physical jobs

[QueenFrost]

Hello. I'm 34 weeks with my first child. The pregnancy has been great so far. The only issue is ive been having hip pain for a few months and I knew it wasn't just normal pregnancy pain. I work for a small privately owned company so they are not required by law to follow pregnancy laws. It is a pretty physical job requiring me to lift 50 lbs and climb a step ladder often. It is retail so we don't take scheduled breaks. I begged my boss months ago to give me the open position of clerical work in the office. He said no he needed me in the retail position. There are only two chairs in the retail building but the manager and the buyer are always using the computers so I never had a place to sit. We work 10 hour shifts. My boss told the mgr and buyer to share chairs with me a month ago but it hasn't gotten much better. I went to a specialist about my hip last week and he said I sprained my sarcoiliac and iliolumbar ligaments. Today was awful. I had to stand or walk around for four hours this morning then do a job that required bending over for a few more hours in the afternoon.

I don't know what to do anymore. I have never heard of a pregnant woman or even anyone with ligament sprains being treated like this at work. I don't know how many ways to say the obvious, that I cant do this kind of work. But I cant afford to lose my job and need to work as much as possible up until my due date.

 

[jjbubbles28]

I too work a physical job. I am a veterinary technician and practice manager. Often we are required to lift heavy animals, stand all day and have no breaks. I often wondered what would happen if I did conceive. I cannot imagine it being like that! Maybe sit down and talk to your boss. Get a doctors note and in the meantime start looking for another job just in case....

 

[QueenFrost]

I tell my Dr every time I see him and he says I shouldn't do the tasks I am doing but never offered any kind of note. I wont see him again for 2 weeks. I wish it was enough to say hey I'm pregnant and have sprained ligaments. No one would help me today even when I asked for it.

 

[QueenFrost]

And they asked me to work tomorrow on my day off! My boyfriend is furious and yelled at Me for not sticking up for myself. I told them no but they said I had to. I'm so exhausted and in pain.

 

[jjbubbles28]

I know you said you need your job, but you also need to be healthy and safe for your baby. I would try a talk first. then take it from there

 

[TXJen]

I would also ask your doctor for a note. I asked mine when I had a miscarriage and she had no problem with writing one. It may just be that you need to bring it up.

 

[emicakess]

I also work a physical job and feel completely worn out but honestly after reading your post I dont feel like mine is so bad. You poor thing how close are you to your due date ? I can only think of just literally leaving that place and seeking new employment after baby arrives. The way they are treating you is completely unethical. Maybe find some legal advice and see if there is ANYTHING you can do about this?

 

[QueenFrost]

I emailed my boss after work Tuesday (He is the owner, rarely there, so I don't see him often) asking if I can have Tuesdays off from now on. The reason is that both of the guys who sit in the chairs all day are there on Tuesdays, sitting there all day. Other days they either have other things to do, or one or the other has the day off. He didn't reply yet, he probably will make me wait until he talks to me in person, and will try to convince me to work at least half a day or something silly.

I've been feeling a lot of pressure on my cervix and wonder if baby is going to drop soon? It's hard enough to walk right now as it is!

I don't think I'm being unreasonable. If one of the guys had a sprained ankle or something, we wouldn't expect him to be on his feet all day, going up and down stairs. Why is it that I am nearly 8 months pregnant with 2 sprained hip ligaments, and I'm expected to be on my feet for hours a day?

 

[teaandchoc]

Poor you, how awful. The guys you work with should be embarrassed by their behaviour. I can't believe your employers treatment of you is legal. I know they're a small company but surely they should know how to treat a pregnant employee. I really hope things improve soon. Sending hug x

 

[Tigerlily01]

Can you bring your own chair or a stool, and just leave it in your workplace so you have a place to sit if you need it and the other chairs are taken? If you get one with wheels, you could maybe move it around with you too, or use it as a cart to push things you don't want to carry? It doesn't solve your lifting problem, but maybe it would help a bit if you need a rest now and then?

 

[xdxxtx]

I am absolutely disgusted by the way you're being treated. I'm so sorry that you're in such a terrible position! I did have a very physically demanding job when I was pregnant with my first baby and had worked on the day I went into labor and was back to work 5 days later because I so desperately needed the money. It sucks. It really does. Now, I'm working a sit-down job at home and couldn't be more thankful for this opportunity. I really hope that your boss is willing to work with you. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment.

 

[CastawayBride]

Have you contacted your States labor laws? It seems like this should be very illegal!

