I am being forced to hide my pregnancy and hate it :(?

Question

Before anybody panics my family and friends all know about the baby and like myself and partner are over the moon, but as I am a temp. worker I am having to hide my pregnancy (I'm 5 months) from my employer, for fear of them not continuing my employment.

I work in the education sector an am employed through an agency for term time only (so obviously not working atm, which means no money.) I am due back in a couple of weeks and am now 5 months, the baby is due via elective c-section (due to previous emergency section) on the 30 Dec. which means I will have him during the Christmas holiday, but I am going to have to try and continue hiding the pregnancy until I know work have booked me for after Christmas, which they won't do if they know about the baby.

I have seen the CAB and know I MUST take 2 weeks off prior to the birth, and I have already booked the place for the baby at my daughter's nursery which is amazing. As I will only work for 19 hours a week I will only be putting in for a few hours a day, as I know I will find being away from my son very difficult in the early days/weeks, but my God it's hard coping with the stress of trying to hide it all the time.

I want to let the whole world know as I am over the moon, I was meant to have been put on a perm. basis so we were not so worried when I discovered I was pregnant, but that has not happened yet.

It's awful that as a temp. worker I have NO rights whatsoever. We can not survive without my wage at all (I have spoken to the CAB, Council, Benefits counsellor etc. and there is NO help whatsoever.) What a ridiculous state of affairs this is, I wouldn't mind but I am HUGE already and am hiding my massive bump behind registers, tables, my cardigan etc.

I wish the government would afford temp workers the same rights as everyone else, it's VERY unfaIr :(

Answer 1

That really sucks. You should not have to hide your pregnancy but if I were in your position I honestly would not know what to do either. If they do fire you I am sure that they will come up with a "reason" other than your pregnancy and the same thing will probably happen if you try to find another job while alreayd showing. They are not going to want to hire you either becuase they know that you will be leaving for maternity leave shortly. They won't say it's because you're pregnant even if it is the reason. If I were you I would probably stay at the job I was at and hope for the best. Hopefully, if you are a good worker and have had the job for a little while, they will want you as an employee and keep you on despite the time that you will be out. Good Luck!

Answer 2

If you are in UK you have been given wrong advice - temp workers still have discrimination rights as they fall into the category of "workers".

  

You cannot be discriminated against if you are pregnant at work.  It does not matter whether you are a permanent employee or temp worker.  If there is any evidence that you were not given work because you are pregnant when you could have done the work then this is illegal and you can sue for direct s*x discrimination.  

You have this protection even before you work for someone e.g. following  an interview, if they don't give you the job because you are pregnant.    You can request details from them via a s*x discrimination questionnaire to establish whether you were the right candidate for the job and if you can present to a Tribunal a set of facts that they believe infers discrimination the burden then passes to the employer to prove that it didn't.

I know how difficult it is being a temp.  I am temping at the moment but  am telling all the agents - I am also 5 months.  it hasn't stopped me getting work.  I am also going through for a 2nd interview tomorrow for a permanent post I applied for ages ago and I made the decision to tell them when they invited me for 2nd interview safe in the knowledge that they know that I know that they cannot discriminate against me on this basis (my CV states that I was an employment law lawyer in my last role!).  

Funnily enough, if I was advising someone I would say wait until you secure the job as the inference would be stronger if they did not hire you but I found in my personal situation that I would rather start an employment relationship on the basis of mutual trust and felt that they may in fact respect me more for being honest with them early on (the law is not always the only consideration) so that they can arrange cover as they would have to do for any other employee.

The only exception however (in UK) is that if you are ill (pregnancy related) in the 4 weeks prior to birth then your maternity leave will automatically start.  You are entitled to the leave regardless of your length of service but the maternity pay does require you to have been there 26 weeks by the time you are 15 weeks before your due date.

Sorry to have rambled on but hope this helps.

Answer 3

Have you looked into the FMA rule family medical leave act? Maybe you need to brush up on the rules and go in there tell them and say i know the rules nad have been in contact with people. Tell them you are coming back to work and this is your plan.  

Answer 4

dont hide it  

Answer 5

I am pretty sure even as a temp you cant get fired for being pregnant. I worked as a volunteer trying to being hired on. My boss tried to fire me because I was pregnant and could not perform xrays and work with mercury for fillings. Even though I was just a volunteer I was told that I had rights. That they even had to give me time off and hold my position even if I wanted to take the whole pregnancy off. So do more research sometimes you have to go more than one place to get the answer you want.  

