Telling potential employers about pregnancy

A question about : Telling potential employers about pregnancy

I am currently inbetween jobs and have just recieved a call for an interview. This is a temporary 10 week position with the potential of a full time employment afterwards. However i am currently 9 weeks pregnant and am wondering if i have a legal (or moral) obligation to inform the company at interview. As it is a temp position i am worried it may unneccesarily ruin my chances of getting the job, and if offered full time employment i am well aware of the law and my entitlement to maternity pay (i.e none..in this case) should i mention it? or wait to see if i get this job and they offer me a full time position later

Best answers:

• Congratulations. I personally wouldn't tell, you don't have to tell a permanent employer until +/- 3months in to your pregnancy so why tell this guy. IF it turns into a full time position you can let them into your secret then!
• aaah thanks! thats a relief..i thought it might not be a good idea to tell and fortunatley its not really obvious yet
• pmsl = just read your signature....
• Hi ami Congrats on your pregnancy! Iv'e just been flicking through a baby magazine reading about exactly what you're asking as I'm currently not working but trying for a baby and I wanted to know my rights if I get a job interview.The mag says that....while it may not seem honest you don't have to tell any prospective employer that you are pregnant.The law says that your pregnancy is irrelevant to your ability to do a job and discriminating against you because you are pregnant is illegal.
  So don't tell them and good luck with it!
• [QUOTE=imported_ami]wondering if i have a legal (or moral) obligation to inform the company at interview/QUOTE]
  No you don't and no you don't
  It's none of their business (unless the job involved you doing anything hazardous eg. heavy lifting etc in which case IMO you should advise them).
  You do not have to tell an employer about a pregnancy until you give written notice for maternity leave at 15 weeks to your due date (so at about 24 weeks).
  BTW, no you won't get maternity pay, but you may be entitled to maternity allowance (Ј102/week for 26 weeks or 90% pay - whichever is the lesser) if :
• you have worked for 26 weeks during the 66 weeks before your baby is due, and
• you can find 13 weeks in which you earned over Ј30 a week

If you want any info on what your entitled to and advice about changing jobs during pregnancy, have a look here:
https://www.maternityalliance.org.uk/parents_work.htm
Congratulations BTW.

• You never know, the temporary vacancy might be due to someone else's maternity leave.
  It could work out that you end up with a job-share arrangement if it suits you both
  But don't discuss it yet, as the others said
• And I've had people do this to me, and although it was a bit of a blow I didn't blame them at all, I'd do exactly the same in your position. Quite apart from anything else, 9 weeks is very early in the pregnancy, many things can go wrong, and quite a few of my friends never told ANYONE (apart from OH, usually) they were expecting until they were at least 12 weeks, often more.
  Of course if you start upchucking every morning or going green at the smell of coffee, people may guess ... but sounds like you've escaped that so far.
  If you're offered the permanent job and you still haven't told, then you might consider spilling the beans, but by then you'll know a) if you want the job long-term and b) whether it was a maternity leave cover!
  Best of luck.
• thanks for your advice! my interview is this morning, and i plan not to say anything..fingers crossed...
• Good Luck with the interview!
• hi everyone! thanks for the luck..I got the job! hoorah..
  quite a relief as I'll be needing to start some extra saving now...
• Congrats on both job and baby news.
  Check out past threads in the Marriage and Families forum for loads of baby money saving tips.
• he he...cheers fran and becles..it's in lovely offices right by canary wharf too so i can feel like a high powered executive dashing into work amongst all the suits..he he he
  as for the baby moneysaving..i'm already on it! this site just keeps getting more and more useful for me....a little premature but may aswell read up on as much as possible!
• Congrats on getting the job.Hope all goes well for you and baby.
  shelly
• how did it go? you don't have to tell them, no. some people might consider it sneaky but i wouldn't - it's a temp job you're after. if you've got to 9 weeks without people being able to tell you're pregnant then you're doing well lol! as long as you feel you're able to do the temp job okay, ie. you won't be spending all day with your head down the toilet and you won't be needing to ask them to change your job (i assume it's not shelf stacking or anything physical like that) then i don't see any reason to tell, and many people think it's 'bad luck' to tell anyone before 12 weeks anyway. i hope you got the job :-)
  check that maternity alliance website, before speaking to people on this site i had no idea that i would be entitled to maternity allowance from the government. you can have had more than one employer during the 66 weeks before the birth and you can have had periods where you're not working, you also don't have to be working at the time of maternity leave. as long as at some point during the test period you've done 26 weeks work and can provide wage slips (i only have two wage slips but have had a backdated bank statement sent to me at a cost of a fiver shwoing the other wage payments, so that's enough proof) then you'll get MA for 26 weeks at Ј106 per week, or if you earn less than that you get the 13 weeks where you earned the most and they pay you 90% of the average on those payslips. i'm going to be getting Ј67 a week thanks to the lovely people on this site telling me about MA, woohoo!
• ha well my head hads been down the toilet but only in the midnight hours fortunately!
  the job is writing for a local directory magazine about restaurants shops etc nearby, so will just involve
  oops...half my message din't load...
  anyway, it will involve telephoning and writing about local businesses so nothing strenous
• Just a quick note to add...
  Pregnant women are the most protected type of person under employment legislation.
  You'd mentioned that your job is temp with a view to perm after 10 weeks.
  If you tell your employer/he finds out, and then you don't get kept on 'just because you are pregnant' you are protected under employment legislation.
  Basically, if you would have been kept on, but aren't simply because you're pregnant, this is not legal.
  Just something to bear in mind
  And congrats on the great news!! Job and Baby!!
• oh well..things have just taken a turn for the worse..I had an ultrasound again on friday which was all good, but they noticed I have a slightly open cervix, which they say will most likely rectify itself but I have to go in for a check up once a week to be sure (and even if it persists they can do a simple procedue to sort it..so i am trying not to be concerned). I informed my new bossthat I would need to take a few hours off every week , telling him it was a sudden medical issue, as obviously hospitals are not sympathetic to woking hours and he said this would be fine. He has just called me back giving me a grilling about what it is for, which i refused to disclose as this is personal information, and he didn't seem happy, then less than 5 minutes after our conversation I got an email saying that he is sorry, but perhaps I am not right for the position after all, and good luck in the future etc etc (how cowardly of him!)..I don't want to call for some clarification on this as i am so angry right now and don't want to kick off...i know I must have no rights now but this is so upsetting, and as I had turned down a couple of agency offers since getting the job offer. I feel thoroughly cheated!