Volunteering, pregnant - discrimination?

[bunchofposy]

I am a bit confused and wondered if anyone had any advice. I recently enquired about a volunteering position, and the contact person got back to me with an application form the next day, and said to fill it out and then we could meet up.

I did this (over a month ago) and in my email mentioned that I am expecting a baby in mid August. I said I was free half a day per week before then, would obviously need a short break after the baby was born, after which I could resume half a day per week..

I've not heard back from her since I sent my application form. I'm a bit confused as I have chased twice now and not heard back from her. I am now regretting having told her I am pregnant, as I am now suspecting that is why the silence, which is making me feel really cross. I did it out of courtesy as she seemed to be suggesting we meet up and I would have had a huge baby bump...

What can I do? Anything?! It's been over a month now.

There is nothing on my application form which would suggest I am anything but suitable for the role, and it isn't just one role that I could have lost out on to someone else - there is a large pool of volunteers at this place.

Maybe they need more than half a day per week or do others do similar amounts of time? Maybe she is just disorganised, or on holiday? Is there any reason why you wanted to start volunteering so close to your die date? Wouldn't it be better all round if you had your baby, saw how you felt afterwards and just started volunteering then?

Em - "die" should be "due"

Can you phone up and ask?

I volunteered to man a stall for a charity in June (i'm due in september) and they said they didn't want me as i'd find it too physically hard to stand for a whole morning
At that stage I had a small bump and was still cycling 20+km trips and hiking and had only stopped running a few weeks earlier... but they didn't trust me to know for myself what I was capable of.

How have you chased? Email or phone? I'd ring.

I would give her a call to chase.

If she is refusing to take your application further because of your pregnancy this is discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010. (Volunteer as client/service user not employee)

Volunteer Involving Organisations should carry out a risk assessment of role and individual to see if there are any issues which need mitigation.

It could well be a totally innocent reason as others have said. Good luck!

Arrgh - just wanted to clarify as have double checked. Apparently volunteers are not covered by the Equalities Act. There appears to be a grey area re. Volunteers as clients/service users.

However, in my experience any reputable volunteer involving organisation will not discriminate and will follow the spirit of the law.

More info € here from Volunteering England.

Sorry for confusion.

Well maybe they just don't like you. Or don't currently need anyone (or anyone with your particular skills).

Or perhaps they don't want to start to train someone who will then disappear for a while and are just thinking there is no hurry to contact you. Or as there are a lot of volunteers they may prefers to wait until there are several constant at once. But rude not to tell you.

That's true - they aren''t covered by the usual employment law channels, but each volunteer using organisation should have a volunteer charter and an equality policy, which could give rise to a claim if not adhered to.

Thanks all for your advice!

It is interesting that volunteers aren't covered by the usual employment law channels. I really feel they should be. What badguider has said about being refused manning a stall makes me feel really cross! They should have at least done a risk assessment, from what has been said above.

Anyway I could rant more, but I will spare you . You're right, could be an innocent reason (unfortunately I don't have a number or I would phone). I've just had more than a few instances of what has felt like employment-related discrimination since having children, so I am possibly over-sensitive.

I don't think you're being over sensitive.

I'm experiencing something similar at the moment over job sharing. I also feel that I have been treated differently (detrimentally?) since having children - overlooked for training and development opportunities in particular.

Can you look up the organisation and call to get her number? It's worth pursuing if you can, to find out, and also to highlight to her (if pregnancy is the reason) that she is acting unethically, if not strictly illegally.

Even if they just don't like you or don't need someone with your skill set, that doesn't mean they can't give feedback of some sort - "I'm sorry, we can't use your skills at the moment," or "Volunteers need to be able to offer a minimum of 5 hours a week," or whatever. Even if it's around your pregnancy or that they don't like you - plenty of employers manage to think up other reasons for not offering a position that keeps them legal, even if the real reason is maternity, so they should be able to come back with something other than silence, which is just rude.

I had a similar 'no response' after discussing a volunteer role and then applying...

No response even after I'd chased several times... I'm not pregnant.... Unfortunately I think that is not unusual.. having discussed with some people 'in the know', its not at all uncommon to be hugely disorganised with securing volunteers to the point that potential volunteers with great intentions get so fed up they lose interest...