Maternity Appoinments & Time Off?

Kaylami

Hi guys hope I am posting in the right place.

Mods feel free to move if not.

Im currently 6 months pregnant and working in the hospitality sector.
I have 2 hospital appointments next week , 1 on wed & 1 on thurs.
They are both for antenatal appointments. (1 is a check up , the other more detailed tests)

Now 2 weeks ago I filled out a holiday request form (as per company procedure) stating I needed these two days off. No problem I thought as I am entitled to 2 days off per week.

Last Friday I said to my direct manager in passing something about my appoinment her response what "what appointments"
I then showed her my request form which has sat in her tray for 2 weeks.

Just came in today and I'm rostered for Wednesday & Thursday. Im furious and there is no point speaking to her as I have had issues regarding the roster before and her response has been "sure your only pregnant".

Im going to speak to the overall manager now but would appreciate advice on how I should proceed?

Thanks in advance

tatli_lokma

The legal provisions on maternity in employment are listed in the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 & 2004.

This legislation states that females in employment have a basic right to time off without loss of pay for ante-natal/post-natal care

You also have time off, without loss of pay, to attend one set of ante-natal classes (other than the last three). This only applies once in your employment lifetime, so once you have had this entitlement once, you can't claim it again even if you change employer.

If I were your employer I would be accepting of the fact that you are entitled to time off provided you can provide proof that you are attending an appointment relative to being pregnant.
Given that you have provided her with notice 2 weeks ago, it is her error for not scheduling appropriately - you have followed correct procedure. In fact you are not even looking 2 two extra days off, but were just looking for your rostered days to be around your appointments, which I think is very good of you.

Having said all this, my experience is not in the hospitality sector, so possibly different rules apply, although where maternity leave is concerned its usually pretty much the same across the board AFAIK.

mm_surf

Have you officially notified your employer in writing that you are pregnant?

It's very important that you do this.
http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Workplace_Health/Sensitive_Risk_Groups/Pregnant_at_Work_FAQ_Responses/Pregnant_at_Work_FAQ_Responses.html

Kaylami

So I spoke to the General Manager and he asked me to put my complaint in writing.

I did this and gave it to him on the 14th July.

This was only after I actually lost a days pay due to my supervisor not putting in the correct paperwork for me to receive holiday pay.

Since then despite his reassurance that it would be sorted NOTHING has changed.

I had to remind my supervisor I needed Tuesday off to collect test results etc.
Also i had booked 2 days off to attend a family wedding next Friday and Saturday.

I requested theses days as HOLIDAYS as I want to use up my days before I go on maternity leave.

Checked the roster today and guess what , I was given Friday and Saturday as my days off NOT holidays. I immediately emailed the General Manager asking why was I denied these days off?
His response " there is no one to cover these shifts"

Now I may be over reacting as I am furious because the other reception staff are getting their holidays no problem.

Its really starting to feel like they are pushing me out of my job with their indifference.

Any advice would be great!

tatli_lokma

Kaylami wrote: »

I requested theses days as HOLIDAYS as I want to use up my days before I go on maternity leave.

Checked the roster today and guess what , I was given Friday and Saturday as my days off NOT holidays. I immediately emailed the General Manager asking why was I denied these days off?
His response " there is no one to cover these shifts"

that doesn't make sense! what is he talking about, silly man - whether you are off on holiday or off as unrostered days, you are still off, so he comment about not having cover makes no sense. Makes me think he didn't actually even listen to you and thought you were complaining because you did not get your days off as holidays as opposed to them being your rostered days off.

Kaylami

It means rather than giving me 4 days off next week (2 days unrostered & 2 days holidays) I have just my normal days off.

Which means I'm now working 9 days in a row without a day off. At 6 & half months pregnant.

Mrs OBumble

It's possible that the person who does the roster thinks they're doing you a favour by letting your keep you leave for later in the pregnancy by giving you rostered days off instead of forcing you to use leave days.

And may be GM's comment isn't as idiotic as it sounds: if there are a certain people who can do a reception shift in a week, and a certain number of shifts to be filled, and not too much difference between them, then only a certain number of days-off can be given to each person and (to the scheduler) it doesn't really matter whether they're rostered days or annual leave. Putting it another way, if you were given Fri/Sat as leave, and Wed/Thur as rostered days off, then someone else would need to be rostered for all four days. It may be that they didn't have someone else to cover all four days.

Try talking directly to whoever does the rosters.

tatli_lokma

JustMary wrote: »

And may be GM's comment isn't as idiotic as it sounds: if there are a certain people who can do a reception shift in a week, and a certain number of shifts to be filled, and not too much difference between them, then only a certain number of days-off can be given to each person and (to the scheduler) it doesn't really matter whether they're rostered days or annual leave. Putting it another way, if you were given Fri/Sat as leave, and Wed/Thur as rostered days off, then someone else would need to be rostered for all four days. It may be that they didn't have someone else to cover all four days.

I see what you mean, but OP didn't mention that in their post, hence why I thought the issue was only for the 2 specific days mentioned.

VeeEmmy

If it were me, I would put my complaint in writing (again) and refer, in layman's terms, to relevant points in the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 & 2004.

Check www.citizensinformation.ie for a summary:

Look in Employment and Maternity leave

Also http://www.equality.ie/en/Information/Maternity-leave/

Do you belong to a union? If so, check with your union membership services for assistance. If not, contact www.CitizensInformation.ie or NERA (http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/informationforemployees/howdoigetmyrights/)

KEEP A LOG WITH DATES OF EVERY BIT OF COMMUNICATION, verbal and written, between you and any higher-ups in regards to what you've mentioned here.

You are not over reacting. Your employers are complicating things and putting you under unnecessary stress, in my opinion. You don't need that right now.

There was a decision by the Equality Tribunal in March this year with respect to a hotel employee who was harassed, discriminated against, and terminated during/due to her pregnancy. It went much further than OP is describing, but nevertheless, it shows how severely the ET can come down on an employer in regards to failing to obey the law when an employee is pregnant.

She was awarded €315,000! I'm sure the employer is appealing, but that should have put employers on notice that this kind of breach won't be taken lightly. To put the award into perspective, most heavy ones are in the neighbourhood of €10-30K. They decided in her favour on a number of offenses: gender discrimination, victimisation, discrimination as a parent.

The Equality Officer said that “the award must ... dissuade (hotel group name here) hotels and other employers from unlawful discrimination”. (Google it for the details. It's educational!)

mm_surf

Link to case:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0321/1224313642743.html?goback=%2Egmp_2128031%2Egde_2128031_member_102610730

Although, remember that your protection only applies once you have notified them of your pregnancy officially. Up to that point, there is nothing that they are required to do.

M.

amen

OP,

this is nothing to with Annual Days off, leave etc.

All pregnant women are to time off for Antinatal visits.

see
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/before_your_baby_is_born/antenatal_visits.html

and

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/leave_and_holidays/maternity_leave.html

There is no max/min time for the duration of these visits and you are entitled to be paid for the time spent at these visits.