Handbook requires employer to be notified of pregnancy ASAP

[kishpuss]

Hi everyone,

I recently found out I'm pregnant. I was reading through my work handbook and I came across a clause requiring employees to notify business HR or line manager as soon as employee is aware of the pregnancy. They say this is a requirement to ensure safety for the employee but I work from home and I would not like to disclose this until the legal requirement of 15 weeks before due date - am I in my legal right to do this?

I feel pregnancy is a very personal aspect of life and disclosing this to my employer before I even have time to process this just doesn't feel right.

TIA

If you work from home then I would tell them when you want to. Its more of an issue if you were doing heavy lifting or working with hazardous chemicals as you'd have a risk assessment to minimise risks to you and the baby

Congratulations. HR like to know when an employee is pregnant so they can carry out any risk assessments, start the process of mat pay, see if you would benefit from any adjustments to your hours, work conditions, be aware of any pregnancy related sickness. It may be different if you work from home, what work so you do, is there anything you think you might benefit from that will make you comfortable.

It's literally for you, could be down to a different chair, back support etc.

Will you book all your appointments as leave then?

They have a legal requirement to put in risk assessments don't worry tell them when you want to

Yes you are in your legal right to do this, but how do you expect it work with time off for appointments?

www.posturegroup.co.uk/blog/Work-from-home-by-pregnant-working-women

HR manager here- i ask staff to tell us when they are pregnant so I can ensure a risk assessment is completed and any support they need is in place such as more regular breaks from their desk, time off for appointments, for the lady who is currently pregnant we've agreed to change her working hours to later as she feels nauseous in the morning....

But no you don't have to tell Your employer at this early stage if you don't want to!

Very standard and Its to help you ensure your safety, how will you take appointments? Youre entitled to that time off paid

Also from an employers perspective the earlier they know the better in terms of managing your workload and potentially hiring cover for your leave. Not your problem but if you withold your news until 15 weeks before due date this might create conflict as operationally might be difficult for them.

Do you not have a good relationship with them?

You don't have to tell them but won't get any of the benefits or allowances if they don't know. As others have said this includes time off for appointments. I told my boss but asked him not to tell anyone until I wanted to. He had to tell HR but they won't share anything anyway.

You don't have to tell them.... "oh I didn't realise I was pregnant, what a surprise" they can't argue with you! Just say when you are ready to.

Be careful about leaving it until the last minute to tell them as it means you won't be able to take any of your midwife appointments as paid maternity appointments, and you may struggle to get all the time off you need without goving a reason.

What if you are really ill with pregnancy, that will all be recorded as nornal sickness and could lead to termination, whereas if they know you are pregnant you are protected

Informing your employer you are pregnant affords you a lot of protection in employment law:
Risk assessments
Paid time off to attend appointments and reasonable ante natal classes
Pregnancy is a protected characteristic so there is protection against unfair dismissal of you have been employed less than 2 years and it changes how you are treated in a redundancy situation,
Until you inform your employer you can not gain these protections as they 'did not know you were pregnant'.
Waiting till beyond 12 weeks is normal, becomes tricky after 20 weeks when you start having multiple appointments.

It’s up to you but there are benefits to letting your manager know as described above.

Congratulations OP, I was going to say same as above but also this: I told my employers last year before 12 weeks and when my 12 week scan picked up a mmc they were very supportive and I didn't go back to work until I was ready. I found it was much easier to tell them what was going on because they already knew about the pregnancy.

It's very standard and it actually protects you against pregnancy discrimination.
If you don't tell them officially and they find out through other means you can claim you were discriminated against due to pregnancy if they get rid of you, demote you, overlook you for promotion, insist you return to office etc.

You also can't claim H&S breaches should something happen whilst at work that causes harm to you and baby, due to incorrect equipment, asking you to carry out a task that puts strain on your body, for example.

It's in your interests to not be so precious and tell the HR manager, if no one else. You can ask for it to be kept confidential but you are not doing yourself any favours by keeping it secret until 15 weeks before due date, you are only screwing yourself

Wow I'm very grateful for the level of feedback I received. I found many of your comments enlightening - I was not viewing this from a protection standpoint. This changes my perspective and I agreed with most of you, it doesn't seem like a good idea to withhold it longer. I was just a bit shocked to read 'employee needs to tell HR ASAP' as we've not told anyone yet 😁

Thanks again everyone