I've had kind of an informal chat with my boss today, who has told me that since June when I started working for the department, I have had nearly 200 hours off in sickness. Since becoming pregnant I had reduced my hours slightly by an hour a day so my OH can pick me up when he finishes and I don't have to wait 20 mins for the bus and then sit in rush hour traffic for 30 mins when feeling sick/tired during the first tri. I would now like to increase my hours back to full time so I can get all the maternity pay I can but my boss wants to talk to HR about it cause of the level of sickness I've had. Apparently he is concerned. Bearing in mind I had 3 weeks off in July due to being in hospital and recovering, so that would have caused alot of hours. It's not all random sick days. What I want to know is, can employers make you take maternity leave earlier than planned because of high sickness levels? And if so, can they make you take it before 29 weeks? I was under the impression they can but I may have misunderstood as I can't find anything about it on the Directgov website, or in the leaflet my employers gave me a while back. Any help would be appreciated.
Sickness and Working
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Gem & Leland
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they can make u take early mat leave if u are signed off sick for preggy related illness in the 4 weeks running up to your leave date
they cant do it for passed sickness
im even worse then u ! i had surgery ( to help fall preggy) and was off for 8 weeks ! i fell preggy durring this 8 weeks
and then have had some time off for sickness too , nothing my boss can do about it , but stop my pay ( ive run out of sick pay now )
they cant do it for passed sickness
im even worse then u ! i had surgery ( to help fall preggy) and was off for 8 weeks ! i fell preggy durring this 8 weeks
and then have had some time off for sickness too , nothing my boss can do about it , but stop my pay ( ive run out of sick pay now )Thanks G3M, that's relieving to hear. I don't have the most sympathetic of bosses..he said the other day 'With the amount of sickness you've had I could have done something about it..(eg disciplinary) but I haven't cause I know you've had problems in the pregnancy.' B*lls*it he can't do anything about it really and he knows it, it's not cause he's trying to be nice.
I've run out of sick pay aswell, they didn't bother to tell me this until I got my last pay and had about £300 taken out in unpaid sick. Then found out my days ran out in August. I work for the worst people
I've run out of sick pay aswell, they didn't bother to tell me this until I got my last pay and had about £300 taken out in unpaid sick. Then found out my days ran out in August. I work for the worst people
Gem & Leland
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ive had the same , with the threat of displinary etc , i dont even work in an office to being sick while on the job was mega hard , i drive for most of my day . and have u ever tried to pull on a red route in london to throw up ! erm no !!!!
Awww Yeah my jobs okay cause I have everything I need around me, but it's constant work all day, really busy and we only get 1/2 hour for lunch then back to work again, although I'm entitled to breaks whenever I feel I need one..just feel guilty for taking them. Sod it, only got a month or so left 
Yeah my jobs okay cause I have everything I need around me, but it's constant work all day, really busy and we only get 1/2 hour for lunch then back to work again, although I'm entitled to breaks whenever I feel I need one..just feel guilty for taking them. Sod it, only got a month or so left Like G3M says, they can't make you leave early unless you are sick with a pregnancy-related cause after your 36 week point, so realistically they haven't a leg to stand on at the moment. They're spouting drivel. They can however reject your request to change to full-time if they like.
Charlie:-)
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Try this website for some info on employment law and maternity rights www.acas.org.uk
They have a helpline and offer impartial advice, they are really good and will be able to explain what your boss can & cannot do by law.
They have a helpline and offer impartial advice, they are really good and will be able to explain what your boss can & cannot do by law.
If you are off work with a pregnancy related absence (this could include a health and safety suspension, see below) in the four weeks before the week the baby is due, your employer can insist that you begin your maternity leave. This is the only circumstance where your employer has any say into when your maternity leave starts.
From http://workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/famil ... gnancy.doc
They CANNOT make you start ML earlier than that as far as I am aware.
From http://workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/famil ... gnancy.doc
They CANNOT make you start ML earlier than that as far as I am aware.
Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad they can't make me leave before I'm ready to, and I'll just have to see what HR say about my sickness/increasing my hours. If they say no then I'll just have to deal with it. I have to go and hand in my MAT B1 form tomorrow anyway so will have a quick chat whilst I'm there. Thanks again guys 
emma28 said:
That's along the lines of what I was thinking aswell, if they can't make you take it before 29 weeks can they make you take it at 29 weeks?
But the link that debecca posted confirmed what she said, so I guess there's nothing they can do about it.
URGH!! I'm so sorry you're going through this - it's not really what you need.
I don't know if being pregnant gives you more protection in law but if not it might be worth being a bit wary if you've worked for your employer less than one year. It's surprising how few rights you have in the first year. We found out in 2005 when hubby got ill - after two weeks off work they dismissed him for two weeks to break the contract and rehired him P/T - then made his life hell so he left. It's not that he couldn't have done anything just that the options are pretty limited and the odds not really in the employees favour. In the long run they did him a favour - he now works for an ace company earning 10K a year more!!
On the whole it's usually more stinky than you think (or than I thought!!).
I don't know if being pregnant gives you more protection in law but if not it might be worth being a bit wary if you've worked for your employer less than one year. It's surprising how few rights you have in the first year. We found out in 2005 when hubby got ill - after two weeks off work they dismissed him for two weeks to break the contract and rehired him P/T - then made his life hell so he left. It's not that he couldn't have done anything just that the options are pretty limited and the odds not really in the employees favour. In the long run they did him a favour - he now works for an ace company earning 10K a year more!!
On the whole it's usually more stinky than you think (or than I thought!!).
I dont think that they can 'make' you start your maternity leave early (ie 4 weeks before edc) but if you are off sick with a pregnancy related illness within these 4 weeks you will recieve SMP rather than SSP, so technically if you were off sick for one week you would recieve 1 weeks maternity pay, you could then return to work for the remainder of your time and then when you strted you actual maternity leave it would be reduced by 1 week, sorry does that make sense????? also an employer cannot take disciplinary action against any pregnancy related sickness, no matter how many days
Pregnancy
If you receive SSP for a pregnancy related illness at the start of or in the 4 weeks before your baby is due, SSP will stop and any entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance (MA) will start automatically.
Pregnancy
If you receive SSP for a pregnancy related illness at the start of or in the 4 weeks before your baby is due, SSP will stop and any entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance (MA) will start automatically.
I thought that your employer couldnt count sickness during pregnancy in with your normal sick time off as you are not ill - just haveing pregnancy symptoms. You sound as though you are being harassed for being pregnant and I would seek some advice as the others have suggested because they I am sure your employer should not be able to pressurise you because of pregnancy related sickness which you have absolutely no control over. Have you got an Occupational health service at work? Maybe talk to your midwife about it too?
