Jobs that aren't baby friendly

[Daisy Delayne]

I'm a newspaper reporter, which involves a lot of traveling and weekend work. I'm also the only reporter at my current job, which makes things like mat leave seem impossible. Just wondering if anyone else who is WTT or who already has kids has a non baby-friendly job and how you're going to cope?

 

[lozzy21]

My jobs not pregnancy friendly. I work with adults with learning disabilitys who are agressive and violant. I could be asaulted at any time.

Il get a maternity risk assesment and may get moved while im pregnant.

 

[Kiwichick17]

Hi Daisy, if you are in the UK then once you are pregnant and inform your employer they are required to do a risk assessment - if your job involves a lot of travel and overtime then they need to help reduce the risks. This can mean transferring you to a different role temporarily or allowing you to do certain tasks from the office/home and whatever other adjustments seem appropriate. If your employer isn't open to this then you need to speak to your Union or to Citizens Advice and hopefully will be able to help resolve any issues.

In terms of maternity leave, loads of small employers have people take time off for maternity/paternity/illness/sabbaticals... if you take maternity leave they should be able to reclaim 100% of your SMP (or 92% if a larger employer) and should be able to recruit a temp or fixed term employee to cover your period of leave.

Again, when you return to work you should get another risk assessment and if you've been working for over a year should be able to request flexible working (although they may have legitimate reasons for refusing this most employers will try and keep on good staff). The key thing from an employers point of view is that they want to see that you are considering the impact and making an effort as well - there are some good tools on the Direct Gov website to help assess the impact of working flexibly and what forms to submit, what to say...

 

[elmaxie]

I work in the NHS in operating theatres and had to force them to do a risk assessment they then went out their way to place me whilst pregnant in the most hard working and demanding theatres....not to mention the back stabbing co workers who slated me due to ms, urinary infections which presented as vomiting, tiredness, carpel tunnel and a trapped nerve if I stood for long enough I got shooting pains then my leg went dead.

But for after baby was born and I go back part time they are accomodating to an extent. Plus I work the day unit so Mon-Fri 8am-5pm not bad for childcare BUT OH works 4 on and 4 off so regular childcare is not needed so we are going to be relying on my mum and my dad to look after Nathan when me and hubby are both working...not the best but better than shelling out £300+ on nursery fees especially if he wont be there for half of it!

Emma.xx

 

[JennieyL]

I to work in the operating room at a hospital .. not so job friendly either.. ugh.. the whole time i was pregnant it made me feel soooo sick seeing all of that stuff when normally It didnt bother me at all! I had to be off work early.. I went of work beginning of march and callie wasnt born until july!. they had to pay me for it becasue of the risk working there so it wasnt so bad, but I am in canada I dont know what the rules are where you are from! Also we get a year of maternity leave here that is paid for! so I dont have to go back to work until july 2010!!!! with full pay.. I think I may just want to keep having kids

 

[tasha41]

McDonald's LOL.

 

[trynitey]

I worked in retail when I was pregnant with both daughters, and during my 1st daughters first 2 years of life. It was hectic and hard. I got up early, sent her to daycare, and didn't get to pick her up til 5-6 and by the time I got home it was time for dinner then her bedtime. That was if I worked during the day. If I worked at night, I got ready, got her up, spent maybe an hour with her or two before I had to head to drop her off and go to work, then I didn't see her the rest of the day. Retail is NOT baby friendly at all. You don't get to spend much time with your kid and I went days when I only spent maybe 5 hrs in 3 days with my daughter.

 

[xjodiekissesx]

Oh I know what you mean trynitey, in the end with the amount of extra I was making for working it really wasnt worth it so I stopped working in the end.

 

[angeljewel]

I'm a Prison Officer, so theres risk everday!! When I become pregnant again I have a risk assessment and can ask to be placed into an office job instead yippee!!

I have a little boy and work part-time at the min, the hours aren't too bad but I hate leaving my LO, so when I have #2 I think I'm gonna be a SAHM!!

xx

 

[goddess25]

. I went of work beginning of march and callie wasnt born until july!. they had to pay me for it becasue of the risk working there so it wasnt so bad, but I am in canada I dont know what the rules are there. Also we get a year of maternity leave here that is paid for! so I dont have to go back to work until july 2010!!!! with full pay.. I think I may just want to keep having kids

My job is so not friendly to pregnancy... i work in leukemia/bone marrow transplant and administer chemotherapy on a daily basis then have to deal with the output of chemo poo/pee/puke/sweat too. I just gowned up and had to be very careful, although i did get freaked out now and again.

I also live in Canada, where do you live Jennie? I live in BC and only got 80% of wage till 18 weeks and now am on EI not getting very much at all. What were you getting when you went off work early? I worked until 4 weeks before birth. WHere you are sounds great if you are getting this much pay. Are you a RN in OR?

 

[LogansMama]

I think I want to move to Canada! A YEAR PAID MATERNITY LEAVE??? HOW FREAKIN AWESOME!!

 

[magicvw]

2 years maternity pay in Bulgaria - and this is a poor country! I run my own business so I'll still be working, but I get benefit for 2 years all the same! I wouldnt' say it's ideal to run your own business with a baby though, despite what some people think. We do ok because DH is the other partner, but if I was in it alone it would be impossible.

 

[elmaxie]

2 years! Thats really good!

Emma.xx