 

[baileybubs]

Wow I find this horrible!! You poor thing! I don't understand why just because they are a small company it means they don't have to adhere to laws regarding pregnant workers?? I'm in the UK and it's doesn't make sense to me as over here no matter where you work the same rules apply for pregnant women, and that is that they can rest whenever they want if they feel tired, even lie down if they need to, they can request lighter duties if they feel the job is too physical for them and the company HAS to accommodate them! This all sounds so wrong Hun, is there any sort of advice service you can consult to check they are allowed to get away with this?

 

[CastawayBride]

They don't have to adhere to ADA Americans disability act?

 

[QueenFrost]

From what I have read all they have to do legally is let me take 6 weeks off without pay. But I have not worked there for 12 months. I was offered this job and took it in September. Then immediately got pregnant. I'm sure that was inconvenient for them.

I had a talk with the owner Friday. I hurt my hip worse on tuesday and the pain was so intense I had to keep going into the bathroom to cry. I don't want to take Otc anything and haven't taken anything since I found out I was pregnant. Crying seems to help lol! Must be endorphins. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and for some reason my first instinct is to hide and ignore it so maybe my coworkers think I look just fine. But after 3 hours on my feet yesterday the pain was making me sweat shake and cry.

So I sat in my car for a while but couldnt stop crying. I tried to get it together so I could talk to the owner but couldn't. I called him and we went for a drive and talked. I told him its getting harder to do my job and I can barely walk. I told him nothing had changed since last we talked and how the manager was treating me. I said I cant afford to take time off before the baby its very expensive to live here almost as bad as NYC. First he gave me the weekend off with pay to rest my injury. He said he was planning on doing something for me financially anyway. The company is short on money and in the middle of remodeling. Hes not sure what he can do but we are going to talk this week.

He wants me to continue working but only helping customers and sitting down the rest of the time. That was our original deal a month ago but my coworkers are usually in the chairs. There is nowhere to put another chair. I tried that. Even if I did do that helping customers especially on a Saturday would require me to stand for hours climb a step ladder and bend over. With 2 sprained ligaments. I dont know what to do.

 

[CastawayBride]

From what I have read all they have to do legally is let me take 6 weeks off without pay. But I have not worked there for 12 months. I was offered this job and took it in September. Then immediately got pregnant. I'm sure that was inconvenient for them.

I had a talk with the owner Friday. I hurt my hip worse on tuesday and the pain was so intense I had to keep going into the bathroom to cry. I don't want to take Otc anything and haven't taken anything since I found out I was pregnant. Crying seems to help lol! Must be endorphins. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and for some reason my first instinct is to hide and ignore it so maybe my coworkers think I look just fine. But after 3 hours on my feet yesterday the pain was making me sweat shake and cry.

So I sat in my car for a while but couldnt stop crying. I tried to get it together so I could talk to the owner but couldn't. I called him and we went for a drive and talked. I told him its getting harder to do my job and I can barely walk. I told him nothing had changed since last we talked and how the manager was treating me. I said I cant afford to take time off before the baby its very expensive to live here almost as bad as NYC. First he gave me the weekend off with pay to rest my injury. He said he was planning on doing something for me financially anyway. The company is short on money and in the middle of remodeling. Hes not sure what he can do but we are going to talk this week.

He wants me to continue working but only helping customers and sitting down the rest of the time. That was our original deal a month ago but my coworkers are usually in the chairs. There is nowhere to put another chair. I tried that. Even if I did do that helping customers especially on a Saturday would require me to stand for hours climb a step ladder and bend over. With 2 sprained ligaments. I dont know what to do.

Can you bring a stadium chair, like this? Since they cannot accommodate with a "real" chair?

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000...&ie=UTF8&qid=1399738632&sr=1-6&keywords=chair

I understand expensive, I live in New Jersey!!

 

[QueenFrost]

A chair like that puts pressure on my hip and makes the sprain hurt worse.

 

[CastawayBride]

A chair like that puts pressure on my hip and makes the sprain hurt worse.

I hate to say it but it sounds like you need to be out of work....

 

[2Pups4Kids]

Wow, your coworkers are complete a-holes btw. How insensitive!! I couldn't imagine being treated that way. And I agree with baileybubs--the fact that they're a small company should not omit them from any laws (IMO it defeats the purpose of having the laws in place in the first place). If that is the case though, I'd be contacting my local government representative to either clarify the law or complain. Not sure how it works for you guys in the states but we have Members of Parliament to which each sector is assigned and you can totally contact them with concerns like this. It is completely unacceptable the way you're being treated and the fact that the owner seems to have done nothing to communicate with the rest of the team what your arrangements are and enforce them is ridiculous.

 

[Tigerlily01]

Have you told your coworkers you need to sit down? If so and they aren't accommodating you, the owner needs to say something to them to reinforce your arrangement. But you should tell them as well. If they think you're being a pita...so what, screw 'em!