looking for a job - wife is pregnant

HashSlinging

hello,

I am looking for a job, at the min im in the contracts business (IT) I'm looking for a permanent job, one snag, the wife is expecting our second in a couple of weeks and I think this might be a bit of a stinger with any new prospective employer, my contract finishes up around the same time the babs is due, so my options are :

1. Take some time off, a month, then look. This would be the best option, but I could be off for longer than i had planned.

2. Work part-time for a couple of months. Evenings weekends etc... (I've already secured something but dont want to except just yet.)

3. Take a perm job, if offered tell them at the offer stage.

any ideas.

seamus

Why would a pregnant wife be a problem?

HashSlinging

Honestly I dont know if it is, im going to want time off to be with my babs and i thought it might cause a problem.

Kernel32

seamus wrote:

Why would a pregnant wife be a problem?

Most new fathers take time off for a new baby, its a very busy time. I took 4 weeks but it was something I planned for. You also don't know if your wife may have to have a cesarean which is a major surgery and can mean the mother not being able to do much for a while.

My advice would be to try the part time work. I don't think it would be a good idea to drop the fact you may have to take a good chunk of time off right as your getting the offer.

IANOC

Kernel32 wrote:

Most new fathers take time off for a new baby, its a very busy time. I took 4 weeks but it was something I planned for. You also don't know if your wife may have to have a cesarean which is a major surgery and can mean the mother not being able to do much for a while.

My advice would be to try the part time work. I don't think it would be a good idea to drop the fact you may have to take a good chunk of time off right as your getting the offer.

yes but is this is considered part of a workers rights?

seamus

HashSlinging wrote:

Honestly I dont know if it is, im going to want time off to be with my babs and i thought it might cause a problem.

Ah I see.

I'd advise going with the part-time work then, if you can afford it.

WhiteWashMan

IANOC wrote:

yes but is this is considered part of a workers rights?

depends on the company. some give paternity leave, others dont.
i think there is aminimum amount of paternity leave you are entiteld to by law, but its not very much. some companies offer additinal time of unpaid leave, but its at employer disgression.

unfortuntely, if you are looking for work right about now, you are pretty much obliged to tell them of the impending birth, and that may put a number of potential employers off..

onthe other hand, you can use that to your advantage to say you want to have the security of a job for a long time.
of course, if you are going for a contract, this wont apply, a a contractor does not have the luxury of playing around with their time too much, so if you pick up work, it may be that you need to work to a deadline over the time of the birth.

good luck with everything though. hope all goes well.

IANOC

WhiteWashMan wrote:

depends on the company. some give paternity leave, others dont.
i think there is aminimum amount of paternity leave you are entiteld to by law, but its not very much. some companies offer additinal time of unpaid leave, but its at employer disgression.

unfortuntely, if you are looking for work right about now, you are pretty much obliged to tell them of the impending birth, and that may put a number of potential employers off..

onthe other hand, you can use that to your advantage to say you want to have the security of a job for a long time.
of course, if you are going for a contract, this wont apply, a a contractor does not have the luxury of playing around with their time too much, so if you pick up work, it may be that you need to work to a deadline over the time of the birth.

good luck with everything though. hope all goes well.

lol are we talking fathers here mate?

seamus

WhiteWashMan wrote:

i think there is aminimum amount of paternity leave you are entiteld to by law, but its not very much.

Nah, not in this country yet. Technically they don't have to give you time off to look after your kids while your wife is giving birth.

RicardoSmith

I stayed contracting when our babe was born. Told the client I'd be taking 2 weeks off. Then I had to take more time off later when baby was sick etc. Since they are not paying you, theres usually no problem unless you've specific deadline. Whereas when you are permanent it can be a lot more difficult to get the time off. I switched back to a permanent job shortly afterwards and had to leave as there was constant issues with time. Eventually I got a decent position, thats family friendly.

RicardoSmith

seamus wrote:

Nah, not in this country yet. Technically they don't have to give you time off to look after your kids while your wife is giving birth.

They don't even have to pay you maternity either.

Easily_Irritated

"looking for a job - wife is pregnant"

As good a reason as any

Victor

seamus wrote:

Nah, not in this country yet. Technically they don't have to give you time off to look after your kids while your wife is giving birth.

I imagine you could claim force majeur leave (maximum 5? days in any 5? years), but I imagine knocking off early in the first week of a job may be seen as taking liberties - however they can't discriminate against you for this.

What do you want to do regarding the first few months? Do you want to be there 24x7? Do you want to be there "normal hours"?

I suspect your wife might like the occassional break from each of you.

seamus

RicardoSmith wrote:

They don't even have to pay you maternity either.

They do have to give you maternity leave though.

nesf

seamus wrote:

They do have to give you maternity leave though.

I thought paternity leave fell into the "days off for family commitments" catagory. Afaik you are entitled to a bit off. Not much.

I could be wrong tho.

seamus

nesf wrote:

I thought paternity leave fell into the "days off for family commitments" catagory. Afaik you are entitled to a bit off. Not much.

I could be wrong tho.

Actually, you're kind of right, a parent is entitled to 14 weeks' parental leave (assuming you have a child under 5) in any year. It's unpaid though (you can claim socal welfare).
The only kicker is that you have to have been working for the employer for a year to qualify.
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/holidays_and_leave/parental_leave.html

Paternity leave specifically is not legislated for .
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/holidays_and_leave/paternity_leave.html

nesf

seamus wrote:

Actually, you're kind of right, a parent is entitled to 14 weeks' parental leave (assuming you have a child under 5) in any year. It's unpaid though (you can claim socal welfare).
The only kicker is that you have to have been working for the employer for a year to qualify.
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/holidays_and_leave/parental_leave.html

Paternity leave specifically is not legislated for .
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/holidays_and_leave/paternity_leave.html

Cheers. One of those things that it's good to know the actual situation for


Mental Note: Don't knock up a girl until a year into new job.

RicardoSmith

I said they don't have to pay you. Not that that you didn't get leave. As others have posted you have to claim socal welfare. Its always important to check this out, as it might leave you financially tight just when you need the money. Some places do pay you your full wage, but its getting rarer.