

The bigger question is what are you going to do? You need to address the fact that being a single mum, having two very young children and proving yourself in a career is a very hard ask. What's going to give? If I were a friend or colleague I would advise you that if you don't ease off the pedal in some way (either by getting more support on the homefront or by putting less into your career) you are heading for a spectacular crash. I know what it is like to overfill your days (I did it myself) and I also know what it is like to feel as if you are not doing as well as you can, but you only have 100% to give, not 150%, so you need to accept that otherwise you will feel awful about not being the best at everything (mum, lawyer, homemaker). I'm not sure you have worked out what 'good enough' looks like? That's what you need to aim for in the short term. This I think is the key issue. But that's a whole other thread.

As someone who has done trainee appraisals for many years, this is a tough one. Others have referred to the possbility of you losing your job, and the related employment protections, but given that you are still on your TC I'd say it's more to do with not being kept on at the end of the TC. You're on a 2 year fixed training contract so if you don't perform well enough during your contract it's pretty easy not to keep you on, whatever the circumstances.

2 things: you have mentioned to your supervisor that you're struggling, which is the right move. How sympathetic has he/she been? Are they monitoring your workload? Having worked in a City law firm for a long time I have seen some pregnant women literally being worked until they ended up in hospital so you must make sure you take care of yourself. It's unfortunate that you're still a trainee and haven't had a chance to prove yourself but your health, and your baby's, are more important.

Have you had any input from HR on your situation? In most larger firms the trainees remain in close contact with the Graduate Recruitment team who can be involved if any problems arise during the TC. If there is a solid GradRec manager you could speak to about this I'd recommend doing that, they will usually have seen it all before and may be able to come up with some helpful suggestions.

It sounds like you are able to be honest in your assessment of your work and admit that it hasn't been up to scratch, which is a positive step. I'm guessing you're around 6 months pregnant so should be starting mat leave in a couple of months or so - when do you change seats? As this is your first seat even if your appraisal isn't great, if you are able to redeem yourself in the last three there is no reason why a poor first seat performance should affect your qualification prospects. I know lots of partners who had one appalling seat, sometimes it just happens! If you could possibly go on mat leave at the end of this seat then hopefully when you return you can make a fresh start and do well in your final three.

Not sure I've really answered your question, sorry!

'Pregnancy brain' is an excuse for not concentrating because you have a lot going on. You can mention it if you like but I wouldn't think well of you if I was on the receiving end of an excuse like that.
I've worked with a number of pregnant women without noticing any issue and to refer to my own experience I wrote a first class dissertation at 8 months pregnant and worked without making constant mistakes in my other pregnancies - so you'll understand why I'm unable to be sympathetic.

One other thing - you fell pregnant in September but don't have a dh - did your relationship break down then? Because if so that's a recognised trigger for stress that you should have mentioned before and I would mention now. Far less loaded than 'pregnancy brain'