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

[Calendar]

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.

Calendar - hope you are still there. I started work whilst pg and was very very concerned that they would dream up a reason to get rid of me. So things NOT to do would include getting rid of her, making her feel in any way uncomfortable about being pg. She most likely realises the situation it puts you in and feels bad for you, but at the same time wants to earn an honest crust. DO support her in any way you can both legally and morally. If you are a good employer most likely she will turn out to be a good employee. I worked the hardest I have ever done in my life whilst i was pg because i knew i would be having an extra mouth to feed and couldn't afford to lose my job. They stepped up to the plate and have treated me very well and still do. i in turn continue to work bloody hard for them.

What WWW said.

Every bleedin' word!

[too irritated to formulate own posts emoticon]

Cosmicdancer - perhaps you should read the posts on the thread before posting.

Meaning what,exactly, Bessie 123?

Bessie123

I did read the full thread before answering -perhaps you can answer my questions - as I'mso obviously missing something.

we arent assuming the firm is small
its clearly stated by the OP

Where does she say it's a small company, Nailpolish?

her 13:17:16 post

cosmicdancer - your questions are already answered in previous posts

oh thanks - I see it now

Size doesn't really make a difference though, does it?

My gripe is with the unbelievable attitude of some women on this board and with the OP's assumption that the new recruit won't be as committed.

This is not a "disaster" FGS. Happens every day of the week. DH's very small company recruited someone recently - first day she announces she is pregnant - that's life.

Has it put him off pregnant women in the workplace? - has it hell!! One of his associates has just gone on maternity leave -for a year - he has made her a partner because she has done a good job and he believes she will still do a good job when she returns. That's equality for women.

I don't think the OP is suggesting that the woman won't be as committed, but that it will now take longer than anticipated for her to qualify and there will also be the difficulty and expense of getting a temp. I should think that where the job is for a trainee, it will be pretty difficult to find a temp. All some of the posters seem to be saying is that the woman has made things difficult for the OP and if she did know about the pregnancy when she went for the interview, she has purposely put the OP in that difficult position. I don't think anyone is suggesting that she shouldn't be entitled to legal protection.

Blimey. Some of the posters here seem to be living in the dark ages.

It isn't a disaster, it's life. If a bloke announced his wife was expecting you'd think "well, now he has an added incentive to do well in his exams". why not assume the same for a woman?

And, speaking as someone who went through 7 m/cs before having my DC's, I can assure you it is not straightforward for some women to plan their lives to the nth degree when it comes to career moves. I remember being offered my dream job in San Fransisco, having completed a 3 day trip out there (for final interviews), knowing even then that I was 7 weeks PG. I truly believed that I would have another MC.

Calendar, this is a world where we've fouhgt hard for equal rights and for diversity and flexibility in order to allow women to progress. Sometimes the dice fall badly on a company but mostly it is to the benefit of organisations that we have these regulations and protections. Legally you have to do the right thing and hopefully you will come round to realise that talented and loyal people are worth their weight in gold; stuff like maternity leave just isn't important when you have the right people. do the right thing and not only that, prove you are supportive by going the extra mile. chances are it will pay off and even if it doesn't and your employee chooses not to continue her career as planned, you will still be setting a valuable example to all of your staff. As a manager you can shape other peoples' attitudes - carry the responsibility well, no matter how small your organisation.

Congratulations on finding the prefect person and having the foresight and sagacity to ensure she gets your full support, Calendar.