Pregnant

LegacyUser

Just wondering on peoples thought.....my boss went mad when I told him I was expecting and now is going on and os, he thought I would only take 2/3 mths off....yaeh rite! but now he has asked me to work from home remontly when I'm off, its a very small office and the sectarary is also preg and few weeks behing me and that leaves him and 2 other staff members, I am her 10 yrs and I knew he would take it bab but not this bad....

Any suggestion on how to cope, nobody in the office has had a baby.......

dudara

To be honest, I'm not completely au fait with maternity leave and legislation.

Perhaps NERA can help?

Wagon

He can hire temp staff. Suggest it to him. Anyway, what did he think was going to happen? That you would squeeze the nipper out in the drinking fountain during lunch and then be back at your desk early? Another pillock in management :rolleyes:

Marksie

contact citizens advice as regards pregnancy leave and entitlements.

TBH your boss had better be careful in what he asks, he needs to brush up on his business law

How Strange

you're entitled to about 6-8 months off statutory leave. after that you can have another few months of unpaid leave. I'm not totally sure of the correct entitlements, it's roughly along those lines, but look up your rights and duly inform your employer.

He is a tool if he's trying to mess around a pregnant woman. Most employees adopt the kid gloves approach when a female employee says she's pregnant to avoid any misunderstandings.

Honestly, if he's going to continue giving you a hard time, get him to sign your maternity benefit form and consider taking sick leave. You don't want the stress of this affecting the pregnancy. Just remember, your boss doesn't have to pay your full salary while on maternity leave and by the sounds of it he may see it as a way of saving money.

Under no circumstances should you agree to working from home during your statutory maternity leave. A compromise would be to work from home for a few months after that but agree hours etc up front.

In the overall scheme of things, a job is just a job. You're carrying a baby now so don't let some prat jeopardise that.

LegacyUser

I told the boss with hoils etc I am taking 29 weeks and he just isnt listening
to me, its a male enviro I work in and I even printed off the legal jargon for mat rites
but it isnt getting thru to him.....

You wud think after 10 yrs he wud be ok at it afterall his wife had 4 kids but he is old school, he's about 66 yrs old and the other empolyees are of similar ideas.... its a pity no one else has had a baby b4 me....

Wibbs

Maybe a better place for this as far as the legality/practical/rights angle goes would be here; http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=10 (Work & Jobs forum)

MagicMarker

I'm pretty sure that in a rather large irish company i worked for before, they didn't actually pay you for your maternity leave. I remember how people were amazed and discussing it around the lunch table.

So, legally, i'm not sure where you stand... You're certainly entitled to maternity leave, but i don't know if you're entitled to paid leave.

dubdcugirly

MagicMarker wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that in a rather large irish company i worked for before, they didn't actually pay you for your maternity leave. I remember how people were amazed and discussing it around the lunch table.

So, legally, i'm not sure where you stand... You're certainly entitled to maternity leave, but i don't know if you're entitled to paid leave.

You are entitled to FULL PAID STATUTORY LEAVE. Maternity laws are so strict in Ireland that even if you have an interview, your pregnant at the time and he asks you if you are you DO NOT have to tell him. Also tey can not use the excuse that they dont have the money to pay for you and cover. You are totally covered stand up for yourself and take the time you deserve

Deadeyes

Depending on ouy contract your employer is not obliged to pay you anything while on maternity leave, but you can get something from the Govt. if they don't.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/leave-and-holidays/maternity_leave

Wagon

1976 babe wrote: »

I told the boss with hoils etc I am taking 29 weeks and he just isnt listening
to me, its a male enviro I work in and I even printed off the legal jargon for mat rites
but it isnt getting thru to him.....

Well then he can say goodbye to his managerial position then. You illegal to refuse a woman full pay on maternity leave and it's also extremely bad for him if he's not listening to you and you've been working there for ten years and he has kids himself. If you report this, there is absolutely nothing in his favour. Don't work from home if you don't want to either.

