Signed off sick and now I'm .....

[himynameiss]

PREGNANT.

Hi everyone, I know I can ring ACAS but thought I’d ask here for advice. What should I do. Been signed off sick with anxiety since end of October just found out I’m 9weeks and 5 days pregnant!

Atm there’s no going back, I was being bullied. Don’t know what to do! Help please and no negativity

Um, you don't need to do anything in respect of your pregnancy yet. It's early days and there's no need for your employer to know particularly.

Obviously it's better if you can get back to work otherwise your entitlement to maternity pay will be affected, so I would focus on that at the moment if I were you.

What is happening about your sickness absence at the moment? You've been off a long time, have you been referred to Occupational Health, is there a grievance about your bullying or other internal process ongoing?

I think they are waiting for me to decide what to do. I feel like I can’t go back now after all this time. I’m at home looking after my 16 month old and I’m enjoying it. So going back would me lan Nursery and all that upheaval.

There’s no grievance going on, I haven’t told HR. I do have it all documented but I haven’t done anything with it in case I need to go back for whatever reason.

Not sure what occupational health is but no.
How will my mat pay be affected? Xxx

It sounds like you've decided you don't want to return to work at all. Do you plan to resign or are you waiting for them to dismiss you for capability and/or hoping this won't happen before the point you could take maternity leave?

Occupational health advisers meet/talk to employees who are off sick or suffering from ill health, and advise the employer how the condition impacts on the employees job and vice versa, and what measures/changes could be put in place to support a return to work/improved attendance.

Not sure what you mean by not having done anything about your bullying in case you need to go back. If you don't let your employer know about it and give them the chance to put it right, you won't be able to go back even if you need to, surely?

Your statutory maternity pay (assuming you stay employed long enough) is calculated on the basis of how much you are earning during the 8 week period leading up to being 25 weeks pregnant. Unless you get really good sick pay for a long time, your earnings will be affected, therefore your maternity pay will be affected.

If you have no intention of returning to work, or of giving your employer the opportunity to put right your concerns, why not resign and offload the stress of any dealings with your employer?