Answer 6

you can still be pregnant and get a jobbbbbbbbbbb......im a teacher, and i didnt have problems

\good lucl

Answer 7

No point hiding it but if you are working as a temp there is no discrimination against you

Temps could not have same rights it would be ecomonic suicide

Answer 8

actually, the government has to give you the same rights as any other us citizen. its in i believe the bill of rights. so tell ur employer, and if he tries to fier you, tell him that he has to have a logical and resonable explination why, because they cant fire you for being pregnant. and be ready to defend yourself. a few tears might help too lol.

Answer 9

should you really keep that employment than? I say no.

Answer 10

Well maybe you are having twins?  Most women don't have a "massive" bump at 20 odd weeks of pregnancy, I hardly showed with both of mine till 26 weeks. You don't have a hope in h**l of hiding your pregnancy for much longer and I doubt they will book you for after Christmas so you will have to look at other options maybe.

Go off sick, go to your GP if they are sympathetic and say your back is killing you and you can't sit/stand for long whatever your job entails. Worth a try at least you will get sick pay then.

BTW why not try for a natural birth? I had an emergency C/S and a vaginal delivery next time. Don't let the docs pressure you into an operation you might not need :)  

Answer 11

oh well

Answer 12

All you can do is vote for Obama.  McCain will never give lowly workers rights like you need.

Answer 13

You sound very ridiculous. Of course you shouldn't hide the pregnancy. If the company doesn't hire you back, then s***w tyhem. Whoo wants to work for that kind of company anyway. By the way, why the h**l are you having a baby if you are just putting it in daycare anyway. get a grip. Get your priorities straight.

Answer 14

My heart goes out to you - but you know the stress of hiding it is not only bad for you, but bad for the baby's health. I know you are doing the job you want, but for health's sake, could you find something else to do til the baby is born? You could work as a waitress - and probably get great tips because you could use the "have to work, feet hurt, back hurt" thing...I know this works to get extra tips, because I will tip an extra $1 or $2 if we go out and have a pregnant or older waitress! Of course, the attitude and service must be good, or being pregnant won't garner any extra tips ya know? Well, good luck -  

Answer 15

I agree and am sorry for the hard situation you're in. I hope all goes well and you will be in my prayers. Good luck with baby number two and I hope you can become permanent.  

Answer 16

there is something called the family leave act. a girl who works just left on maturnity leave here took that and she hasn't been here that long. try researching it. you may be able to use it.

Answer 17

You still have rights. You don't have to lie about being pregnant. Look into how much disability you can get when you have to leave. There is the Family Leave Act and being a govt worker I know they don't want to give it but they have to with documentation. I knew a woman who was per Diem and they said she had to quit. She said no, you'll have to fire me. She went on leave and had a lawyer question their actions and she not only got her job back, they asked her what department she would like to work in. Call your state or federal eeoc department.  Don't rely on your employers to tell you what your rights are!

Just saw your details...hey, babies happen and they're great. It would be wonderful if every mom could get a part time job that was enough to support their family. Most companies especially the govt say it's all or nothing... unless you have a qualifying Family Leave act issue. You can take the 12 weeks annually all together or break it up as is necessary.  Do your home work and get tough that's your kid their messin with!

Answer 18

Don't hide it and if they fire you you can sue them for wrongful termination Congratulations!!

Answer 19

It's illegal to fire someone for being pregnant.  It's also illegal to fire someone for taking time off work to care for their child.  At least, in my state it is...

Answer 20

I live in Scotland I'm assuming you live in the UK because you've consulted CAB and the council.

I didn't think I was entitled to anything because I was also an Agency worker (not in education though) and it does all depend on the agency, some have no rights at all because they class you as self employed!  Its a nightmare and I was terrified that I was going to loose my job as well.  By the grace of god it worked out in my favour once I had spoken to my agency and my very understanding manager at the place of work where the agency had me.  They said they would keep a job open for me and my agency had to pay me maternity leave.  You should really try and talk to your agency because the stress and worry must be just horrific for you! And of course you want to be able to enjoy your pregnancy and not have to hide it and I don't think you will be able to for much longer :(

I really hope that it works out for you but I would urge to speak to your agency about this, I understand that is a risk for you but you just never know!

Good luck with it all.