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Original poster

Antenatal refusal?

75 replies

MrsPearce2015 · 08/12/2014 10:47

Hello all
This is my first time asking advice! I hope I can get some clarity on this issue...
So I've found out I am expecting our second we already have an 11 month old, I'm just 7 weeks and we're very excited.
Now at my work I have 5 managers 2 of which deal with office and hr. I felt it only right to tell these 2 first for obvious Heath and safety issues and my main manager was not in.
So when I eventually get to tell my manager she already knows?? Definite breach of my privacy and I have no idea whose told her but that's not my main issue.
As I've been having complications with this pregnancy and need to have check ups and scans a lot more.
My main issue is this.
My manager has refused to give me time off for my antenatal appointments. Demanding I get someone else to cover my shift or come in to work before or after scan.
I work full time as does my partner and my daughter goes to child care. So as there is an added health risk to both myself and baby I thought there would be allowances to both my working hours and my health.
I feel like my I'm being reprimanded for having children.
What can anyone suggest?

Thanks

OP posts:

ohdearitshappeningtome · 11/12/2014 09:02

At 7 weeks there will be no green notes as usually you don't get them until you have booked in at the midwife so anything from 9+ weeks.

Op does your employer thin you are taking the piss

Stealthpolarbear · 11/12/2014 09:06

Yes this makes no sense
Why do you nor have childcare to allw you to work on a work day. And how does your appt fit into that?

manchestermummy · 11/12/2014 09:09

ohdear I was talking about the pregnancy as a whole: the op's 7 weeks and has a way to go. Surely she has some sort of evidence for this Boxing Day appointment? Even if arranged over the phone, the clinic should be able to give her a card of some sort if she asks. I've found that even the most awkward receptionist, when you explain that you need to give evidence to work, will oblige.

manchestermummy · 11/12/2014 09:11

Oh and OP: if you are concerned about health risks due to your job, have you pressed for your pregnancy risk assessment, to which you are entitled?

I have a desk-based job but mine identified the need for regular breaks to eat something because my all day long morning sickness was triggered by hunger. No piss was taken.

ohdearitshappeningtome · 11/12/2014 09:16

When I was in Epu until 3am the wrote a letter and stamped it on headed paper proving where I was as I didn't go to work the next day!

Yes prof can be obtained.

Something fishy about this and I just can't quite put my finger on it

flowery · 11/12/2014 09:30

Something fishy about this and I just can't quite put my finger on it

Even giving the OP the benefit of the doubt and believing that the clinic is open for non-emergency appointments on Boxing Day, it seems clear to me that the OP wants the whole day off rather than the reasonable couple of hours for the appointment, because she hasn't sorted out childcare for her child for Boxing Day and would rather not have to do so.

She felt her antenatal appointment (or a fictitious "antenatal appointment" if that is what it is) would be a way of achieving this. She is now cross because her manager is, perfectly reasonably, calling her bluff, and expecting her to not take the whole day off unnecessarily.

manchestermummy · 11/12/2014 09:31

Some of my colleagues (not my managers, to be fair) considered me to be a piss-taker of the highest order while I was pregnant. My indiscretions were as follows:

I pleaded for help moving heavy items repeatedly from a low cupboard because at 32 weeks I actually got stuck on the floor and couldn't move without assistance.

I finished a long time before my due date. Yes, a whole week really is beyond the pale.

Warning that I might be 10 minutes late for something as I completed the 20 mile round trip to an antenatal appointment. I was required to be back at 1, for example. Tried to cover it; colleagues refused. Appointment at 11.30. The clinic always ran late. As it happened I made it on the dot of 1 and even managed to eat lunch too (in the car, as demanded by a colleague of the same level)

Proposing to take 9 months mat leave. It was "alright for some" to have such a nice long holiday from work.

My point is that I really don't think I did take the proverbial. When I came into a work after a day/night on the antenatal ward - to avoid people asserting that I was continuing to be lazy - my manager was utterly horrified.

I'm no martyr but it works both ways.

ohdearitshappeningtome · 11/12/2014 09:33

But ante natal appts isn't about giving the day off tho is it. It's Bout giving reasonable time to attend the appt mainly a few hours to incorporate travelling. And to be be paid. That's the law is it not!

The law isn't to have a day off because you can't sort your childcare

flowery · 11/12/2014 09:53

Yes exactly ohdear. The fact that the OP is cross she can't have the whole day, and is saying childcare is relevant reveals that she was hoping to use a real/fictitious antenatal appointment to get a day off and save childcare. None of which she is entitled to do.

hanette · 11/12/2014 10:04

I remember having a scan on Boxing Day although that was 13 years ago

Bilberry · 11/12/2014 10:10

Not sure how many complications there can be yet if op is not getting an early scan until 9/10 weeks (I had a first scan at 6 weeks) and that is when her first antenatal assessment is? Maybe she has health issues or a problematic first pregnancy? My main 'complication' at her stage was severe morning sickness so when I did actually make it into work I spent most of the day in the toilet. I doubt I actually achieved anything the few minutes I was at my desk. My colleagues guessed I was pregnant at six weeks...

