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Dreading telling work

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  • 08-06-2015 8:17pm
    #1
    ash2008
    Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭


    Hey everyone,

    hope things are going well. I'm 14 weeks and have yet to tell work. Do people usually tell at the start of second trimester?

    I'm really really dreading it :( For one thing, I've only been at this job for 9mths. I know I'm protected by law and the HR dept will be fine. I am more worried about the reaction of people in my dept. I work with mostly men who don't have children and the very few women in my dept don't have kids either. One of my colleagues often makes remarks about pregnant women too... for example, regarding giving a seat to a pregnant women, he would say "i dont care, thats her fault for getting pregnant" - that kind of thing. I don't expect anyone to have to do things for me...its just that attitude he has to pregnancy.
    They will have extra workload while I am away as well, so I know they wont be happy about that and since I am living far away from immediate family, I plan to take my full allotment of mat leave.

    Anyone else work in a non-family orientated environment?How did it go when you told you were pregnant?


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    #2
    Dobbit
    Registered Users Posts: 322 ✭✭Dobbit


    First of all congrats and secondly I'm sorry that your colleague is such a horrible person, working with someone like that must be awful! I work in an office that is very young, only the second person ever there to get pregnant, and I did get a few awkward comments but my BS tolerance was already low and has only got lower as time went on so I've pulled people up on stuff that wasn't appropriate.

    You may not feel comfortable doing that but just try keep things in perspective, baby >>>>> colleagues. They might have more work to do? That's their/your boss's problem and if they try to make you feel uncomfortable about it you should take note of their comments and go to HR with it. No one should be made to feel uncomfortable because they are pregnant at work.


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    #3
    skallywag
    Registered Users Posts: 3,000 ✭✭✭skallywag


    Congrats on the pregnancy OP.

    From a manager's perspective I would advise you to inform your supervisor as soon as you feel comfortable with telling people in general, which I am guessing is about now.

    Sit down with them and have an open and frank chat about things, e.g. when you would like to leave, when (if?) you would like to return again, how you would wish for things to play out on your return (working part time maybe, etc?). In general the more advance warning you give the more it will be appreciated, and the higher the chances that things can be planned in such a way to keep everyone happy.

    All employers know that hiring women of a certain age comes with the obvious, and the vast majority are equipped to cope with this.


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