Hi Everyone
I'm 10 weeks pregnant and have been signed off work for 2 weeks due to stress, I'm debating whether to leave my job as it is too stressful, but worried I won't be able to get another job as I'm pregnant.
Any suggestions I would be grateful !
Thanks

Congratualtions on being pregnant. Sorry you are signed off work.

Regardless of your pregnancy under UK Law employers have a legal duty of care to ensure their employees are not harmed by work-related stress. They also have a duty to assess the risk arising from hazards at work including stress. Your boss should arrange a meeting with you to work with you to decide on how to reduce stress and set improvement targets and actions, using occupational health if you have one.

I would advise you to not leave your job until you have spoken to you manager and tried to resolve the causes of stress. If you employer does nothing you should raise a grievance and could claim constructive dismissal but hopefully it will not come to that as any good employer will help you.

What job do you do?

My job was stressful, i was a nursery nurse & absolutely loved the kids (that was why i put up with so much shit from the boss). My manager is an old witch who disapproves of any of her staff falling pregnant & if they do she makes their lives a misery.

I have been signed off since i was 6 weeks pg & im now 26 weeks. I was p/t due to a disability & so i was not entitled to ssp. I was unaware of this & ended up going without money for about 3 months & even though i do not live with my parents i had to rely on them for rent money & food etc.

I understand totally how you are feeling. My boss failied to tell me i wasnt gonna get paid & she ignores all my letters & phone calls. I called citizens advice & job centre plus to find out what i can do about it & they told me to apply for income support (as i didnt qualify for ssp). My boss then lied to the benefits agency delaying my claim till march this yr when i finally got proof that she lied & sent it to them. I was awarded the money & they backdated it to january.

I have to admit, it was very stressful & even more so bcos i have had m/c's & didnt need all the stress as well as being so sick with hyperemisis gravidarum (severe form of morning sickness).

But it has all been worth it, i have not resigned & to this day my employer ignores me but im glad i no longer have to face her.

Also when im 29 weeks i can resign & forget about her & get income support until after i have my baby. I do want to go back to work but not until my baby is at LEAST 2 & a half.

If you are f/t continue to get signed off. so you dont have to face your boss for this crucial time in your pregnancy. Its not worth it & why should you have to leave & put yourself through more stress. If you are f/t you should be entitled to SSP.

Loads of luck*

Thanks for your help. I work on a construction site, and have to deal with all the new workers to site.

Oh Tess1 sorry to here about your difficulties at work. In your case you could have resigned and claimed constructive dismissal for their behaviour. I'm hoping Leigh's boss will be better and support her now they are formally aware if not I agree she should stay off work!

Construction site is high risk area, ontop of the stress risk assessment I mentioned, they should do a risk assessment in relation to your pregnancy asap to eliminate any risk to you now your pregnant. Construction sites are covered by lots of HS legislation so they should be aware of what they need to do and Health and Safety Executive have lots of info. Let us know how you get on with your boss.

Oh bristol i never knew that. Everywhere i turned they was doors closed in my face & i didnt know what i could do. Citizens advice didnt mention that either?

So do you think i can resign sooner than i was going to??? Im 26 weeks, i was told to resign at 29 weeks.

Thanks bristol I will do. Hopefully my boss will be understanding.

The main piece of advice I can give is to speak up and do something about it as soon as possible. My job was very stressful, but i kept thinking 'Oh well, it's ony for a few more months' but it just got worse and worse, and I was worrying the whole time about the baby and stuff. On top of this, I was being bullied by my line manager and another colleague. Luckily for me, in a way, she wan't a very good manager and made the fatal mistake of suggesting to me that I wans't coping because of the pregnancy. I now have the grounds to take the company to court for discrimination, which I may do after the baby is born. Anyhow, last week it all got too much and I went to my HR manager and told her what was going on and she removed me from that office immediatley and when I go back on Monday, after a weeks hoilday, I will be in a different department in a different building. If i'd known it was going to be that easy, I'd have said something a lot sooner, rather than putting up with all that stress for the last 6 months!