So, I start a new job in a week. The small wrinkle: I will be 9 weeks pregnant. Obviously, this is not ideal. I had lunch with my new boss today, and he was busy telling me about all the travel I will be doing. Gulp! Anyone ever been in this situation? [name]Do[/name] I tell him right away, wait until 12 weeks, or leave it until I’m showing? Has anyone done a lot of international travel for work while pregnant? I’m excited for the role, but my secret is making me feel pretty anxious.
You already have the job? Then you should disclose the pregnancy right away. The longer heads-up the have re: your maternity leave, the better for all. You absolutely don’t want to look like you’re concealing it or being deceptive.
I agree with blade. As long as you have the job already for certain, I would disclose this info ASAP. Possibly on your first day next week or even before. Are you planning to return to the job after your allowed maternity leave? If so, I would make that abundantly clear as well. Plus the sooner you get this off your chest the better you will feel not having to be secretive. You have a solid amount of time to prove your work ethic before the baby is born so capitalize on that and it should not be a big deal in the long run.
I do have the job. I guess I’m torn between telling him on the first day and getting it all out in the open versus taking some time to prove to him that I’ve got a strong work ethic. I do intend to return, and have a great support network to look after baby, am very committed to this job, etc, all of which I will explain. So far the consensus is I come clean ASAP, which I kind of agree with but am also dreading. Time to bone up on the megawatt smile, ugh.
I concur - tell them as soon as you can, I might personally wait until the 12 week point, but since you are starting at 9 weeks, waiting until past the “safe point” of 12 weeks is acceptable in my opinion.
That being said, they cannot fire you simply because you are pregnant. If you were to start slipping in performance then it might come into question - but it’s not legal to fire you for being pregnant. If you, for example, lied on your application and were asked if you could lift 25lbs and you said yes and then turn around and say “I can’t do that, I’m pregnant”, that would be totally different - but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
If it were me, I would approach it in a very business like way. [name]Just[/name] say “I wanted to inform you that I will be needing X amounts of time for maternity leave in x month” - something along those lines. [name]Just[/name] some suggestions! Congrats on your pregnancy and good luck!
I haven’t been in that situation, but a close friend went on a two-week business trip to Japan while pregnant. The trip was already planned when she got pregnant. When she informed her boss about the pregnancy, she made sure to say that she had spoken to her doctor about the trip and was still excited to take part in it, yada yada. She wanted to reassure them that she was still in, but also give them time to choose another representative if they had any concerns. You may want to do something similar just to ensure them that barring any complications, you are fully intending to take part in the business trips. You also should talk to a doctor because some of those areas ([name]India[/name], Indonesia) will require extra vaccines and also carry the risk of malaria.
If the job has a probation period, you might want to wait. They can’t fire you for being pregnant, but I am pretty sure during a probation period they can fire you easily enough and blame it on something else. Correct me of I am wrong.
If not then I would tell them.
Oh man, that would be ultra shady. If that happened you could bring all kinds of hell (and win).
It’s unlikely this will be a problem. I mean the only jobs you literally can’t perform while pregnant are commercial diving, hazardous waste disposal technician, and fighter pilot. Anything else you can make resonable accomodations for. The only issue is-- assuming you work on some kind of team-- letting everyone plan far in advance for your maternity leave.
I’m not too worried about being fired in breach of my human rights, more just worried about the opinion that will be held of me by my new colleagues and internal clients (unfortunately something you can’t legislate for). I agree that ripping off the bandaid is the most honest and ethical approach. Thanks for the advice.
I just went through this same thing! I was about five weeks pregnant when I started my new job. I chose to wait until 12 weeks to let them know, because I thought it gave them a chance to get to know me, and know that I’m good at my job and a hard worker. I was honestly worried that if I told them before they really got to know me, it might color their opinion of me. Plus I think it’s very reasonable to say “I wanted to wait until I was past the first trimester to tell you…” and 6 months is still plenty of time to plan around your absence. Luckily, my supervisors were very nice and supportive when I told them. It was such a relief! Good luck!