Lauz_1601

I am having a job interview this week! Watch it be my month would be typical. Do you know where I would stand if I started a job then found out I was pregnant would I still be entitiled to maternity pay ? I think the worst part would be telling them!

TrixieLox

Most companies will not pay you unless you've been there for at least 6 months. Some will but this is highly unlikely. This is the case in the UK. My friend is TTC and told me last week she was looking for a new job cos she's bored in her's but I advised her to stay cos of this. If you don't get maternity pay from your new job, at least you get statutary (spelling?!) pay from the Government (if you're in the UK) but this isn't much pay. I would recommend to anyone, if you're not rolling in cash, to stay in their current job while TTC unless their current job causes them too much stress, physically and mentally. That's my view anyway cos if you did fall PG now, you'd only have to be in that job for the next, say, 6-7 months anyway so why not stick it out for the sake of better finances for your kiddy winks? But it changes from job to job so check first. x

toriaaaaTRASH

You don't have to tell them you're pregnant untill 15WK before your due date

babe2ooo

i've been looking into this if you start work there and you dont know you pregant you only have 2 have worked there one day to get maternity pay, but if you know your pregant b4 you start at like the interview you have to tell them and they can decied to take you on or not

Arcanegirl

They cant decide not to take you on because your pg though, that would be discrimination

babe2ooo

from what i was reading they can

dakini

In Canada it doesn't matter how long you've been at your current job, just how many hours you've worked...I think it's 700 hours in my province. Now, I could be reading it wrong, but I know when I started my new job (just about 7 weeks ago) during the interview process I told them that we were trying. Part of the reason was that I really wasn't looking for a new job and it was totally out of the blue that I got the interview (through a headhunter company). I didn't want to go into a new job and then 3 months later tell them, hey, guess what? I'm pg! But, they really didn't care and hired my anyway. And I can take up to a year off! I was really amazed. I guess you should just look into the labour rights for your country/state/province/etc and see what it says. Worst case, call your labour board/employment insurance/government department and see what they say about it.

And no, if you're pg and that's the reason they don't hire (and the only reason) they can't do that. However, it's very hard to prove that that's why they didn't hire you...because really, would a company actually see that?! Not likely. That being said, some jobs are too difficult if you are pg so that could be a valid reason if they know you are pg to not hire you. Depends on the job you are looking at.

avistar

A year off dakini??/ really? I always knew Canada was awesome. I live in the US and work for the government. They do give you 12 weeks leave but without pay and I believe without a certain probation period. I still think it is crap that when you need money the most, they can't help you out! I can understand perhaps not giving you paid leave after only being there a couple months, but what about if you have been working for them for years?? With the government, they cannot discriminate in anyway...and that includes against pregnancy. If companies are going to hire women in the work force, they should always have to suspect pregnancy (wouldn't you agree?). I wouldn't divulge any information regarding your ttc or early pregnancy. As far as their regulations for maternity leave, I think it may depend how long you have worked. Some companies have a trial period....but again, I don't know much about any of that here in the US, let alone the UK.

dakini

Yeah, you can take up to a year off. That's 2 weeks unpaid, 15 weeks maturity leave (only the mother can take) and 35 weeks paternity leave (either mother or father can take - if father takes, he has to also do a 2 week unpaid timespan). However, the somewhat crappy thing is that you only get 55% (or something like) of your wage...some companies bump that up, but none that I've ever worked for! So yeah, you can take a long time off, but you don't get a lot of money. And sometimes it can backfire - they have to take you back at your previous salary/wage at a comparable job, but they can also "change" your job and pay you less for less responsibilities when you get back after the right amount of notice...so it can backfire.

I know for me, because I wasn't looking for a job, that's why I told my employer (and the headhunter company) before anything else. I had a job I liked and wasn't going to leave it 'just because' and then have to go in and tell the new employer in 3 months that I needed to go on mat leave soon! Hasn't happened yet, but I knew if I didn't tell them that's exactly what would happen. Now if I was actively looking for a job...that would be a little different. It would also be different if I was actually pg at the time of the interview and knew it...but mine was a different circumstance.

avistar

Oh I see, that is a drawback and seems a little sneaky...but I guess after being gone for so long they have to change things since your absent. I agree with you telling them and understand. My DH gets paid paternity leave for 12 weeks...so at least one of us will be getting money. And he can take it however he wants with in that first year.