offered position and now informed me of pregnancy?

[harrogatemum]

Hi - I am looking for some advice.

I have interviewed a lady twice for a position at the company I work for and just this morning offered her a position through a recruitment agency.

The recruitment agency rang me back to say that she would like to accept, but that she feels she should mention that she might be pregnant, although at this stage she isnt sure.

I know that I cannot discriminate against her and wouldnt want to as I have obviously already offered her the position. But does anyone else think this is a bit odd? Especially as she is currenty unsure about it?

I think its very honest of her to mention it also but it puts me in a bit of a funny position! Any thoughts/advice?

The point is that she is clearly the best person for the job. And now that she has demonstrated that, it would be illegal not to employ her (and rightly so, in the opinion of most of us) simply on the basis of her pregnancy.

yeah but come onnnnnnnnnnnnnn

she may as well give it to nayone passign by

Why? This candidate has applied, and has been interviewed, and is the best person for the job.

(whispers) she has a baby in her tummy

she wil be orf for ages

i knwo al teh equal opps yad yada but its ccrazy isnt it

She will probably be off, given that she is new in the job, for a fairly short time; in fact she's probably a better bet, from that point of view, than someone who'd been in the job long enough to have more maternity leave entitlement.

Any new employee is a gamble. And any employee can disappear off for a length of time, on jury service or sick leave (someone I worked with went on jury service and got a trial that lasted MONTHS). One of the hazards of employing human beings.

Poisson, I'm shocked.

Plus, if it's still early on in her possible pregnancy, then you've got eight months or so before she goes on mat. leave. And you know she's unlikely to bugger off until then. Whereas there's usually no guarantee that after all that time spent recruiting, your new employee won't just leave after a couple of weeks/months.

it means that if she starts, she might be off sick with hyperemesis etc quite a bit and you can't use pregnancy related illnesses in appraisals or dismissals.

Having said that, I think that the fact that she was the best person for the job might be affected by the pregnancy. if she turns out to be like me and in hospital for quite a bit, it will be hard on a small employer but you can't say for sure that she won't perform.

I believe she will appreciate the offer and do her best especially informing you of the possibility of a pregnancy.

I just started a new job which requires 6 weeks training and I told them that i was pregnant and leaving immediately after (and by the way, I want annual leave too). They found it shocking and started to pester about whether or not I was able to do the training. I insisted I would finish then be off. after all it took them 7 months to complete the recruitment process AFTER the job offer.

Sadly, I think they are allowed to withdraw the offer if your due date falls withing the training period. Can anyone confirm this?

But finefat, very few pregnant women, thankfully have hyperemesis. And non-pregnant people get ill too.

I was just kidding. The thought crossed my mind when I was waiting for this stupid job, that's all.

I waited till I had signed the contract so she's definitely one up on me for enthusiasm and integrity.

You know, some pregnant women have every intention of continuing to be dedicated to their careers after having the baby. Many of the comments on this thread are exactly why we need these laws; and also, in my opinion, exactly why men should start taking longer paternity leave. I think men should have paternity packages exactly equal to womens' maternity packages. Only then will they start taking leave, and only when they start taking leave will this discrimination against women be reduced.

ok, rant over... (for now)

Uwila thats a good point about paternity leave and how it would affect discrimination.

I am def not Alan Sugar!

Message withdrawn

oh HGM also should mention that I fell pg 2 months into a new job. Obviously they couldn't 'let me go' due to that fact even though I was still in probation. Decided after maternity not to go back because I needed more pay which they initially couldn't offer, only for them to come back 2 months later with an offer I could accept. Obviously during my time there as MrsPreggers, I must have still done a good enough job for them to want me bad so badly . So I'd say don't fret, a) at least you know she's honest and b) if she's the best suited candidate for the job she might just c) turn out to be the person for the job, probably espcially because she doesn't want to let her new employer down 'only' because she's pg, iykwim .