# How long in new job before ttc?



## Ley

If you were offered a new job how long would you want to be there before you considered TTC?


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## R&G2007

Hello, 

I have just started a new job and already trying to concieve, as I am undergoing treatment from PCOS so I don't know how long it will be but if i was able to concieve normally i would probably wait a year just you could get a better maternity package : )))

G


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## Ley

I'm not sure if I am entitled to the maternity package as I am not contracted staff, just bank staff so work as and when I want to or am needed. So I think I would have to claim SMP from the government.
We were due to start TTC in JUne but I was just offered this new job yesterday and start next month and it's got me thinking about how long we should wait now.
I don't want to only be there a few months and be announcing a pregnancy as it really wouldn't do me any favours.


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## lozzy21

I think you will only be entitled to smp as your bank staff. Id wait atleast 6 months before TTC.


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## pansylove

My OH has said we have to wait one month from when I get the job :) 
They're letting me know AT THE END OF THE MONTH THOUGH.
Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!
:) Wish they would just tell me now then the month clock can start ticking!!!!


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## toffee87

4-6 months at the earliest. Most likely 6 or so months, depending on how long you have to wait for the full package :)


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## MiniReed

i'm just waiting to start a new job.
& i'll be waiting just over a year before ttc.
you just get better maternity leave care and that when you have settled in well & made your mark in the work place.


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## Althara

For me it'd depend on their maternity package, but I'd probably want to be there a year or two beforehand to help safeguard against wrongful/unfair dismissal. I'd make sure I had as many rights as I could, lol!


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## beccad

Well I started my current job in November last year and originally wasn't going to TTC for a couple of years, but the broody fairy has got me, so we're starting in August 2010 (ish). Even if I fell the first month I'd have been in my job nearly 18 months before I actually went on leave, which isn't so bad.

To qualify for the full maternity package I have to have been in my job a full year by the time I go on maternity leave, if that makes sense.

I wouldn't TTC now, having only been in my job three months, unless I already knew I had fertility issues... Everyone is different though and I wouldn't judge anyone for their decision. A friend of mine started a job and found out she was pregnant a week later - it was a surprise pregnancy, but what can you do!?


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## Lucy_lu_84

Well in my job u only get smp anyway! 

i started in the July and fell pregnant in Sept...and I go back to work next month part time. I wasn't going to put TTC on hold because I had a new job, it was too important to me. I 'd had a MC a month before I started the new job, so no way was I stopping. but that is just me :D


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## toffee87

The way I think about it is, if you're gonna have a baby you're gonna need time off whenever that is, whether you've been there 6 weeks or 6 years. It's better for the mum if she's been there longer so she can get better pay and leave, but if you have a baby fairly soon and only get a small package, then it's cheaper for them anyway haha.


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## PeanutBean

I only get SMP in my current job. I've actually just applied for a new job and if successful will be there from April or so. We plan to TTC in July but it depends on how the job goes (it's a one year contract with a good liklihood of extension, funding allowing, so will be a fine balancing act to get any maternity at all). I'm unlikely to hold off for a good maternity package. Right now I'm assuming I'll be on MA and unemployed by spring next year. If it were a secure job and only a wait of about 6 months I might wait but really life's too short and money means little, better to get the babe!


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## Ley

Lucy_lu_84 said:


> Well in my job u only get smp anyway!
> 
> i started in the July and fell pregnant in Sept...and I go back to work next month part time. I wasn't going to put TTC on hold because I had a new job, it was too important to me. I 'd had a MC a month before I started the new job, so no way was I stopping. but that is just me :D

thats exactly how I feel! I feel like I should be really happy about having this job but all I can think about is putting of TTC for even longer and I feel really sad about that.


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## Lucy_lu_84

Ley: You just need to figure out which is more important for you :) and if you fall pregnant only a couple of months into the job will you be okay just receivinng SMP! *hugs*
It'll all work out. if you do get pregnant while you are working there, be brilliant. Make yourself indisposable so they really want you to come back. That's what i did :D


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## PeanutBean

Lucy_lu_84 said:


> if you do get pregnant while you are working there, be brilliant. Make yourself indisposable so they really want you to come back. That's what i did :D

If you are on a permanent job then it doesn't matter whether you are indisposable! If you're on a contract and the contract is renewed for someone else when you have been doing well then that's discrimination.


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## Lucy_lu_84

PeanutBean said:


> Lucy_lu_84 said:
> 
> 
> if you do get pregnant while you are working there, be brilliant. Make yourself indisposable so they really want you to come back. That's what i did :D
> 
> If you are on a permanent job then it doesn't matter whether you are indisposable! If you're on a contract and the contract is renewed for someone else when you have been doing well then that's discrimination.Click to expand...



Yeah I know that they have to offer you a job when you come back, but if you only want to go back part time, or do certain hours they could get funny and only offer you hours that would not suit you. As a way not to have you back working for them. That's all I meant by saying make sure they will want you back, the more they like you the better chances you have of getting the hours you want when you return to work after Mat leave! 

My friend's company wouldn't offer her part time and she had to leave after her maternity ended :D


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## poppy

It is a difficult decision definately. Is there not some legislation or something that says that if you have been there 25 weeks by 25 weeks pregnant you are entitled to maternity leave pay - I think this is correct for teachers anyway. 

I am in a similar situation. 

My problem is that I was a full time teacher in a permanent contract for around 7 years before I got pregnant with Tristan, we then moved down to Fife for a year during my maternity leave as my husband's job was in Edinburgh. I gave up my job in June 2009 as we thought we were going to be staying down there. He got relocated back up to Aberdeen in October 2009 and I got a long term supply job back in my old school from the end of October. There is no permanent posts up at the moment (boo hiss!). 

