Pregnant and job hunting

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Mauraf

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Hi,
I am currently in my 7th week of pregnancy and am job searching due to my previous org shutting down - great timing!!
I do have a second interview lined up this week in another company - but legally - when would I have to tell them my news?? I feel really guilty and kind of feel I am leading the new company up the garden path by not letting them know asap!! Advice please! My husband thinks I am mad to be worried!!!

Mf
 
I know exactly where you're coming from. I actually found out I was pg (due nov) the weekend I was offered another job. I turned it down for a few reasons. The main one for me was that I was very sick on my last pg and felt for that reason alone I'd be better off staying where I knew people (7 years) and where I wouldn't be having to prove myself and was among friends. But I also did think it wouldn't be fair on the other company to have me join then only to disappear for up to 10 months. I also get full top up on my paid mat leave in my current company and many places either don't give that or only once you've been there a year.
Legally, you only have to inform your employers of your intention to take maternity leave six weeks before the start of your leave. But obviously they'll know about it before then. I told HR in here when I hit 20 weeks. But I'd already told my manager at about 14 weeks but then he's a friend at this stage. Also note that they cannot treat you any differently just cos you're pregnant.
That's the legal end, but how you feel about it is the moral side. In the industry I work in it's not that simple to swop people round in jobs. And companies recruit based on needs. So I was offered a job because they had a big project coming up and needed someone to work on it. They would spend the first 6 months bringing me up to speed so I could jump in then. But if I took it I'd have bene baling out just when the work was starting and I felt this wasn't fair on them. Also since this is my second I'm not sure if I'll be returning to work so really I felt I'd be shafting them. Many think I'm mad and I can see their point but it's not me. I wouldn't feel right.
However, it depends on your circumstances, for me that was the right decision, but for you you'd probably be better off getting a new job. Since your current place is closing you'll miss out on the state benefit unless you get a job somewhere as you have to be working until 24 weeks before you can go on maternity leave. But you don't have to mention your pregnancy for a while yet. And you can decide based on how interviews go when you think the best time might be to mention it. Some people will tell up front but this may impact your getting a job or not - it's illegal to discriminate but still. Others won't tell and then have an employer who would rather have known from the start and might have no problem with it. Only you can make that call. In this day and age most places should be fine with it. If you got something soon you'd still have plenty of time to give them before you'd be off. All depends on your line of work too.

good luck with whatever you decide
 
As a director of a small company I think it would be unfair to apply for a job without letting company know your situation. In fact, the last company I worked for (they had 30 employees) picked a few job applicants on the basis that they were male over (possibly better qualified for the job) female applicants within the 25-35 age bracket. I know this is discriminatory and they obviously gave other reasons but I have to say as outraged as I was at the time I do understand it now. Maternity leave puts a lot of strain on a small company. It's different for large companies that have more than one person doing the same job!
 
Legally you don't have to advise a prospective employer that you are pregnant.

Only you can decide what is right for you on the moral front.

I was in this situation a few years back. I left a job while pregnant. After being undecided for a while I eventually just took a locum position and decided to bide my time until after the pregnancy and maternity leave to look for a full time position.

That is not to say that I feel in every circumstance that it would be wrong to look for a full time position while pregnant. For example if the position you were going for was one where leave wasn't too much of a burden on the organisation or where you have very specialised skills that an employer would 'put up' with maternity leave in order to retain you. And of course you must balance the needs of your future employer with your own needs.
 
There was another very similar thread to this a while back which you might be able to find by browsing/searching this forum.
 
On a similar issue, you are offered a 24 month fixed term contract with the advice that you would be made permanent after approx 6 months probation and you became pregnant during the fixed term before being made permanent and take maternity leave. Can the company use this (forced absence due to maternity leave) to sway the decision whether to offer a permanent position?
 
Mauraf said:
Hi,
but legally - when would I have to tell them my news?? I feel really guilty and kind of feel I am leading the new company up the garden path by not letting them know asap!! Advice please! My husband thinks I am mad to be worried!!!

Mf
Click to expand...
..not sure about the legality but out of courtesy would it not be better to tell them. From the employers point of view you'll only be in the door and then have to leave on maternity leave! Congrats though!
 
Hi Maura,

i'd suggest you go for the 2nd interview and see then how you get on, wait and see if you get offered the job. As you are only 7 weeks still, you've a long way to go in your pregnancy, so assuming that if you were currently in employment, you may not want to tell anyone till week 12/13, i'd apply the same logic to your prospective employers also. No point talking yourself out of a job at this early stage.
Congrats on your pregnancy, hope it all works out well for you.
 
swordshead said:
.From the employers point of view you'll only be in the door and then have to leave on maternity leave!
Click to expand...

Thus the reason not to tell them as then you may not be offered the job. I would suggest go for interview. See how you get on. If you get the job/ sign contracts then tell them. That will give them plenty of time to plan ahead for your maternity leave. Or as suggested above wait until the first 12/14 weeks are passed.
Good luck with the interview and congrats on the pregnancy.
 
Why not just temp until the big day? e.g. [broken link removed]

Think of it like this: if you ran a business and someone did this to you, how would you feel? Do the right thing.
 
Thanks all for your words of advice and congrats! Going to go for the interview - dont even know if I will be offered the role - so will cross that bridge when I get to it!Much appreciated all!

Maura
 
Seven weeks along in your pregnancy is too soon to be advising a prospective employer of your situation. God forbid, the worst were to happen, you may have done yourself out of a good opportunity. While I would normally be all for laying your cards on the table, having had two children in the past three and a half years and working full time, I know companies actively discriminate against women "of child-bearing age" for a fact. Do the interview, if the job is attractive, go for it. Maternity leave is a temporary interruption of your career, or at least that's the way I've viewed it. If your intention is to have a job as opposed to a career, that may be a totally different situation.

In any case, life is too short, so don't be stressing about this, it's a fantastic time for you now.
 
Hi All,

Just to give you all an update on the job situ!! Went for the second interview - and got the job! Told them I was pregnant - early days - but my conscience thought it was only fair to let them know. They had no issue at all - their only concern was that they couldnt advise me yet on a maternity policy because they dont have one yet!
The relief of it all!

Thanks all for the words of advice!!

Mauraf
 
Congratulations. Nice to see an employer who doesn't run a mile at the word 'pregnancy'!
 
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