Sickness in pregnancy

[twojumpingbeans]

Hi there

I am 11 weeks pg and have not told my manager yet (I have a scan next week so was planning on waiting until then). Anyway, I have been suffering with all the usual symptoms and today just felt so so tired and crap knew i couldn't manage it. I rang in sick this morning and said I had sickness, which is true anyway.

My manager is one of those 'divide and conquer' style people and, as such, it seems to be my turn to be in the firing line at the moment. I work in public sector, we are a small organisation which is part of a much bigger one! Anyway, when I do my self cert for being off I really don't want to put pregnancy but I know that my employer can't discriminate against me for being off for reasons due to my pg. I feel that if I don't say it was pg symptoms then my life will be a misery, but I'm not ready to go public just yet. Dilemma!

The reason I'm so anxious about this by the way is that we are 'under review' at the moment and I know that my manager sees little value or worth on what I do and frequently tries to undermine me and belittle me in front of everyone - I have started a diary which I will take to the union if need be. I just feel a bit vulnerable and am not sure what to do when I go back tmrw.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling and doesn't make sense - I just wondered if anyone had had a similar experience of this or any sage advice generally..

Thanks for reading if you've got this far..

Just put "sickness" on the form. If they instigate any disciplinary tell them then that should be after the scan anyway.

You could always tell them the truth and you're employer would have to keep that confidential and couldn't make it public (apart from people that need to know, other managers, hr etc).

employees are perfectly entitled to reasonable time off work for genuine sickness whether PG or not, so they shouldn't be able to give you a hard time about it. They can manage performance over sickness when you are regularly off work sick, or there is a pattern to sickness (i.e calling off sick every Friday).

You are right to keep a diary of any incidences where you feel belittled or discriminated against. I would advise finding out if your company has a grievance procedure, or might it be an option to take your boss for a coffee and explain how you are feeling? He/she may not realise how their behaviour is affecting you.

And on your sick form put vomiting, stomach problems etc which could be a reasonable reason for sickness whether you are PG or not x