My problem is looking at what my rights would be on the supply list if I was to get pregnant by the summer holidays as I am only a supply teacher. I have tried to find out from various websites, but they all seem to be a bit vague. Obviously, if I had been in my old post, it would have not been a problem - however, I have gone from working for Aberdeen City council to a gap of a few months, back to working for Aberdeen City council and might have lost all my benefits (that amount to nearly 9 nears experience working for them) due to a few months gap! That would be really annoying. 

So, I am stuck with the decision - do I wait for a permanent post to come up, stay in the job for a while and then TTC...or do we just go for it in April/May at the earliest? You never know how long it will take to fall pregnant anyway, so it could be a while before I would be putting in documentation (i.e. MatB1 forms and so on). However, due to problems in council funding, it is likely that there will be no permanent posts come up this year (jobs will be lost due to natural wastage - i.e. people who leave will not be replaced or people will just be given short term contracts) - so I could be waiting for ages..I am 32, so don't want to wait for years before TTC again (especially as we may want to eventually have 3 children if we can). I could just go on getting my contract renewed. I need to find out if that means I would be entitled to maternity leave though. I would maybe just have to claim from the government. At the moment, I have been back at work from the end of October - so around 15 weeks worked already. If I waited for a few months, I would definately have been there 25 weeks before I was 25 weeks pregnant, so should be entitled to something.

What are your opinions? (sorry for muscling in on your thread!)

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

xxx


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## PeanutBean

Tricky poppy. Whatever you decide as long as you've been paying tax and NI you are entitled to maternity allowance which is as good as SMP after the first 6 weeks. I can relate to your problem. I'm about to turn 31 and likewise don't want to wait too long for number 2, especially as we may yet also want a number 3. I've applied for a contract job which I do really want. It's only until March next year but the project has fairly secure funding and has been going some years so it's pretty likely the contract will be renewed. We were planning to TTC in July or so making me due soon after the contract finishes (if we manage it promptly anyway). My feelings are that if I am in my current job still I will quit anyway and take my chances on finding something new - I'm trying to change my career direction and after another mat I'd have been in this job about 6 years which is too long. If there is no funding for after March 2011 then I will get MA anyway. If there is, well, we can time things well enough that I'd be starting on the new contract before going on leave and so should get mat pay (I only get SMP where I am now anyway). They can't not give me the job just because I'm pregnant if I've been doing it well etc as that will be clear discrimination. If it looks like the post won';t continue then it might be I'll be in time to take mat leave at the earliesr (11 weeks before term is it?) in which case I might at least get my 6 weeks at 90% before moving on to MA.

I don't know whether this helps with anyone elses decisions but this is where we are. I'm getting on too much to mess about, if it comes down to it I choose the next baby over my career, I can pick up on money and career later. It's not financially viable without me working too but thems the breaks.


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## poppy

PeanutBean said:


> Tricky poppy. Whatever you decide as long as you've been paying tax and NI you are entitled to maternity allowance which is as good as SMP after the first 6 weeks. I can relate to your problem. I'm about to turn 31 and likewise don't want to wait too long for number 2, especially as we may yet also want a number 3. I've applied for a contract job which I do really want. It's only until March next year but the project has fairly secure funding and has been going some years so it's pretty likely the contract will be renewed. We were planning to TTC in July or so making me due soon after the contract finishes (if we manage it promptly anyway). My feelings are that if I am in my current job still I will quit anyway and take my chances on finding something new - I'm trying to change my career direction and after another mat I'd have been in this job about 6 years which is too long. If there is no funding for after March 2011 then I will get MA anyway. If there is, well, we can time things well enough that I'd be starting on the new contract before going on leave and so should get mat pay (I only get SMP where I am now anyway). They can't not give me the job just because I'm pregnant if I've been doing it well etc as that will be clear discrimination. If it looks like the post won';t continue then it might be I'll be in time to take mat leave at the earliesr (11 weeks before term is it?) in which case I might at least get my 6 weeks at 90% before moving on to MA.
> 
> I don't know whether this helps with anyone elses decisions but this is where we are. I'm getting on too much to mess about, if it comes down to it I choose the next baby over my career, I can pick up on money and career later. It's not financially viable without me working too but thems the breaks.

Thanks PB! I totally agree with you. 

I really want to start TTC number two by the summer and I think waiting and waiting for a permanent contract could just end up lasting for years. I may be entitled to something maternity pay wise on the supply list anyway - I read a few sites that said that if you had worked every day that was offered to you (obviously within the days you said you would do i.e. a three day week) up until that 25 weeks pregnant, then they would give you an average of your monthly earnings (looking back at your last three month pay slips) for 13 weeks, then statutory maternity pay. But that might only be for certain authorities...who knows! It is a bit confusing. However, if we just got statutory maternity pay, we would manage. We are going to try and save money now, just in case we are not entitled to anything.

PS I love your little boy's name! I studied English Literature and Language at university and loved studying both Byron and Coleridge! Are you an ex-English grad as well or just a poetry fan?:thumbup:


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## Ley

Someone once said to me that there will always be a reason to wait and if you keep waiting and waiting and waiting it may never happen.
I think thats what I am feeling right now. I know I am only young still but My plan was to have my children young and raise them so then when I was in my 30's and the kids were grown up a bit, then I could have my freedom and live my life a bit iykwim.

I think my hubby is going to look for full time work again (he was a "victim" of the credit crunch and decided to enjoy being a sahd for a while), If he is lucky enough to find a position then I can cut right down at work and if they do decide to get rid of me, it's not going to be the end of the world.
Maybe thats the wrong attitude to have but it's made me feel a bit better about the situation now.


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