Pregnant employee causing problems

[Itsasecret]

Hi. New here!
Got two pregnant employees who I happen to manage. One is long term and hard worker other joined 2yrs ago and reckon we are her maternity package. She announced pregnancy after 3wks and since then it's been hell. I have done risk asses and just waiting for hr to approve it from legal standpoint.
Recent warm weather has caused sme issues. Air con broke so constant moaning and threats to go off sick if we don't repair it. We r small co with tight finances and struggling already. We have offered fans, opening doors n windows, running wrists under cold water. All offers thrown back in our faces.
She has very low b/pressure and now has swollen ankles and reckons it could be pre eclampsia (umm... High b pressure!!!). Reckons heat makes her want to faint. But I know real reason is its just uncomfortable and hot n sticky. Not a danger.
Reckon we have a huge hr issue here and legal issues will be chucked at us.
What can I do?

 

[VSpy1]

be very careful......whatever you do.......

(from the point of view of a husband who witnessed pre-eclampsia, it's a very serious condition...)

my advice would be to do all you can to help or be seen to help, you never know, you might get a better response....

I know it's easier said then done...

 

[Itsasecret]

Preeclampsia is high bp. She has very low bp. So cannot possibly have pre eclampsia. She loves a problem. ESP a health problems.
We have offered solutions and she is being unreasonable
Eg
The fan I brought in from home... To save buying one was too dirty. I cleaned it. It was too strong and blew papers off her desk.
And so on
What more can I do! I feel I can't win!

 

[VSpy1]

I missed your ref to low b/pressure.......

I would just say be very careful, if she's playing these games she may just be a pain, or she may have a plan.......

 

[Itsasecret]

Oh she def has a plan! For sure! So I log notes each week in our meetings with her. And am diarising her poor attitude.
Am stressed and not sleeping cos of this and she makes my day miserable!
Yet apparently I am expected to pander over her still!
I am just trying to make the co money... Don't have time for all this!!!

 

[Psl]

Are you saying that there are two employees that are currently pregnant?

 

[Itsasecret]

Yes they Re! Two wks apart doing diff jobs. And v diff people. One will keep quiet and get on with it. The other causing every excuse to get attention

 

[Absolute_Advantage]

I'm a woman and I really feel for you here. So much for sisterhood and all that, but I've had recent experience of a malingering P.I.T.A. of a female who announced her pregnancy not long after she was offered a job with the company I was with. Her husband was an employee of the same company and blatantly said that they would sue if the company withdrew the job offer. Of course, they didn't - they were far too woosy for that.

Have a look at the Mumsnet forum on "Employment Issues". It's quite an eye opener and may give you some idea of your employee's perspective and her rights and entitlements as she sees them.

www[dot]mumsnet[dot]com/Talk/employment_issues

 

[Itsasecret]

Thanks advantage! Hadnt thought of mums net

 

[Absolute_Advantage]

The sense of entitlement on there is guaranteed to make your blood boil. Lots of them freely admit that they have no intention of ever returning to work but keep their employers dangling on. Others get pregnant again during their maternity leave ...

Challenge them though by, for example, asking them to see it from the point of view of a small business employer, and you'll be quickly slapped down.

There are a few pretty clued up people as well who will give you a pretty good idea of your legal obligations.

 

[S_JB]

I wouldnt get too concerned. They are her issues, you have done more than enough in your power. Take note of measures you have taken towards 'cooling' her down and also notes of her threats to go off sick.

Just leave her to it, let her moan, you are listening too much to her. She is pregnant so she is going to give it a good moan.

If I remember rightly there isnt a legal max temp. to work in, just a minimum.

I worked for McDonalds part-time when I was at college for about 3 years and the look on the managers faces if we told them we were hot! No one would blink an eye lid for the slightest of moans.

 

[movietub]

OP you don't have any legal obligation to provide air-con, just a reasonable working temperature. I can't remember what that is, something like 24 degrees from memory.

If you can achieve the defined max permissible working temperature with fans then your job is done.

As said, and based on my own experience, you do have to be careful. But you also have a duty to mankind to stand up for common sense. She is 3 weeks pregnant, she has morning sickness.

Suggest you make sure you're doing what you're required to do and always correspond by email where possible. That way if she's being silly you have immediate record of it. Even if she approaches you fro a discussion follow it up with an email - 'just thought I would re-cap our conversation in writing, can you confirm I've got your views and request - blah blah blah - correct?'.