However, EPUs should be open year round as they need to be there for ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages etc. Maybe they decided to scan on Boxing Day as the staff had to be in and they anticipated it being very quiet otherwise.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 11/12/2014 10:31

Most EPUs are not open all year round. My local one closes at weekends and for bank holidays even for emergencies and urgent cases. The only clinics running over the period are for essential care. I had an appointment for an anti D injection on 27th December. Not Boxing Day though, because they were shut.

Not that it's really relevant. The op's story has more holes than Swiss cheese and isn't about antenatal appointments being refused at all. It's about being caught out taking the proverbial. Very annoying.

HenriettaTurkey · 11/12/2014 10:39

I have a scan on NYE this year - and a consultant apt. Although I don't think that's a Bank Holiday.

I may have missed the point of the thread though!

ohdearitshappeningtome · 11/12/2014 10:48

Henrietta- not bank holiday! It's a
Normal working day

magpieginglebells · 11/12/2014 11:54

OP, if you're still there what time is the appointment and how far away from work?

I work 45 minutes away so when pregnant I did my best to arrange appointments near the end of the working day so was minimal disruption.

Millerpup · 13/12/2014 00:34

You have a legal requirement to inform your employer in WRITING that you are expecting and your employer then and only then can act as he is supposed to legally. Risk Assessments time off etc.
You are entitled to reasonable time off for ante natal appointments but your employer can determine what they consider is reasonable.
As you are very early on in your pregnancy i would suggest a letter from your doctor and documented evidence of appointments made for scans etc are shown to your employer, then you can discuss with HR what they consider reasonable and come to an agreement to attend these appointments.

HermioneWeasley · 13/12/2014 11:23

Strangely the OP has disappeared.

flowery · 13/12/2014 16:30

Indeed. Excuse me a minute while I try to contain my amazement.

Trouble is, it's things like this which give pregnant women/mothers in the workplace a bad name and put employers off recruiting young women.

HermioneWeasley · 13/12/2014 17:06

Exactly flowery

clam · 14/12/2014 14:02

"As I've been having complications with this pregnancy and need to have check ups and scans a lot more."
What complications can possibly have arisen so far at 7 weeks along?
"It is also a late shift (1030 close) and I struggle terribly with this. I even have a doctors referral and hospital notes proving the effects it's having on me." How can you already have hospital notes on these effects, when you can only just have discovered you're pregnant?

Stealthpolarbear · 14/12/2014 14:06

" You have a legal requirement to inform your employer in WRITING that you are expecting and your employer then and only then can act as he is supposed to legally. Risk Assessments time off etc."
I don't think that's the case. WRiting not necessary. Employer should act as soon as he or she is aware of pregnancy

Oakmaiden · 14/12/2014 14:22

It surprises me that the hospital are even interested in seeing someone so early in their pregnancy. When I went to my GP in early pregnancy I was told to go away and come back at 12 weeks.

The only reasons I can think of are severe hyperemisis (which would be obvious to all, and there is no way the OP would be working normally apart from a few appointments) or a suspected ectopic (in which case I doubt they would be leaving it til Boxing Day to scan). Threatened miscarriage? I suppose that is vaguely possible, but in my day not much notice would be taken of that either at 7 weeks.

Of course the OP could clear all this up by being a bit more upfront about the nature of the complications. Although, I guess there is no real reason she should do so - it just all sounds quite unlikely....

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 14/12/2014 14:36

Stealth in order for an employer to be obliged to fulfil their legal obligations regarding health and safety for a pregnant worker/employee (eg maternity risk assessment, time off for antenatal care) then they do have to be notified in writing.

See about half way down this info sheet: www.maternityaction.org.uk/wp/advice-2/mums-dads-scenarios/pregnant/health-and-safety-during-pregnancy-and-on-return-to-work/

Of course many, if not most, employers would make sure they did all the things they should be doing regardless of how they were notified.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 14/12/2014 14:45

From that link:

Health and safety during pregnancy

What do I need to do to get health and safety protection?

In order to ask your employer to take action to protect your health and safety you must:

Tell your employer in writing that you are pregnant or breastfeeding or that you have given birth in the last six months.

If your employer asks for proof of your pregnancy, you must provide a copy of your certificate of pregnancy from your doctor or midwife.

The Health and Safety Executive advises that your employer must allow a reasonable amount of time for you to obtain proof of your pregnancy and they should not delay taking action while waiting for it. However, if you do not provide proof within a reasonable time, your employer does not have to continue any changes to your working conditions or suspension on full pay. Your employer should not insist on seeing your MATB1 maternity certificate before taking action as the MATB1 cannot be issued until you are at least 20 weeks pregnant. You can ask your GP or midwife to provide other evidence of pregnancy to show your employer.

AnneElliott · 14/12/2014 15:01

OP I agree with the others that YABU. This behaviour is what makes it more difficult for women at work.

When I was pregnant I insisted on appts at 9am or 6pm so I could go to work. Midwife actually asked me if I'd prefer 12 noon so I could have the whole day. She was surprised that I said no.

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