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Dilemma! Would you be honest?
I am 6 weeks pregnant and have been jobhunting for past month. Problem is now i know Im pregnant do I tell prospective employer? If I do would it ruin my chances of getting a job but if Im not honest will it jeopardise it anyway when they find out? What would you do?:\?
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Replies
I'm not worrying too much though, as it's illegal to discriminate against a woman on the grounds that she is pregnant and if they suddenly withdraw their job offer I can take them to an industrial tribunal.
If I was you, I would keep it to yourself. 6 weeks is still early days (I'm just over 5 weeks and I'm hoping that everything goes to plan, but in the early stages there is a risk you can miscarry - sorry if this sounds a bit pesimistic). You wouldn't tell your current employers (and you don't have to) till you are much further gone anyway.
Hope this helps! Good luck with your job hunt xx
Good luck with the job hunting.
Denise
xx
I'm glad I did tell them as I ended up having mc at 11 1/2 wks and had to have a couple of weeks off. They were so understanding and helpful. Now I am on mat lave with the same job and 38+1 and going in on Fri for section.
On the other hand - legally you do not have to tell your employer at this early stage.
xxx
I had that exact problem.I was also very cautious about the type of work i looked for aswell because i had previously had a miscarriage and was totally convinced it would happen again!
Unfortunatly i didn't find even 1 days work which was quite frustrating and im now 21 weeks (tomorrow) so my chances are very very slim (which is more than i can say for my belly!) of me finding anthing now.I really wanted to work aswell so was quite annoyed that i couldn't as there are so many people that look at pregnancy as an excuse NOT to work and i was more than willing!
Hope you have more luck than i did, my problem is that i wil be too far gone to even do xmas temp work (as it ends in january)The job centre have said i won't be able to do as much as other candidates so probably wouldn't get the job.
good luck
charlie 20+6
Legally you are not obliged to tell any employer you are pregnant at interview stage however on your first day of employment you must inform them but you are not duty bound to tell them until your first day of service - if an employer decides against giving you a position for being pregnant this is a serious breach of conduct and there for could/can be taken further in tribunal. Or you start a position and they decide to terminate your position - your position must be empty for 91 days so if the employer brought someone in to the position you were originally given again this can be took further.
The employment law is on us pregnant ladies side - however the only downside is you will not qualify for staff maternity if you change jobs after the 26th week of pregnancy.
Hope this helps Allison xx 22+4
I work in HR and just wanted to let you know that the latest date for notifying your employee that your pregnant and will be taking maternity leave is 15 weeks before your EWC. You're probably best telling them way before then so that you get paid time off for ante-natal care and risk assessments are carried out.
For advice on maternity pay I'd recommend going to this government website page:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/WorkAndFamilies/DG_10029290
There's an option to get personalised information. There is also detailed guidance for those having a baby on or after 1 April 2007 available from:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file34285.pdf
There were a lot of changes that came into force on 1 April so I'd really recommend both of these links to make sure you know exactly where you stand in relation to your entitlement rather than just relying on what your employers tell you! Good luck!
It's been interesting to hear other people's experiences in this situation.
Oldermum - how are you getting on with your job hunting? Any success yet?
gr2007 - thanks for these links, they've been really useful.
goodluck let us know wot u decide to do!
xx