Trying for baby on performance review

[Navigatinglife2022]

I'm hoping someone can help.

I've been in my current job for less than a year however I am trying for a baby. There have been some performance issues raised with me and I am on a performance review/plan which is a concern for my situation as I worry I will lose my job.

I'm well aware my employer can get rid of me quite easily within 2 years however does this change if I get pregnant as this is a protected characteristic? Or does the same apply? Any advice would be great.

You do not become immune to termination because you are pregnant. You merely cannot be terminated or otherwise discriminated against because you are pregnant.

Same applies, they cannot sack you because off your pregnancy, but they can still sack you.

If you are dismissed during pregnancy and wanted to claim unfair dismissal you would have to prove it was related to your pregnancy.

I would be careful as although they cannot fire you because you are pregnant, some people can personally have negative attitudes toward women they manage or emply TTC/being pregnant.

So even though as said they of course can't use the pregnancy as a reason, if you are already on a performance management plan and they find out you are pregnant you might have a hard time proving it was due to that and not due to your already highlighted performance issues.

In theory though you as long as you are following your plan which should be SMART then you can keep evidence that you are improving which should make it clearer if any discrimination does occur. In practice though TTC may put you in a precarious position so I would keep quiet about it. It definitely does not grant you more protection against poor performance.

You could go down the route of reasonable adjustments if it turns out you become very ill due to your pregnancy but really, would you be happy coming back a job that you were on a PIP for, then taking a load of time off for sickness... you are perfectly in your rights to but it's just something to think about when it comes to accepting any contractual mat pay as you may not wish to come back?

I am sorry OP but anyone on a performance improvement plan in their first year would be a red flag for me. If they are already following good practice with an performance review/plan it is very likely they are following good employment practices and so can terminate your employment. If you become pregnant during this period they can demonstrate it was solely performance related and commenced before you were pregnant.

You need to focus on improving your performance.

As others have said, being pregnant is not a get out of jail free card; you can absolutely still be terminated whilst pregnant. You just cannot be terminated BECAUSE you are pregnant. Unfortunately the fact you've had performance issues before will add strength to any argument that you were simply not up to the job, rather than that you have been discriminated against on pregnancy grounds.