Work dilemma and pregnancy

youandme13

I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant and in a sector where I'm on my feet all day looking after small children, 40 hours a week for 360 euro a week.

I'm really considering leaving and going back to an office administration position, am I mad?

More money, less time on my feet I've bad morning sickness and feel an office job will suit better as I'm exhausted straight after work.

What would you do in the situation? I dont have maternity pay from the company anyway will be getting the Government state payment, and have a 9 year old too. Childcare alone will be more then my weekly wages staying in this sector.

TrixIrl

youandme13 wrote: »

I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant and in a sector where I'm on my feet all day looking after small children, 40 hours a week for 360 euro a week.

I'm really considering leaving and going back to an office administration position, am I mad?

More money, less time on my feet I've bad morning sickness and feel an office job will suit better as I'm exhausted straight after work.

What would you do in the situation? I dont have maternity pay from the company anyway will be getting the Government state payment, and have a 9 year old too. Childcare alone will be more then my weekly wages staying in this sector.

Only you can decide what's right but I would take an admin position in a heartbeat.... if you can get one!! And I don't mean that in relation to your pregnancy but rather the bigger employment situation at the moment. Congratulations.

jrosen

You may just be feeling pretty rubbish right now. But only you can decide. Admin certainly would be easier physically

Loveinapril

My only concern in your predicament would be the amount of time it would take you to start a new job, how long the probation would be and would you qualify for maternity leave (not pay). You may have to do a 6 month probation which would lead you up to your due date where an employer could let you go at any stage. It depends on how much you need the job after your maternity leave is up.

youandme13

Thank you all for your replies.

Re maternity pay - I looked in to it and it goes by the tax year two years previous, so would be 2019 by next year which I'd have over 39 weeks tax paid. It states on citizen information theres no min period you need to be with a company.

I could always get temp work. My friend was with an agency working week to week and they signed off her maternity forms for her.

ted1

youandme13 wrote: »

I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant and in a sector where I'm on my feet all day looking after small children, 40 hours a week for 360 euro a week. .

That’s below minimum wage....
10.10 an hour for 40 hours is €404

radiotrickster

ted1 wrote: »

That’s below minimum wage....
10.10 an hour for 40 hours is €404

Would that be €360 after tax then?

I would have said go for the admin work if we weren’t potentially looking at a recession which could leave you in a tough situation financially.

I know it’s early days yet, but you said your childcare will be mega expensive after maternity leave. Have you got a plan for what you’ll do then? Is there a staff discount on childcare in your facility that might make it more financially viable?

Best of luck!

skallywag

Loveinapril wrote: »

You may have to do a 6 month probation which would lead you up to your due date where an employer could let you go at any stage. It depends on how much you need the job after your maternity leave is up.

I think that this point is very valid.

I have always been a little 'on-edge' for want of better words while I was still on probation, albeit that I guessed that I was doing a good job and would be kept on with no issue. There is a still a sense of relief when you get passed it though. I am not sure if I would like to be heading towards the end of a pregnancy and then suddenly lose my job.

As April mentions though, if you are not too bothered about that happening then I guess why not.

Diziet

Loveinapril wrote: »

My only concern in your predicament would be the amount of time it would take you to start a new job, how long the probation would be and would you qualify for maternity leave (not pay). You may have to do a 6 month probation which would lead you up to your due date where an employer could let you go at any stage. It depends on how much you need the job after your maternity leave is up.

They can let you go at any stage, but not because of pregnancy.

I would say go for it, if you can get the work.

skallywag

Diziet wrote: »

They can let you go at any stage, but not because of pregnancy.

You can be let go at any point during probation, and without reason.

Meaning if an employer wanted to fire you within the probation period, because, let's say, they were not happy that you are pregnant, then they could just fire you anyway and never ever have to justify why they did it. A simple 'look, sorry, it's not working out' is all you might get, and they would be under no obligation to say anything else. There is sometimes the myth bandied about that you cannot be fired while pregnant, but that is most definitely not true if you are on probation.

The point made before though is valid, if the OP does not care less about that, then I would also say go for it.

youandme13 wrote: »

Re maternity pay - I looked in to it and it goes by the tax year two years previous, so would be 2019 by next year which I'd have over 39 weeks tax paid. It states on citizen information theres no min period you need to be with a company.