That way you're covered if her requests or attitudes become silly or unreasonable. Just be 100% formal, it's the only way you can be safe. If there is any doubt about what was said or done after the event she will get the benefit of the doubt as you are the manager, and therefore would be expected to formalise such things whereas she would not be.

 

[PI Guy]

There is no legal max temp.

 

[movietub]

There is no legal max temp.

You're right - sorry!

I got 24 degrees from an old unit we had, we must have calculated that as a 'reasonable' temperature on some basis.

Gov guidelines here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/temperature.htm

As always not very helpful. They define reasonable max temp as what is comfortable - and that is subjective dependent on the individual. You could have a perfectly normal temperature and an employee could claim they found it uncomfortable.

Suggest the OP tests by asking staff member to make an appointment with their GP to discuss the safe temperature for a woman at their stage of pregnancy. Give them a half day off paid to see the GP (puts the employer in an unquestionably reasonable position and clearly puts the employees welfare first) and then apply the GP's advice as the temperature you need to maintain. If the employee fails to see the GP or provide their input then they have had a recorded opportunity to deal in advance with something they may in the future complain about. Job done.

The sort of wasters that will complain to 'get something' normally give up when you transfer the effort to them.

 

[Psl]

Yes they Re! Two wks apart doing diff jobs. And v diff people. One will keep quiet and get on with it. The other causing every excuse to get attention

I take it your treating both of them exactly the same?

As has been mentioned just document everything that happens and recap on all conversations via email.

I f you treat both of them exactly the same and offer them both the same support you should be OK.

You cannot second guess how either of them will be on any given day unfortunately, you just have to go with the flow each day.

I had a lady that fell pregnant whilst working for my company and I bent over backwards to accommodate her, letting her take 5-10 min breaks each hour to get some fresh air, even though the office windows were opened. Provided her with a fan, got a water cooler installed as she said she needed to constantly re- hydrate and even bought her a super duper ergonomic office chair that supported her back.I stopped her lifting files or carrying files etc from office to office and tried to make her job as comfortable as possible.

Later on in her pregnancy she started to complain of being tired, and as she had started to be constantly late, blaming the pregnancy, I decided to make her an offer that she work from home. She jumped at it, not surprisingly, and her productivity remained the same and the general office environment improved.

All the way through her pregnancy, and during her maternity leave, she maintained that she would return to work but right at the last minute she decided not too.

All the way through her pregnancy I took the view of how would I like an employer to treat my wife at her work, if she was pregnant.

Good luck anyway.

 

[K9-Steve]

I believe honesty with a side of caution is the best way to approach this. At the end of the day each and every employee you have needs to be considered as valued.

 

[Liybpg]

I would urge you to be very careful in this situation - maybe consult an employment lawyer. You need to make sure that you have done everything by the book and that everything is recorded and signed by both you and her.

I would at least hold regular meetings with her where you would list everything that you have done for her (which she would need to confirm), you need to then record if she has any other demands / problems and what you were going to do about them. Then provide updates on all actions in next meetings. You need to show that you have done everything that you reasonably need to do and that she does everything that she needs to do (e.g. note from the doctor proving her conditions, if applicable).

You can set reasonable actions for her and if she fails to complete them then you will have some arguments in your favour.

I would urge you to treat this seriously as any lawsuit will be extremely difficult to handle if you don't follow robust procedures. I would really advise you to speak to a laywer about this. Few hundred pounds might save you a lot of headaches and then if their advice does not work, you can rely on their insurance to cover you.

 

[Bill1954]

other joined 2yrs ago and reckon we are her maternity package. She announced pregnancy after 3wks

I may have missed something here but she joined 2 years ago and announced pregnancy after 3 weeks.
What is she ? an elephant ?

 

[telemax]

and reckon we are her maternity package.

Sounds like mindreading, it might be that or maybe she's just concerned for her and baby's health.

Anyway pragmatically speaking, fixing your AC unit is a lot cheaper than a lawsuit or losing an employee and having advertise for and train a new one.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Oh she def has a plan! For sure! So I log notes each week in our meetings with her. And am diarising her poor attitude.
Am stressed and not sleeping cos of this and she makes my day miserable!
Yet apparently I am expected to pander over her still!
I am just trying to make the co money... Don't have time for all this!!!

