My boss has somehow found out I"m pregnant, he's told other staff and I'm really upset. Can he do this?

[qsack]

Hi
A friend of mine is just pregnant. Somehow her boss has found out, she has no idea how but he has. He has been telling other members of staff and my friend is really upset about it. She is only 14 weeks and didn't want to tell people yet. She's been so stressed she was sick last night. Does she have any legal rights? Can her boss do this if she hasn't even told him she's pregnant. Any advice or good websites would be great
Thanks

you or the friend?

it's not a nice thing for him to have done, but it's not illegal.

Surely that's confidential? Like a health issue... Did she tell him as a boss or a friend?

how can it be confidential, though, if she never told him in the first place?

Also perhaps he thought it was good exciting news and that she was past the 12 week mark when the majority of people start telling people.

Bit stupid of him though - but unless he has a history of being a git i'd guess it was more him just being an idiot rather than deliberately malicious.

Nothing illegal although inappropriate and unprofessional.

But the bottom line is, it doesn't matter whether he's 'allowed' to do that by law, the fact is he has, and the question is more what do you/your friend (sorry not clear) want to actually do about it?

I agree with tracey, probably an idiot rather than anything else, so probably a chat letting him know how inappropriate it was.

hi
thanks, sorry I wrote the title as me but it is my friend as I wrote in the question. Sorry for confusion! It is my friend btw.

Just to be clear she hasn't told her boss or anyone at work, she's not sure how it got out. It may be that someone guessed and it's gossip but obviously she knows it's true.

Ok, so I can tell her that there isn't anything she can do as legally he hasn't crossed the line. Do you know if he's actually allowed to ask her if she's pregnant? does that sound silly?! Or is all the employment law around pregnancy only come into play if you start to be treated differently, don't get offered the same opportunities etc because you've told people you're pregnant. Thanks

He can ask all he wants. She doesn't have to tell him until she is 25 weeks pregnant if she doesn't want to.

Also just to say that just because he didn't technically act illegally doesn't mean she can't or shouldn't do anything. I would recommend speaking to him first but she could consider a formal complaint or grievance if he doesn't apologise.