OP, as I mentioned above, please take care that you could be let go at any time during your probation period without the employer having any obligation to give you anything whatsoever.

youandme13

ted1 wrote: »

That’s below minimum wage....
10.10 an hour for 40 hours is €404

Unfortunately that's before tax. I've to take tax out of that for when it's due at the end of the year.

youandme13

skallywag wrote: »

You can be let go at any point during probation, and without reason.

Meaning if an employer wanted to fire you within the probation period, because, let's say, they were not happy that you are pregnant, then they could just fire you anyway and never ever have to justify why they did it. A simple 'look, sorry, it's not working out' is all you might get, and they would be under no obligation to say anything else. There is sometimes the myth bandied about that you cannot be fired while pregnant, but that is most definitely not true if you are on probation.

The point made before though is valid, if the OP does not care less about that, then I would also say go for it.



OP, as I mentioned above, please take care that you could be let go at any time during your probation period without the employer having any obligation to give you anything whatsoever.

Thank you for your reply. I'm on a year contract though which will be up in December, so it would be a gamble anyway then as just before Christmas and 6 weeks before maternity leave would be starting.

I'm currently getting 9.15 per hour and will be on this until the TWSS ends for our sector.

Yes I get a childcare discount, but paying for two in childcare including the discount on the wages I'm on I'm only left with 100 euro per week for everything else (rent, Bill's, food, car, school etc.

I worked out paying full fees with a job 30k plus I'd still be much better off.

Mrs OBumble

If you can get yourself an admin job paying 30k job, then go for it.

radiotrickster

youandme13 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. I'm on a year contract though which will be up in December, so it would be a gamble anyway then as just before Christmas and 6 weeks before maternity leave would be starting.

I'm currently getting 9.15 per hour and will be on this until the TWSS ends for our sector.

I worked out paying full fees with a job 30k plus I'd still be much better off.

Is the 9.15 per hour before or after tax? Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't have thought you could be on below minimum wage, even on TWSS.

Have you got experience in an admin job, OP? Maybe I'm wrong but I'm currently job-searching myself for a new admin role and I haven't seen many that pay €30k+, and they all expect a lot of experience.

I know you said you're in a contract but there's usually a section in it that says you can hand in your notice to leave early?

Employers can't discriminate based on pregnancy but if you wait until the end of your contract, an employer probably won't be hugely keen to take you on when they're going to spend a while training you, only for someone else to have to get trained in a few weeks later again. So you'd be best of finding out what your notice period is and job-searching sooner rather than later.

youandme13

radiotrickster wrote: »

Is the 9.15 per hour before or after tax? Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't have thought you could be on below minimum wage, even on TWSS.

Have you got experience in an admin job, OP? Maybe I'm wrong but I'm currently job-searching myself for a new admin role and I haven't seen many that pay €30k+, and they all expect a lot of experience.

I know you said you're in a contract but there's usually a section in it that says you can hand in your notice to leave early?

Employers can't discriminate based on pregnancy but if you wait until the end of your contract, an employer probably won't be hugely keen to take you on when they're going to spend a while training you, only for someone else to have to get trained in a few weeks later again. So you'd be best of finding out what your notice period is and job-searching sooner rather than later.

That's before any tax, that'll be whenever Revenue come looking for it as it's the TWSS.

I've seen a few for 28-30k but will have to wait till I can get childcare sorted out until school starts back if I can move jobs before that.

Anonire

Hi op

Congrats on your pregnancy. Just a few things to consider if you haven't already.

Have you looked at the childcare subsidy schemes you may qualify for a reduction based on your current wage to make it more affordable for you.

New jobs bring new and different stresses with them especially when pregnant you could have as much discomfort from sitting at a desk all day and trying to make an impression. And you never know you may start to feel a bit better hopefully and less tired as your pregnancy continues.

I would think there will be a good amount of competition for any Admin job paying 30k + and the recruitment processes can often take alot longer than anticipated.

Another thing to consider is that you can start your maternity leave anytime from 24 weeks and the government payment would kick in then. That does mean your baby would be younger when the payment finishes but it is an option.

I'm not saying stay in your existing job but it could be swapping one problem for another. Once your existing employer knows about your pregnancy they may be able to make small changes that will make a big difference for you.