MagicMarker

Deadeyes wrote: »

Depending on ouy contract your employer is not obliged to pay you anything while on maternity leave, but you can get something from the Govt. if they don't.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/leave-and-holidays/maternity_leave

I knew it!! God bless memory.

So, yeah, take your maternity leave, but don't expect to get paid. Although if he's a decent boss he might, give that you've been with the company for 10 years.

Amazotheamazing

dubdcugirly wrote: »

You are entitled to FULL PAID STATUTORY LEAVE. Maternity laws are so strict in Ireland that even if you have an interview, your pregnant at the time and he asks you if you are you DO NOT have to tell him. Also tey can not use the excuse that they dont have the money to pay for you and cover. You are totally covered stand up for yourself and take the time you deserve

Are you sure it's full paid leave? It's a while since i read up on it but that wasn't always the case.

paperclip2

Afaik it depends on your prsi class as to whether or not you are entitled to fully paid leave. Maternity benefit from the govt up to a max of about 250 euro per week is a statutory right but full regular salary may not be.

Wibbs

dubdcugirly wrote: »

You are entitled to FULL PAID STATUTORY LEAVE.

Not from what I gather. You're entitled to statutory leave but as others said it depends on the contract whether you get paid. The relevant line from Deadeyes gov link is

Your entitlement to pay during maternity leave depends on the terms of your contract of employment. Employers are not obliged to pay women on maternity leave.(emphasis mine)

So be careful about firing on all cylinders about your rights. As I say the work and jobs forum maybe a better place to find out the best way to go about this.

hshortt

How about a little simple negociation? Work it to your advantage, you are in a position of strength here. Some women might like the opportunity to work from home while looking after a baby (hard work!). Who knows, if it worked out you could negociate a part-time work from home permanent contract.

Beruthiel

Moved to the Work Problems forum.
You can still post unregged there.

MJOR

Ok you are not going to get full pay because you are not entitled to it. It's totallly discretionary. You are entitled legally to take the leave for sure but not to be paid for it.

Your boss sounds a bit old school alright but after ten years of service you'd think he'd cop on

seamus

Just to clear it up:

You are entitled to Maternity Leave

You are not entitled to be paid for it - the government will supplement you if this is applicable. It is common for employers to pay a certain % of the normal wage during maternity leave, but if your employer doesn't then tough.

The rules on how and when you take the leave are very simple and clear-cut. You get 26 weeks of statutory leave. You can take between 16 and 2 weeks off before your baby is due to born, and the rest after. You absolutely must take at least 2 weeks off before the end of the week which your due date is in.

Your employer is obliged to have a job available for you when you return, so you absolutely cannot be fired for taking maternity leave and your boss absolutely cannot insist that you work from home.

So this is what you do; You decide when you're going to start your maternity leave, and then work out what date you'll return from statutory leave (i.e. 26 weeks later). If you also think you're going to take all or part of the additional 16 unpaid weeks, include that too.

You put these dates in the company calendar or whatever kind of scheduling system there is - you don't need your bosses approval for it, just put it in. Then you send your boss an email or print out a memo or something with the dates and give it to him. Tell him that this is what you're doing - remember this leave is non-negotiable, so he can't refuse it or ask you to change it.

Leave it with him and then discuss the use of your annual leave separately. He has the right to refuse your annual leave request, so keep it separate to stress the point that he has no choice in the matter of maternity leave.

If you think that you'd be happy to work from home during your maternity leave, then knock yourself out. There's nothing in law preventing you from making this choice. But you're under no obligation and your job cannot be threatened by refusing to do it.

Victor

Deadeyes wrote: »

Depending on ouy contract your employer is not obliged to pay you anything while on maternity leave, but you can get something from the Govt. if they don't.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/leave-and-holidays/maternity_leave

It can also be good taxwise - assuming you are earning enough to pay tax.