Confused over work

[Mik]

I spoke to my line manager about 5 weeks ago about going down from working 5 days a week to 4 as I was finding it really tough as I have a chronic illness as well as being pg. Boss said that was fine all supposed to be starting next week but when I asked her about my new contract she said she didn't know and passed it up to the overall manager. Overall manager spoke to me tonight basically said I had to put it in writing which is fine I would have done it ages ago if I had been told I needed to but I could not go down to 4 days due to my health issues or maternity I had to use another reason and also she had spoken with the area manager and if I am off sick at all from now they will start my maternity leave immeadiately!
Now I am fairly sure that as part of my risk assessment (which if they did they didn't inform me about) they have to consider the way the travelling (nearly an hour each way) and hours (I work early evening get home around 9pm) will affect me during pregnancy and that they have to consider alternatives as part of the risk assessment if these cause me issues. Also when I said to her that they cannot make me start my maternity leave any earlier than 36 weeks due to being off sick she said that was not true and it would start from the next (if there was to be one) that I was off sick.

Can anyone confirm that I am right please?

 

[leckershell]

I spoke to my line manager about 5 weeks ago about going down from working 5 days a week to 4 as I was finding it really tough as I have a chronic illness as well as being pg. Boss said that was fine all supposed to be starting next week but when I asked her about my new contract she said she didn't know and passed it up to the overall manager. Overall manager spoke to me tonight basically said I had to put it in writing which is fine I would have done it ages ago if I had been told I needed to but I could not go down to 4 days due to my health issues or maternity I had to use another reason and also she had spoken with the area manager and if I am off sick at all from now they will start my maternity leave immeadiately!
Now I am fairly sure that as part of my risk assessment (which if they did they didn't inform me about) they have to consider the way the travelling (nearly an hour each way) and hours (I work early evening get home around 9pm) will affect me during pregnancy and that they have to consider alternatives as part of the risk assessment if these cause me issues. Also when I said to her that they cannot make me start my maternity leave any earlier than 36 weeks due to being off sick she said that was not true and it would start from the next (if there was to be one) that I was off sick.

Can anyone confirm that I am right please?

Right to request flexible working hours or change of hours is usually considered after a written request with 28 days notice prior to when you would like to commence new hours, or as soon as poss if 28 days notice isnt possible. They then have 28 days to reply. They can choose to not offer this to you if they dont think it would be 'commercially' viable, but even if you weren;t pregnant you dont need a reason to request a change in hours. It could be because you just fancy a day off for all it matters to them, they must base it on whether it's ok for their business or not, not what your reasoning is. And remember they cannot discriminate against you because you are pregnant (see Sex Discrimination Act).

Re: sick leave before 36 weeks. I'm not 100% on it to be honest. In my company, 'pregnancy related sickness' does not go towards your normal sickness entitlement as they cannot discriminate against problems you are having that you wouldnt be having if you weren't pregnant. But regarding when they are allowed to commence your mat leave I;m not sure on that but what they are saying doesnt sound right.

Risk Assessment: You *will* know about it if you have had one. They have to involve you!! Basically it is things like your working environment (whether thats a factory or a desk etc) and how they can assist (putting you on the same floor as the loo, ensuring your back is well supported by your chair, telling you that you arent allowed to change printer cartridges or do too much photocopying etc). This should also encompass whether they can assist with the way you travel to work, or anything else that pregnancy affect your entire work day etc. If they have done one, you would know about it as they have to fill in sheets and ask you questions.

Hope that helps a bit? But put things into writing to them. Even if it's asking for a risk assessment if they ignore your verbal requests. I believe a maternity risk assessment is a legal thing.. might wana remind them of that.

Have a read of this
its a pdf so might take a couple minutes.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg373.pdf

 

[babynumbertwo]

I'm not certain about this but I thought you couldn't start mat leave before 29 weeks for any reason - even if you wanted to xx

 

[Mik]

Thanks still very confused about the whole thing but had a docs appt today and my BP is up high so been signed off. I got my husband to ring work as I couldn't face it

 

[kalia]

The law changed in the last few years so they may in good faith believe that from 29 weeks they can force you on to maternity leave. However, what you have said is correct, they can only force you from 36 weeks, before this you would be off sick.

If you get paid sick leave that's fine but if not SMP is a fair bit more than SSP so you may prefer to start maternity leave early.