Offered job interview but I'm pregnant, WIBU to attend?

[Clarabell33]

Sorry this is so long!

I'm currently working in a public sector job that I loathe about 60% of the time, cope with 30%, and only enjoy about 10%. The loathing part is more to do with the place of work/environment/certain people than the nature of the job itself. With that in mind, I applied for a similar type of role at a different organisation. I know a bit about this organisation, the type of work they do, how they do it, and several of the people, through various networking/conference events etc, and I think I would be much happier there. I've been keeping an eye out for a job to appear at this organisation for several months, so when one did, I applied.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I got a BFP - we have been TTC for a while after a late MMC earlier this year. I've not yet told my current employer as it's a bit too early. Then last week I was offered an interview.

So I have a couple of dilemmas - firstly, should I interview for the role, or am I wasting their time - or putting them in an awkward position (e.g. having to interview me, knowing it's a waste of time or that if they take me, I'll then be off for the best part of a year after only working there for a few months), which I don't want to do in context of keeping that door open in future should another opportunity come up? If I do interview, should I tell them I'm pregnant, and if so, when - before the interview, or after, or only if I get offered the role? I'm about 10 weeks atm and wasn't planning to tell anyone (our parents know, but that's all) until we are well past the first trimester, possibly as much as 20 weeks if I can manage to hide it that long.

Secondly, am I taking too much of a risk re maternity leave? I'm not 100% sure how the new organisation's mat policy would apply in my case - they are both public sector roles and in some cases when you change from one public sector body to another, this is counted as continued service and therefore I may be eligible for their full mat pay due to length of service, but I am not 100% sure if that would be the case. Another factor is that I've not yet had my dating scan, but according to the midwife's calculations, my estimated due date is about two weeks shy of the minimum length of service that my current employer requires within their own organisation, which is 4 x longer than some others in the sector (including the other organisation), and as length of service in previous public sector roles is not taken into account by my current employer, I may not actually be eligible for full mat pay under my current employer anyway! So there are three potential scenarios (2 and 3 depending on being offered the role):

1. I'm only eligible for SMP with either employer due to insufficient length of service;
2. I'm eligible for full mat pay with my current (if they waive two weeks - sounds reasonable, but they can be strict on occasion) but wouldn't be with the new by the time I've worked my notice;
3. I'm eligible for full mat pay with the new due to length of service being taken into account, but not with the current employer.

Any thoughts on either dilemma appreciated! And thanks for reading this epic

Point 1 is incorrect.

You will not be eligible for SMP if you change jobs. You will be eligible for ML, of course, but will have to claim Maternity Allowance (MA) which is not quite as much as SMP - you don't get the 6 weeks at 90%, just the basic.

You are not obliged to tell anyone about your pregnancy at this stage, but changing jobs could make a big difference to you, financially.

Oh crap, that's true. Thanks for pointing that out! So I'd be eligible for SMP if I stay, but potentially only MA if I move (if I even get as far as interview).

In terms of whether to tell the potential new employer before the interview/before an offer, I'm going to copy and paste what I put on another thread earlier today.

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Although many women feel they ought to tell interviewers they are pregnant, this does give the impression that the information is somehow relevant to the interview, which of course it is not.

Telling the interviewer is not the best thing for the interviewer. If an interviewer knows a woman is pregnant, one of three things will happen.

1. The woman isn't the best person for the job but the interviewer feels they should be offered it anyway as they are terrified of being accused of discrimination. They are then burdened with someone who isn't the best person and with having to deal with maternity leave, and will probably resent the employee.

1. The woman is the best person for the job but the interviewer is worried about maternity leave so discriminates and offers it to someone else. The employer is in a bad position because they are legally vulnerable and don't have the best person for the job and obviously the woman is also in a bad position.

3.The woman is the best person for the job and the interviewer offers it to her. She will not know whether this is because of her suitability for the role or because the interviewer was worried about rejecting her for fear of a discrimination claim.

This means that regardless of whether the woman is offered the job or not, she will not know whether it was because of her suitability for the role or her pregnancy. The interviewer has been burdened with a very significant piece of information which could put the employer in a legally vulnerable position, and it is always going to be difficult to completely disregard that information.

Whereas if the interviewer doesn't know, the following will happen:

1. The woman is the best person for the job and is offered it purely on merits.

1. The woman isn't the best person for the job and is not offered it.

Both the interviewer and the woman know that the interviewer was given the opportunity to make a decision based solely on relevant information.

Thanks Flowery, that's much more articulate than my own thoughts!

I suppose my concern is that although, as you've said, it's not relevant to the interview, I feel that it is relevant to my overall ability to fulfill the role. I'd hate to be thought to be leading them up the garden path with the promise of being able to fill this vacancy but oh wait, I'm going to take a year off but it's too late now for them to take someone else forward from this round of interviews, so they'll still have to deal with this vacancy in the not-so-short term, either by being short-staffed or going through another time-consuming recruitment process. I know some of the people personally, including at least one of the potential interviewers, and I think that is making me feel like I'm consciously withholding important (if not pertinent) information. I also don't want to piss anyone off, frankly, and risk ruining their opinion of me whether I'm successful or not!

That said, I am reassured by your logical explanation so I think I'll go ahead with the interview and see what the outcome is - and then post again if I get offered the role and have to make a decision about what to do next!

Flowery is right.

A sensible organisation wants the right person for the job in the long term. Dealing with a maternity leave issue soon after starting may be a pain, but it's better than having the second-best person for the job filling it for years and not being as good at it as you would be. Be confident and don't do yourself down. Believe you are the right person for this job and don't be apologetic about being pregnant.

By the way, don't forget that you can now legally share ML with your DP. If you get the new job and want to minimise the impact of your ML on your new employer, consider the possibility of going back to work after 6 months and letting your DP be the full time SAHP for 6 months. There might be a bit of juggling with expressing if you BF but we did this and it was the best decision we ever made. Also if you are only entitled to MA rather than SMP it may be that you can get the 6 weeks at 90% as part of DPs package - depends on the employer, length of service etc.

Ah thanks Fish, that's a great solution except DH is a contractor so won't get paid PL That said, I suppose there's nothing stopping me going back earlier than I'd thought I would, maybe part-time if they'd allow it... All if I get the role! Sod's law says I won't now that I've put this much thought into it

I would interview anyway, for the experience.

Don't tell them your pregnant just yet. Wait until you get a job offer (you may not), and then, depending on how much they like you, you may be able to negotiate a deferred start with them.

I'm another one who votes for telling them at offer stage. That way you will know that you've got it on merit, they won't be able to discriminate against you but you are being open with them before you accept an offer. Offer stage, before you accept, is the best time for asking any questions of a new employer or giving them any relevant information (health/pregnancy etc).

I interviewed for a job whilst ten weeks pregnant. It went very well and when they said did I have anything I would like to ask them I told them about my pregnancy. I was offered the job and they'd checked what maternity rights I would have and explained this during the offer.