Can a pregnant woman be excused from her usual duties because she is tired?

[GloriaInEleusis]

Don't want to give too many details here as prefer not to be identified in RL.

But, she is in the second trimester and is complaining that she can not take a one to two hour flight to go to the project site. This is a normal part of her job. She says she can't do it. Other people in the office are getting fed up with all of her special requests.

And if she can legally refuse to do her job, can her employer require a sick note from the GP? Can she be replaced (i.e. her project given to another employee while she does something else from her usual desk keeping in mind something else might not be as rewarding as the job she does now)? Is is important that person responsible for this project appear on site from time to time, and she has all but refused to go.

so if you're ill, you're not "coping" then? what a bizarre pov.

exactly, wannabe.

well, she's too ill to cope, bossy.

so get a note and go home.

otherwise, well, the job needs done.

and like i said, i had two absolutely SHITE pregnancies.

whenever i was too ill to come in, i phoned in and when the anaemia got too bad, i got a note.

Hi horses!
It is different for all, there is some valid points here.

Sorry oblomov

so why is everyone apart from me assuming that she must be taking the piss?

but the op said this woman isn't ill. She said she is tired. We all get tired during pregnancy, it's part of being pregnant. But I don't seem too recall tiredness being listed anywhere as an illness.

i never assumed she was taking the mick. hence, if you're too tired to do your job properly, maybe you've got anaemia and need to go see a doctor or midwife for some help.

the op isn't a doctor.

anaemia made me so fatigued i would literally drop off at my desk.

or in the middle of a conversation with a caller.

so, not able to do my duties properly. must see doctor and get some tablets to help and get signed off till they kick in.

no, but if you have an employee who isn't fit to do their job anymore because of their fatigue, whatever its origin, then they need to see a doctor and get a medical exemption.

I had a "risk assessment" done at work........I gave it to DS2 to draw a picture on the back of it, and then it got put in the recycling.....wasn't worth the paper it was written on.

I think, but an not sure, that if one is done early in the pregnancy it's good practice to do one later on - as the risks can change.

And as much as I would have loved to take some time off when I was on my feet all night and suffering from low blood pressure - I couldn't afford to - as I would have lost a weeks worth of pay (I worked 3 nights a week) and SSP wouldn't have kicked in until a week later so I had to keep going...

oh come on bossykate, this woman is just a sciver - we all know that.

expat - I rang in sick once.....and then lost £60 - more than a weeks worth of shopping - just couldn't "afford" to be off sick.

It doesn't matter whether she is pregnant / anaemic/ ill, whatever - she has our sympathy - BUT she can not do her job and thus she needs medical advice.
You can't argue with that, surely.

i am not arguing with the fact she needs to get a doctor's cert and this must be at least the third time i've said so on this thread.

I was lucky, QoQ, in that i worked for a place that paid me sick time.

BUT, like you, I did have to work until a week before DD2 was born.

I had a fortnight off when I first got anaemia, and that was paid as sick time because I was only about 24 weeks along.

But after that, it would have eaten into my mat leave, which was only 16 weeks, so I went in.

Ia anyone actually arguing that this woman does not require medical help/assistance/diagnosis ?

There is a fair amount more detail to support the accusation that she is taking the piss but I am trying not to reveal too many details on the internet.

I do know that on of her colleagues told her she was playing the pregnancy card a bit too often. She went to her boss and said she felt that was grounds for sexual discrimination.

And the thing is she has not asked for her role to be amended. She has not said she can't run her project. But, when something comes up that she doesn't want to do she just says "well, it depends how tired I am..."

If she was ill, she would say so. But all all she says is that she is tired. So I think it's safe to assume there is nothing more than tiredness.

Oh no, bossykate, is not saying that , sorry I missed that.
Once she gets medical cert, everything else wil fall into place, won't it ?

people in the office can't tell her "she is playing the pg card too often" - that is really dodgy and could be discriminatory!!! i do think you need to nail her down on her duties with the assistance of hr to make sure you are breaching any discrimination rules.

Personally I think it's awful that someone said "she was playing the pregnancy card a bit too often".

And I do think that's grounds for sexual discrimination.

Eleusis a 1 or 2 hour flight is in fact a journey to airport, parking (or how ever) then at least a 1 hour prior to flight check-in and extra at the other end. A lot longer all in all.
I wouldn't have liked to do that on a regular basis while pregnant.

Quite nice otherwise IMHO.

Why can't some one else go? Some ones got to take over while she is on maternity leave anyway. Change over time.

s/be not breaching

but doesn't that depend on why the person said it? ie if said individual say, started passing her duties to others because she is "too tired"/started refusing to do things because she is pregnant etc... we don't know all the facts here and if someone plays on being pregnant a lot then it can piss people off, why shouldn't it.

If it was a one-off comment then to cry sexual discrimination over it is totally ludicress.

Gloria, I think it requires her boss to be a manager and manage the situation. If he/she is not aware that people think she is taking the mick, then he prob should be. It it is o.k. with him/her that she says ....
if I'm not too tired, then what can you do.
If he/she was a decent manager, they would address this head on - find out what to do HR wise.... insist on medical cert.... pass her work to someonme else... discuss options with her.
A Manager is paid to manage.
Some don't unfortunately.