Do not Diarise her attitude, call her in and give her a verbal warning and then written warnings

You do not have to be hard on her, explain you understand the pressures on her but feel her work has dropped to unaceptable levels and needs improving, offer to help her etc and see what you can do, butwithout warnings the Diary is pointless, she must be told of any of her failings when they happen, that way whatever happens you have proof of what happened duriing her employment with you

 

[Christine Hough]

And if you are too small for a legal team, then consider joining the Federation of Small Businesses.

I know when I was pregnant the safety of my baby weighed much more important than about anything else although I still tried to do a good days work. In retrospect I possibly could have given a bit more. But this was more to do with care for the baby than malingering. Don't recall moaning all the time though and didn't ask for a fan!

 

[Absolute_Advantage]

Having a baby is undoubtedly a wonderful thing (as long as you can afford to pay for it yourself, of course) and I understand that health and safety concerns will be foremost in the minds of expectant mothers. However, regardless of what the law says, I think it unfair that small businesses are expected to suffer the financial consequences and inconvenience of what is ultimately a personal decision.

Few women have just one child either. Frequently they're pregnant again within a couple of years - often less (the female in my former company who was pregnant before even putting in a day's work made it clear that another child would follow soon after, which begged the question "what was the point of hiring you in the first place?" It didn't help that pregnancy didn't agree with her mentally or physically).

In other words women of child-bearing age can be a major liability which few small businesses can afford. A committed, conscientious and hard-working employee is worth their weight in gold. The one described by the OP sounds anything but and wouldn't be a great loss in my opinion.

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

Just one of the problems with the country today.
Whilst I am in favour of Employees being protected in the workplace it is people like this that just take the piss causing unnecessary expense to small companies that can't afford it. If you give her a warning for anything it is likely to be because you are "picking" on her because of her being pregnant. It is a lose - lose situation.

Good Luck!

 

[Elliottc26]

Pregnant women in the workplace have four rights:

1. Paid time off for antenatal care
2. maternity leave
3. maternity pay benefits
4. protection against unfair treatment or dismissal

Also, to health and safety:

1. No heavy lifting
2. No standing or sitting for long periods
3. No exposure to toxic substances
4. No long working hours

Also:
Do not give poor work reports.
Do not cut their hours without their approval
Do not give them unsuitable work
Do not treat sick days due to pregnancy as a discplinary issue

If she is hot, offer her a seat next to a window.

However, there is not a lot else you need to do. If she thinks morning sickness is horrid, wait until she gets to 6 months!!! You cannot be sued for not providing a fan; however, if it is reasonable tell her she can bring in a handheld fan. I would advise her also that when she feels sick she should not come in - cover yourself a bit. You do not have to take care of her outside H&S.

My wife worked when she was pregnant and her employer was good. She did not demand the earth though, just a window seat, regular breaks to get some air, water and food. Pregnant women also visit the loo every 5 mins as baby gets bigger, but not a lot happens in the beginning.

 

[Elliottc26]

Also, she is only entitled to SMP if she has worked with you for over 26 weeks and has earned over £107 per week. She also needs to provide medical evidence of her due date.

 

[Itsasecret]

Thanks all for your input.
It's a small co of just 14. And I can see exactly where she wants to take this all. So aiming to cover ourselves legally and be firm... Taking no shite and not pandering to demands.
Its all very stressful trying to keep business afloat as it is. Last thing I need is someone placing further demands on our time and money just for sake of being difficult.
Plus I am soooooo anti the "precious pregnant" brigade who can't pick up this and can't bear that! Think of the women in Africa who carry babies and water buckets in their heads!
Think of the pregnant mums who pick up their toddlers...
Some women give the rest a bad name by playing the system.
Insisting on certain measures but then turning their heads to others just cos it doesn't suit them!!!!

 

[ScotComp]

Might be worth while contacting ACAS as well for further advice?

 

[Christine Hough]

Also do check out the FSB

 

[Jinxie]

I'm not against hiring women of child bearing age or pregnant women in the least but I understand it can be a problem for the companies. This is a good reason to hire older women. (Sorry to get off topic a little)

 

[dynamic08]

Its a bloody disgrace. If you dont work then why should you get paid?