The Pregnancy Thread

[charliechaplinfan]

I've been pregnant three times in seven years and my employers have got progressively worse in the intervening time.

This morning I set off for work against my husband's advice and ended up turning around and coming home. i was driving there thinking 'I can get there but have I got the energy to get out of the car' so I came home and rang in sick explaining why. Next thing I know my boss is on the phone. I've had bad pains in my stomach that have troubled me, felt really sick and so very tired. They all go hand in hand with each other and I've found the only cure to rest and eat well. Does my boss who has had no children understand. No. She tried the guilt trip, it would normally work and I'd pull myself together and in I'd go. No, I can't take the risk this time but I spent every hour at home feeling really guilty.

The stupid thing is that my work have a way of recording sickness that it's the amount of times you have off not the days off. So if I took tomorrow off, it would count for nought. I can already feel the threats, if I'm off another time I go one a 'performance plan' to get my performance up to standard. A performance plan which will tick a box and put me in the naughty corner all for being pregnant. I just hate the way big business is run today. Even our bosses that we work with everyday and get on with are programmed to make us feel really guilty and punish us for understandable reasons of sickness.

I get this isn't just a pregnancy grumble but just a grumble against the state of the world today.

[silentscreen]

Alison,

I understand where you're coming from. In Texas they can give you as much time off with pay as they choose, or elect not to pay you at all when you take leave after having a baby. My own daughter-in-law in a difficult pregnancy with twins, worked right up until she had them, and them they only gave her six weeks off with pay because they didn't view a C-Section any differently than a natural birth. I mean, REALLY! And she works for an insurance agency! The only upside now is that in her current position she can work from home half the week and stay with her babies. But she had to turn down a promotion to do it. I know there's a lot of sexism involved in this regard.

Brenda

[charliechaplinfan]

Your post has made me feel lucky, at least I'm entitled to a year off without losing my position, I wouldn't expect to be considered for promotion if I took so long off. Your daughter in law has had a small amount of time off, I really feel she should be entitled to more. I do believe that working people should be encouraged to have children and to do this maternity leave and pay needs to be generous. These babies are the people who will pay for most of us in retirement and I intend to hang around for a long time