Being A Pregnant Mother At Work

October 3, 2007 on 12:47 pm | In Women & Career | No Comments

If you’ve recently gotten news that you’re pregnant, then you’ll need to accommodate certain changes in your lifestyle—more specifically at your workplace. While there are no legalities regarding the requirements of employees to inform their employers about their being pregnant, the mother to be should remember that any employer is not forced to take any particular action until there is a written notification that has been given. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the employee and her child’s health and safety are monitored. Because of this, the employers must be able to know the pregnancy of a mother as soon as possible so that proper adjustments could be made. Because of this, as a mother, you might need to provide a certificate from your midwife stating that you are indeed pregnant.
There are a few types of actions that an employer should take. One of which is that the employer should look for any potential hazards or risks in the day-to-day activities of the expectant mother. If there are any activities that the employer deems to be unsafe for the mother and the child then the employer will then be responsible for informing the specified employee of any potential risks.  Should the employees have any safety representatives, they might want to inform them of any particular risks that will be identified by the representatives of employers.
After the risks have been identified and the employee notified, it is important that the employers allow a thorough risk assessment investigation on receipt of an employee’s written letter informing the company that she is pregnant. It is also important to know if the employee has given birth in the last six months or is breastfeeding. Specific actions such as less strenuous work or lighter workload is proper given that any untoward incidents or heightened stress levels may adversely affect the baby and the mother.
Should there be any particular risks identified, the employer must take it upon themselves to either remove, reduce or control the said risk. If a risk cannot be eliminated, the employer must be able to adjust the working conditions of the employer so that a manageable level of stress would be reached. The employer should also offer an alternative work with the same rate of pay if there is an available option for that. If there is no other option, then the mother to be should be cordially suspended from work with pay while being on leave for as long as necessary in order to look after the health of both the mother and baby.