In need of advise

[ccsmith]

Hi everyone so I'm completely new to this and I'm hoping to possible get some advise.

I'm 7 weeks pregnant with my first child I have just found out. 4 weeks ago I had gone for an interview for a new job one that I have been wanting for a while I had passed all the assessments involved before landing the interview. I had found out 2 days after the interview that I had the job i just had to pass a medical which includes drug test, that's has all come back as a past and have told I will start December 4th.
This job is safety critical and you must initially go thru 3 months of training before you qualify to go out on your own. It's a big company with a union.
The pay is twice as much as I'm currently on.
I know I would not be entitled to maternity pay but I have no idea what I should do... I want to be upfront with the employer I don't want to mislead anyone but at the time of accepting the job I had no ideas I was pregnant.
Can they withdraw the offer now I'm pregnant considering the training I would need?
If anyone has any advise or can advise what route I could possibly go down that would be very much appreciated xx

No they can't withdraw the offer because you're pg.

They cant withdraw the offer.

However they could get rid of you for any reason for the next few years.

I am not sure of the work you will be doing. But if they spend a lot if money training you and its not possible for you to do it all because you are pg, for saftey reasons, or you go on MAT leave 2/3 months after training finishes, you may find they do get rid of you.

Its not legal, or fair. But it happens.

How would that leave you financially?

The job I'm currently in I'm not too sure I would return to work after mat leave, as it's only minimum pay and work some long days so having to pay for someone to look after the child would be very difficult and would it be worth it I'm not sure....
So I feel if they did get rid of me I wouldn't be in any different position.

I want to tell my new employer about myself being pregnant as it wouldn't make sense for me to understate training if I'm honest as I wouldn't be able to do the job for long, maybe they will keep the job for me after mat leave who knows but I have some people say I need to look after number 1 and go for it not worry about the new employer
I have also been told I should choose baby or job by others...

If they are a large employer and interview for this role regularly i.e. Annually or more often, I would be honest with them and ask if you can defer your start date until after your maternity leave finishes.

Having already invested in the selection and clearance process, they will probably be happy-ish to put you on a list and plan for you to arrive 12-18 months down the line. But you would need to be clear on any questions re hours/flex working/FT or PT as they have probably offered you on a FT basis?

Congratulations and best of luck

OK so let’s take the hypothetical situation that you are a quantity surveyor, and training a new employee involves making sure the employee knows how to do the job according to correct health and safety protocols when working on building sites, doing estimations etc.

They could adapt the training to being in a “classroom style” environment, instead of taking you out to an actual building site. They can give you procedural guidelines in a manual. iow they can adapt the training to meet you current pg circumstances so that when you return to work after you’ve had the baby, you will have done some training, which they can refresh before you get into the role.

Key thing is for you to be responsible by letting them know soon that you are pg, so they can adapt and support you, rather than you holding back and being forced into telling them later.