When to tell new employer I'm pregnant?

[CaribouCarafe]

I'm currently 11 weeks + 4 days pregnant.

I was made redundant from my last company on 31st December and found out I was pregnant one week after the redundancies were announced (in November).

I've just found out I've been successful in my application for a new role with a good employer with a start date in mid-February.

I know legally I don't need to disclose my pregnancy until 15 weeks before my due date (EDD = 6th August, so I'd have to tell them in April), however I do feel bad keeping this information to myself - especially since they've hired me over more experienced candidates on the premise that they can train me up in the first 90 days of my employment there (which includes about £2k in training investment).

It's a reasonably sized company, so I think they won't be financially too hard hit by me going on mat leave for ~6 months.

I don't want to tell them too early, as they could try and manage me out on "performance grounds" (I know it's illegal to fire someone due to pregnancy, but I also want to protect myself in case they come up with some other excuse). But I also don't want to sour longterm working relationships by leaving sharing the news too late and making my colleagues feel blindsided.

Any advice from an employment perspective? I guess it'd be interesting to hear from the legal side, the HR side, and also personal stories from those who were in a similar situation or from colleagues who've had a newly hired pregnant woman share their news!

I think you need to work somewhere for a while to qualify for maternity pay (SMP) - you get maternity allowance instead if you haven't qualified, it's a bit less.

Also - not enough people know that almost all SMP can be reclaimed from the government, so companies aren't paying it themselves. Small companies can claim a bit more to cover admin costs. Sure, maternity can be inconvenient and come with admin costs around recruitment etc, but it's not putting the employer out of pocket.

I'd wait until you're past the scans that would reveal abnormalities tbh, you might not want to disclose that to an employer. Then I'd just tell them but reaffirm your commitment to the role and that you want to keep working there.

Realistically, if they want to shaft you then they probably will, but the timing won't make that much difference.

Thanks @NoCloudsAllowed - I'm pretty certain that I won't qualify for SMP as my proposed hiring date is 1 week after the 26 week cutoff, unfortunately as I've only just moved back to the UK and was self employed for the first 5 months after my move I don't think I'll qualify for full maternity allowance either.

Classic scenario where DH and I tried for a baby for 3.5 years and then got pregnant in the most inconvenient window 😅

But I think I'll follow your advice of waiting until the anomaly scan - I didn't want to share news before my 12 week scan (this Wednesday), just in case it turns out the pregnancy isn't viable as then I would've put myself out of a job for no reason!

You wouldn't have qualified for SMP anyway as you have started the job already pregnant. You'd need to have worked for the company for 26 weeks by the time you were 25 weeks pregnant to qualify. You can apply for Maternity Allowance instead.

Depending on the nature of the job and whether anything needs to be made safer for a pregnancy you may need to let them know sooner rather than later. Also if you need time off for appointments/have pregnancy related sickness it might be best if they knew

You should qualify for MA as you have been employed/self employed for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby is due and will have earned £30/week in at least 13 of those weeks

Hi @dementedpixie that's super useful information - I've found the whole 'what I'm entitled to' part a bit confusing so thank you for breaking it down for me.

For Maternity Allowance should I top up my 2023 National Insurance to the whole year? I moved to the UK in late July.

Sorry, trying to get my head around the whole system!

It's a work from home desk job so no real risk assessment required thankfully!

Suggest letting them know sooner. It’s not that nice for the relationship to leave it too long. I would probably say something like I’m hugely committed to the role and excited to be here. I wanted to let
you know that I’m expecting and will assist to make the transition during my Mat leave as smooth for the company as possible.. etc

@VictoriaMum323 are you suggesting I tell them on my first day? For reference I'd be around 18 weeks pregnant at that point

Update: Starting on Monday (contract signed and all background checks completed) and just sent an email to the recruiter letting them know that I'm pregnant and outlining what I'm planning with regards to mat leave. Fingers crossed they take it well...

Personally, I think I would give it a week or two of being all about the role (and showing them what you can do, so to speak) before booking in some time to discuss. In your catch up I would explain that you're really enjoying the role and that you wanted to take time the first couple of weeks to focus solely on work and get stuck in, but that you do want to let them know that you're expecting. I would be sure to highlight that you've made the conscious decision to tell them early to make the mat leave cover process easier, and that you'll be supportive in helping them hire. That would be my approach. Good luck with it. ☺️