Mum sparks debate after revealing she hid her pregnancy from new employers

12 January 2022, 12:53

By Heart

@thisisheart

An expectant mum has said her family is disapproving after she decided not to tell her new boss about her pregnancy.

A woman has asked for advice online after she decided not to tell her new employer that she is expecting a baby.

The anonymous mum-to-be recently found out she's expecting, before being offered a new job just two weeks later.

But she decided not to tell her boss that she was pregnant when she accepted the role.

Taking to Reddit, the woman said: "I recently found out I was pregnant. Only two weeks later, I got a job offer, which I accepted. I didn’t say anything about my pregnancy as it’s so early.

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"I’ve also heard of employers discriminating against pregnant workers by not hiring them, and I wanted to avoid that."

When she later told her family about the job and the pregnancy, they weren’t exactly supportive.

The post continues: "One of them asked me if I told the boss about being pregnant. When I said no, he got disapproving and said I shouldn’t have lied about it.

"I didn’t say anything, but I don’t think I’m in the wrong. My goal is to protect myself and the baby’s wellbeing, and having a job with maternity leave and a guarantee of work when I return will help me."

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Unsurprisingly, the post racked up hundreds of comments, with one person writing: "You gotta look out for you. You're under no legal obligation to disclose and they aren't even allowed to ask either.”.

Another said: "You didn't lie about being pregnant. You simply didn't volunteer it, and the employer didn't violate the law by asking.

“You didn't need to disclose, plus if you are before 10 weeks along, it is still REALLY early."

According to Gov.uk, employees must tell their employer about the pregnancy at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week the baby is due.

If this isn’t possible, for example because they didn’t know they were pregnant, the employer must be told as soon as possible.

Parents-to-be must also tell the employer when they want to start their Statutory Maternity Leave and Statutory Maternity Pay.

Find out more about pregnancy rights the government website here.