Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)
  • Working when pregnant
  • andybrad
    Full Member

    Ok guys and gals id like some of your advice. My wife is 8 months pregnant and working as a vet nurse. Shes due to pack in in 2 weeks time.

    At the moment shes not getting much help at all at work from her collegues and for example shes just been told that shes not allowed her lunch break as they are too busy. She doesn’t gat paid sick pay unfortunately so walking out isn’t viable.

    Are they allowed to do that? Are they allowed to prevent someone taking a break? The issue is its during an operation so I appreciate its not easy. But its making my blood boil that they are preventing my wife from having a much needed rest.

    Pook
    Full Member

    Pregnancy is irrelevant until mat leave. She’s simply entitled to breaks.

    https://www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work/overview

    EDIT: actually, reading elsewhere….

    Health and safety for pregnant employees
    When the employee tells her employer she’s pregnant, the employer should assess the risks to the woman and her baby.

    Risks could be caused by:

    heavy lifting or carrying
    standing or sitting for long periods without adequate breaks
    exposure to toxic substances
    long working hours
    Where there are risks, the employer should take reasonable steps to remove them, eg by offering the employee different work or changing their hours.

    The employer should suspend the employee on full pay if they can’t remove any risks, eg by offering suitable alternative work.

    scruff9252
    Full Member

    I can kinda see why her employers wouldn’t want her walking out for an hour mid way through an operation with an animal open on the cutting table tbf.

    Doesn’t negate entitlement to breaks but I would assume they would be between jobs as it were.

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    br
    Free Member

    Ok guys and gals id like some of your advice. My wife is 8 months pregnant and working as a vet nurse. Shes due to pack in in 2 weeks time.

    Sorry to be harsh, but her choice to work until this point – and while in her last 4 (AFAIK) weeks is not allowed sick pay as she really ought to be off.

    andybrad
    Full Member

    This isnt mid way though opps btw. Its finishing one and starting another. This is what i dont get.

    andybrad
    Full Member

    btw im in full agreement she should be off work now. She just feels like shes letting people down.

    convert
    Full Member

    The employer should suspend the employee on full pay if they can’t remove any risks, eg by offering suitable alternative work.

    Is that correct?

    If you had been a right on equality minded builder for example who had employed a woman to be a hod carrier who then fell pregnant you would be responsible for paying her full pay for pretty much the full 9 months if you could not find her alternative work?

    poly
    Free Member

    convert – I believe it is correct.

    andybrad – even if she was entitled to sick pay they could simply tell her to start mat. leave (I think upto 4 weeks before EDD as I recall). Has she actually had a conversation with them? I can’t imagine any employer (no matter how bad) who would treat a heavily pregnant employee so they were suffering physically. Treating badly financially yes, but risking a pregnant vet nurse say passing out mid operation would be frankly stupid, and risk both the animal and the staff well being…

    breatheeasy
    Free Member

    She just feels like shes letting people down.

    Her responsibility now is to that unborn child. She’s going to be letting that little one down if she becomes ill etc.

    She’s pregnant. If she dropped the sprogg tmrw would she still be letting people down but not rocking up to work?

    geoffj
    Full Member

    btw im in full agreement she should be off work now. She just feels like shes letting people down.

    Putting the legal obligations aside, it sounds like the sentiment isn’t being reciprocated by her employer.

    andybrad
    Full Member

    Aye, Apologies for all this i just needed to vent a little before i ended up saying something i regretted.

    Thanks for the advice folks.

    On the flip side not long till im a dad! GULP!

    BenjiM
    Full Member

    Rest Breaks – Legal Rights

    Rest breaks at work
    Workers have the right to one uninterrupted 20 minute rest break during their working day (this could be a tea or lunch break), if they work more than 6 hours a day.

    andyl
    Free Member

    Sounds like the OHs vet practice. She hardly ever has time to take a break.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    We have separate risk assessment for pregnant ladies as much of our job is outside/active/lugging kit around.
    Company has a duty of care to her – and they must make allowances.

    nealglover
    Free Member

    On the flip side not long till im a dad! GULP!

    I’m five weeks in at the moment, and if I could offer you some advice.

    Get some sleep.

    Seriously, sleep. Do it now.

    andybrad
    Full Member

    lol

    nealglover, having fun. What did you end up with?

    paulhaycraft
    Full Member

    My wife used to be a vet nurse. This seems entirely in line with her employers’ behaviour. She didn’t work for them by the time we were having kids but their attitude towards staff was, frankly, shocking.

    I purposely wouldn’t go to works events with her if management was going to be there. I’m not sure I could’ve explained the bleeding from biting my tongue all night.

    She needs to be a bit militant and just walk off when it’s safe to do so, I reckon.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    Certainly employer needs to do a risk assessment for any pregnant member of staff. Several ladies in our office (one of those sudden outbreaks of pregnancies) have not received theirs, and our civil service employer is currently grovelling and generally being pathetic about it.

    P-Jay
    Free Member

    In my experience it’s best for anyone not getting the help they need whilst pregnant to just take sick leave, they’re pretty much untouchable if they’re pregnant especially if a Doc will sign it off, and they usually will when there’s a baby involved.

    My wife was a Ward Nurse when she has pregnant with our Daughter, she has a back injury from work already, as she got bigger she spoke to the Ward Manager who promised the world, she wouldn’t have to move ‘big’ patients, she could take a break whenever she liked and wouldn’t have to do the drug rounds as it was a fancy new ‘super ward’ and about a football pitch long – this lasted until the moment she stepped out of the office and back onto the ward – I was furious, she was coming home from work (730am to 830pm shifts) exhausted and sick.

    The Doc signed her off sick for two weeks to rest – at her return meeting she explained in great detail to very highly qualified medical people the reason why she was sick and whatever else and they made equally impressive promises – and did NOTHING about them – so she was sick again, finally she caught Norovirus from work, they had an outbreak, the promised she wouldn’t have to work in the area where they sufferers were – 2 hours later she was told to work there, I lost it and told her to come home, which bless her she did, but she got it anyway.

    In the end we had to have her off on Maternity leave a month early just to keep her safe and healthy – the cost was high – between the reduced pay from sickness and extended leave it cost us about £2000, worth every penny to me – the hospital lost her skills for 2 months in total – all because they couldn’t be arsed giving her a slightly different role for 2 months.

    Thankfully she got offered another nursing role within the NHS before she had to go back – she spent 2 weeks there.

    It really gets on my nerves – the ward is a disaster of a place, chaos reigns supreme and it’s only hard graft by the staff that stops patients suffering – but it was some non-medical dickhead great idea, which became local-goverments great idea, which became the Hospital Boards great idea – it stinks, it doesn’t work, it’s a bad job which should be declared as such and they should move on to a better idea – but none of the **** are brave enough to admit it’s gone wrong – they’re forever in the paper haling it a great success – so we’ve gone down the road so far it can’t be turned around. Meanwhile Nurses and Doctors are leaving as quick as they can, they’re so understaffed they have to rely on £70 an hour agency staff, but even they won’t go back once they’ve worked their once and the Ward Manager is a bad day away from throwing herself in front of a train – but she’s holding on, knowing all this exposure will probably win her a cushy board slot one day.

    Sorry, I seem to have gone off-point a bit, every time I think about it, I get very angry.

    falkirk-mark
    Full Member

    Problem as I see it is that the Vet is taking on too much work if they are busy all the time. Not your wife’s problem and certainly not your unborn child’s problem. As an employer your wife’s boss has a care of duty to his/ her employees.If she is entitled to breaks she gets them (Vet needs to work around a solution not tell her how it is) Hope that helps put things in perspective.

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