Just offered someone a job and now she's told me she's pregnant! Disaster!

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Have spent months recruiting for someone, thought I'd found the perfect person. We've sent out the contract, agreed a start date, she has handed in her notice but before she sent the contract back she rang and told me she had just found out she is pregnant!
Obviously I want to do right by her, but it makes life very difficult for me. It will take 6 months to train her up, then we will have to get in a temp to cover her. Also, this is a trainee position and she is supposed to be taking exams for the next 3 years in order to qualify (finance) but that doesn't seem very likely any more.
According to our company handbook, she is not entitled to company maternity pay or even SMP, but she may get maternity allowance.
What a disaster! Any advice? I have got our HR dept looking into this, but they don't seem to know much about it. I want to make sure I do the right thing by this girl but it's really not an ideal situation.

I still think it's utterly unreasonable to expect a woman not to apply for an interesting, rewarding job for which she is fully qualified and which she would do very well, just because she's pregnant.

KM why is it unreasonable? It makes no difference whatsoever to the recruitment process so it's irrelevant.

I did some rather excellent work during both my pregnancies. And passed my driving test.

Bllody hell MI- they're not letting pregnant women behind the wheel these days are they?

I'm a much better worker since having kids. Have to be- have always been one for procrastination - no time for that now.

But what's wrong with making a decision not to tell them at the interview? What difference does it make? Her skill and experience and suitability for the job are what's being discussed at the interview, why should she discuss her biological circumstances?

Surely being pregnant and having to take maternity leave means there are certain parts of her job/training she wont be able to undertake? If a person is unable to do a job for whatever reason must they still be legally entitled to apply for the job and be expected to receive the same treatment as someone who isn't in the same position.
What if she said the day same day she announced the pregnancy 'my husband has to go and work away for 6 months so I wont be able to work in 8 months time for 6 months??' or 'I'm going into hospital for an operation in 7 months and will need 6 months recovery time'???
Should she still be offered the job?
I think too many people on here are using the 'I was pregnant once' thought in their head to be unreasonable to the fact that this is still a business, which cannot necessarily afford to employ someone who is going to need a large portion of time off.

batters you are right - must stay away - I've given my professional advice to the OP, no need to get drawn into an argument as well!

I once offered someone a job knowing they were pregnant becasue they were far and away teh best person for the job. It was a nightmare, it was awkward and inconvenient and had I not been absolutely convinced that they were the right person I probably wouldn't have gone ahead. In the long run I got a devoted member of staff who did a fantastic job for a number of years for me and paid back far more than I invested in trusting her.

We were not a small company though and could afford to pay higher rates for a temp to cover her leave. I now work in a very small company and would have to consider much more carefully a similar position.

flowerybeanbag, fine, dont tell them at interview, because you want to get your best points across, but do tell them before they have made you an offer they are going to be obligated to stick too.

and she didn;t tell me until after the interview - I thought that was quite sensible myself. Gave me a chance to assess her fairly but then came clean quickly afterwards and made it clear that she would understand if it was a problem.

i despair

Would I be right in thinking Simon Cowell was wrong for not allowing a certain auditionee through to boot camp for being pregnant??
NO, of course not, because she couldn't fulfill the commitments involved!

but Lorayn not offering someone a job that you would have offered them if they hadn't told you they were pregnant is just as illegal as withdrawing an offer already made. The only reason for telling an employer you are pregnant earlier than you have to is to be helpful for planning purposes, which is what this applicant has done.

But pregnancy is not, in fact, an unforeseen event. It's something for which all organisations of all sizes, including ones in the voluntary sector, are expected to budget.

I've only skimmed but I'm with BK, MI et al. I would also say:

• being pregnant shouldn't mean you are denied the ability to make a living. Why should it?

• If the difference between the business's success and failure is equal to the amount of time and effort it takes to provide mat cover (and ESPECIALLY bearing in mind there's no mat pay obligation here) then imo that business shouldn't be trading anyway, as it's a crap business

• I am constantly surprised at the attitude towards pregnant employees here

And OP why WOULDN'T she train over next 3 years? I have 2 children and work ft oth in finance

I'm also surprised at the reactions from some posters here, esp MP.

Of course, I forgot, it's a case of 'I'm fine jack, I'm fireproof' isn't it.
If this were your business and could infact cause a huge financial problem you would be thinking differently.
I am currently 12 weeks pregnant, should I go and have some job interviews, then tell them I'm pregnant after I get offered the job?
I can understand that being parents ourselves we can all sympathise with the lady who has discovered her pregnancy, but why should a business suffer because she has chosen to start a family??. Although it does seem that the company is large enough to deal with it, from reading between the lines, but this same situation in a small business could result in a business going under or having extreme difficulty at the least. The business is supporting people too, families, and children, but all of it should possibly be at risk because of one pregnant woman?