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.

no expat - I was fortunate - because of the new longer Mat Leave - and the timing of my pg meaning that I could use all my AL up before I started that I stopped when I was 29 weeks pg - had 2 months off before I had DS3. I couldn't have continued as I was - I was awake from 8am to 10pm the following night, with a 9 1/4hr night shift (on my feet) in the middle of it that, combined with low blood pressure was just too hard for me to keep going any longer (although I'd planned long before when I was going to start my Mat leave).

Actually the Low BP was quite funny when I was in labour with him, MW took my BP, then took it again straight afterwards (panic running through my mind thinking it had rocketted) .....oh no it wasn't high at all, in fact it was so low she had to do is twice as she thought she'd got it wrong the first time - she couldn't quite believe I could still stand up LOL.

people who use phrases like "playing the card" or "cry(ing) " are always being sneering and derogatory. imho.

discrimination - "playing the preg card too much" - yes we all might think it, and we will say it, but not to HER

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

I don't know I was actively waiting for someone to say something at work so I could cry sexual discrimination - as they'd treated me so badly in general in the past that I wanted them to do it so I could "get" them for it

too true Q of Q - I was sexually harassed at work (bloke pretending to do me from behind when I was bent over equipment)

I really really wanted him to try that again...

I still think

If you are pg you are not ill just because you feel a bit tired

If you are ill whether due to pg or other thing then you are ill and should be signed off. This includes EXCESSIVE tiredness due to anaemia, bad morning sickness, anything really that prevents you working.

If the illness is long term then you may need to change your role to accommodate this.

Basic common sense really

Why get all hysterical about it just because you are pg? Either you are ill or you aren't. Being pg is a different matter

Someones got to take over while she is on maternity leave anyway, the manager should be planning ahead, can't some ones else go?

The flight is not on a regular basis. It's one or two times in total. She has asked to go early the day before so she won't be too tired and to take an early evening flight so she won't arrive too late. This was accepted. In fact it was proposed by the company and she accepted it, conditionally, if she's not too tired. Anyone else get on the early flight and gets there in time to go to work.

I think they are making efforts to accommodate her. She is taking the piss.

Anyone who knows me on here knows I have no qualms about standing up telling men what I think of their "Victorian Bigotry". But, in this case, I feel this woman is the reason women like me have to defend ourselves against Victorian Bigotry.

good luck with it haha i do know what you mean.

My colleague teasingly said to me, "excuses excuses, you're only pregnant" when I told him I wasn't going to our annual industry awards because it was a week before my due date. He was joking around, he is a good friend but if you wanted to take it out of context that could be equally as offensive!

pg or not, male or female, there are folk who will take advantage, I expect pg may bring out the devil in some of them, even expectant fathers make unreasonable requests sometimes.

More fool them, for allowing her to take the piss.

When I was pregnant I was doing fine (aside from not knowing for a week whether I'd miscarried before I could have a scan, then having lots of blood tests as I'd been exposed to slapped cheek) until the Aug (was due in Oct).

I then suffered from highblood pressure and I was signed off work to start maternity with suspected pre eclampsia. I stupidly (and probably illegally!) went back to work for a few hours per day to ensure that I had everthing up to date, and had handed my stuff over. I then used every single holiday I had to start my maternity leave at the beginning of Oct. I eventually had a section due to pre-eclampsia and an breech baby.

I thought that I was doing the right thing at the time, but really, what was the point? Did work think any higher of me? No. they dont!

I may be jumping to conclusions, but it is possible that you don't know the extent of the woman's medical problems. It seems as if you are a colleague of hers? In all honesty, I wouldn't share medical information with my colleagues but I would with my immediate boss if it affected my work. Things may not be as simple as they seem to you.

As for flying, in all honesty I wouldn't be happy about flying for work either. I missed a family event just because I was unhappy about flying (I was about 17 weeks at the time). It just didn't feel 'right'. I was scared about taking off/landing. If this is a one hour flight, can we assume it's within this country? Can she take the train there and back in a day or stay over on the couple of occasions she has to go?

I agree incidentally with the poster who said that women's greatest enemies are potentially other women. It's another issue, but interesting (and sad) that it's generally men rather than other women who regularly give me seats on the tube...

if she's got a medical problem then she'd have seen her boss with a medical note and wouldn't have been set up to fly at all.

but apparently hasn't got a sick line or exemption certificate.

i'm a SAHM. i'm tired and old this pregnancy.

can i get a sick note for this?

Agree with bossykate.
Just because you have been pregnant yourself does not mean you know how pregnancy is for other people.

also, if you don't like flying or being away from the family, might be a good idea not to take on employment or sign an employment contract that specifies 'occassional travel'.

hell, my ex H had a job contract that specified 'frequent travel'.

i fail to see what it wrong about going to see a doctor and getting a sick note if your pregnancy is making you so fatigued it is affecting your work.

like i said, i had dire anaemia.

it made me VERY tired.

told an academic colleague, who immediately said, 'please go and see a doctor!'

did and got signed off whilst they sorted the anaemia.

During my 1st pg, I was signed off for over 4 months and also started mat leave at around 30 weeks. I chose to do this, even though it obviously penalised me financially because I did not want to take the piss out of my employer.

The entire pg totally and utterly destroyed me, along with my complications came extreme tiredness. When I went back to work during the pg, I was never able to work 5 full days in a row due to illness.

I put up with comments like "If you think you are tired now, wait 'til the baby comes, then you will know real tiredness". When my baby did come (prem due to complications, hungry, has not slept through night by 20 months), I have got up to him every single night since he was born. This kind of tiredness was nothing compared to the suffering I did whilst pregnant.

To the OP, you are in a difficult position and because of the laws, there is nothing you can do. Also, without being inside that woman's body, you can never know for sure whether she is putting it on or not. It could be genuine, she could be a really nervous 1st timer who took ages to conceive or she could just be selfish. You just can't know.

Heres all the \link{http://www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/index.htmhealth & safety stuff} about rights, FAQ, employers duties etc

oops - here

oh and congratulations expat - you old codger - your varicose veins will come up something rotten, now that you are preggers and sooooooo old
I think people are being unrealistic.
I disagree with Dartvader - a first, I might say, but I do appreciate that some people have very difficult pregnancies. And it is true, we do not know the extent of her medical problems / tiredness.
But the fact remains, this is easily solveable.
You go to the doctors.
END OF
If she is that unwell, f**king bedrest will help.
Why should the rest of the working population have to put up with this nonsesne.
If she isn't well enough, she shouldn't work.
Now what exactly is it, that you find so unsympathetic about this ?

"i fail to see what it wrong about going to see a doctor and getting a sick note if your pregnancy is making you so fatigued it is affecting your work"

we are of course assuming here that she gets paid per "month" or "week" rather than on the time she's actually at work......I (for one) was in a position where if I took time off sick I LOST MONEY, and I couldn't afford to do that, so I had to go to work.

We've had people saying that Glorias workplace sounds horrrible.
We've had people saying that women should be kinder to eachother.
BOLLOCKS.
I am very supportive. Look at my recent posts to see what has happened to me recently, medically.
But this is really taking the mick, out of the other work colleagues.
How can you not see this ?
I am getting madder and madder as I type.
I am incensed.
I must go and get some........ camomile.