Feeling pressured to agree for lone work whilst pregnant

[Seasidegirly94]

Hi everyone, so I’ve just found myself to be in a bit of a pickle with work and this is my back story to the situation I’m in.

I’ve worked for a cleaning company that does second homes and holiday lets on the coast for the past 4 years. I joined just as the business had started and over the years it has grown dramatically, I do believe we have over 150+ properties that we clean with a team of 10 people, 2 of them work on a friday only. Its casual hours zero hour contract, 20p more than minimum wage.
It the beginning it was great as it the workload wasn’t as crammed.

Fast forward to now, and I am now 7 weeks pregnant. I’ve had a risk assesment where I’ve also been told I don’t have to work on my own anymore so I was relieved as the bosses are used to me doing 4 bedroom 4 bathroom ‘mansions’ on my own as it’s great for me to ‘make my hours’ and realistically they save money on having to just pay me not 2 people doing the same job basically.
Now, I’ve been poorly with sickness and struggling with basically not being as physically fit and quick and on it as what they’re used to. I had to call in sick yesterday as the boss has sent the list for the properties she needed doing and there was 4 houses in total to be completed between 3 people.
I said it’s too much for me right now and the reply from the boss was that’s how they arrange the list, they look at it as basically all of it being completed in 4h and she asked if that’s too much for me then, I said we don’t know the state of the houses till we get there and that you’re not the ones doing the cleaning but us and often times the houses need more time than that and that’s fine, but not right now for me whilst I’m pregnant and sick; the argument was that perhaps I could leave half way through the day BUT I don’t want to be stuck somewhere an hour away from home especially that I don’t drive (the supervisor drives the company car)

So now she’s saying if I want to work more locally to where I live I would have to sign a letter to say I’m happy to work on my own again, making my own way to places etc

My bosses just want the dollar and I get that they don’t care about well-being, or the fact that I’ve said I don’t feel comfortable doing so much work right now, they’ve not offered me any alternative work even though it says on my risk assesment when I have morning sickness they would give me alternative working hours (it’s not possible so dunno why they said it)

I said I’m scared to sign the letter because if anything does happen to me whilst I’m working on my own, like if I was to fall or whatever it’ll be my fault but she didn’t know what to say to that other than go away over the weekend and think about it.
So now I feel pressured to do so or I won’t get any work basically.
I’m stressed out and that’s obviously not good for me or the baby and I’ve had no end of tears lately and my partner bless him he’s working so hard to keep us afloat but he doesn’t know what else to say.

Go for education and a better job future. Much better for you and your family.

In the last ? weeks they will likely give her insufficient hours to get maternity pay. I woukd jump ship or work alone (keep phone on you)

Why can't you work alone?

I don’t get the issue of working alone or doing the bigger houses really. It’s cleaning, you’re always going to have to travel to your workplaces, and always going to have to carry cleaning supplies unless they provide them there, which as you don’t drive you will have to take public transport. If you work with someone else you can’t expect them to carry your supplies for you as well as their own or do a bigger share of the cleaning or all the harder bits so working with someone else won’t solve your issues.

is yoru pregnancy high rirk? So you have a serious medical Condition? Has your doctor or midwife told you that you can’t work?

Because otherise there is no reason why you can’t catch a bus, work alone, do cleaning , carry supplies when you are 7 weeks pregnant. Why do you think this will affect your baby?

Do you understand that hundreds of thousands of pregnant women in the Uk use public transport , work alone, do cleaning and carry heavy loads like buggies, toddlers, car seats , shopping etc? Unless you had medical advice to the contrary you can continue to live your normal life while pregnant,

Ir will be harder to do these things at 37 weeks than 7 weeks but most women have no option but to get on with it.

No doubt you will see this comment as “ unsupportive “, I suspect you only want to hear peole who will tell you to go to bed for the next 33 weeks.

That is unfair to people. Nobody has been rude - they have asked very valid questions because being 7 weeks pregnant doesn't make you weak or incapable. But the bottom line seems to be that you are on a zero hours contract. You can refuse any work that you don't want, but your employer is under no obligation to offer you anything else. If they do offer you something else it is on the basis of take it or leave it. Your choice.

Could you find a job in a shop or supermarket instead? You wouldn’t have to carry equipment around, deal with cleaning products and it might be better pay. I feel for you OP, cleaning is a physically demanding job and pregnancy changes your perspective on things.

I also think you’re being given a very hard time here when you’ve just asked for advice. Definitely speak to your midwife about it and any concerns you have about work. I wish people would understand that PREGNANCY IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE. It’s much harder on some people than others and can also affect your mindset.

Op
I think the guidance on working generally applies to specific roles and often just later stages of pregnancy:
I think for lots of reasons this isn't going to be the job for you and I'd focus on trying to find someone more suitable for you asap.
Lots of pregnant people travel around and do solo jobs every day of the week so it doesn't automatically mean that you can't work alone!

I also don’t understand why you need to change your working conditions at 7 weeks. Are you unwell? Suffering morning sickness? Either you crack on with it or you find another job. Or don’t work at all if you too unwell.

People do understand that. Thats why they are asking what the specific issue is.

Kindly OP your 7 weeks pregnant. No harm is going to come to your baby from travelling on public transport or cleaning. If you were 30 weeks I could understand it being more difficult. Obviously this job isn't for you. Shop work? Bar work? Restaurant?

It is safe to clean houses at seven weeks pregnant; it’s not a high risk occupation. It is safe to catch buses whilst pregnant too.

I’m not sure what you want them to offer you. You don’t want lone working so they put you on a team. You don’t want to catch a bus so they put you in a car with the supervisor. Do you expect the whole team to change their schedule?