Looking for a job while pregnant

Seraph

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 3:01 am

If you're looking for a job while pregnant, is it wrong (in your opinion) to not tell a prospective employer that you're expecting? I'm not saying to lie about it if asked, I'm just saying not to bring it up.

If you're gonna tell me ask my LOR, I did. He told me that legally a boss can't discriminate against me for being pregnant, so I don't have to tell a prospective employer, and its not gneivas daas.
I'm just curious whether morally you'd feel right or wrong about it.

shalhevet

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 3:08 am

I think it depends what the job is. If say, it would be to prepare a summer camp and run it and I know that I am due to give birth in July, then I think it's wrong not to tell. But if it's an office job, for example, and you intend to come back after 12 weeks chufshat leida then I don't think you have to tell. And someone due to give birth in two weeks (let's say you are working from home and he can't see you) then I also think it would be wrong not to tell.

BTW, in Israel you have to tell your employer that you're pregnant in the fifth month, so maybe there would be an argument for telling a prospective boss at that point.

amother

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 3:10 am

For sure don't say you're pregnant! Well, it depends, how many months are you?? If you're like 7 months, then by the time they finish the hiring process and if you're hired, it might already be maternity leave! But if it's sooner than that-- especially too soon to show, then telling them if only going to put you at a disadvantage, so there's no point in it. They can't disciminate at you for being pregnant, but any normal busy boss will somewhere somehow unconciously realize that if you're pregnant, he'll have a whole nother headache in a few months trying to find a replacement for maternity leave, so there's a good chance he'll just want to hire someone else lchatchila. Just my two cents.

Seraph

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 3:22 am

shalhevet wrote:

I asked a Rav in Israel and he davka said I don't have to. In what way do you have to tell your employer- if you don't, then what? You don't get paid maternity leave? I wasn't planning on asking for that. I don't know if I'll come back after I give birth- just right now money is really tight and we need some extra money, and would like to have some before the baby is born... If it works out, maybe I'll work a bit afterwords, but I don't know.
I'm in my 5th month right now.
Its a secretarial job- not something that would require lots of intense hard work that I won't be able to do while pregnant...

Seraph

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 3:25 am

amother wrote:

What I was planning on doing is to not wear maternity clothes for my interveiw- just let them think I'm a little fat. I'm young and I'm married so they can guess all they want.

My problem is- I started a diff job 2.5 weeks ago, didn't tell my boss from the start that I was preg- told her only the second day on the job, after I was already hired... And then she starts coming with me that "all my coworkers are complaining about me", etc, which I find very unlikely... But I had other issues with her- she was doing morally wrong stuff and she knows I have issues with it... I think she's just looking for an excuse to get rid of me, and its probably either because of the moral issues or because she didn't want a pregnant woman working for her, so she came up with other "non-discriminatory" reasons to fire me... But I'm quitting before she has the chance to fire me officially...

shalhevet

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 3:45 am

breslov wrote:

shalhevet wrote:

I asked a Rav in Israel and he davka said I don't have to. In what way do you have to tell your employer- if you don't, then what?

Don't know, but it's illegal.

Quote:

You don't get paid maternity leave? I wasn't planning on asking for that.

It's nothing to do with your boss. You get it if you're entitled to from Bituach Leumi, so make sure you have proper records of all the work you do - even if you only work a couple of weeks in this job, it might change your entitlement.

Quote:

I don't know if I'll come back after I give birth- just right now money is really tight and we need some extra money, and would like to have some before the baby is born... If it works out, maybe I'll work a bit afterwords, but I don't know.
I'm in my 5th month right now.
Its a secretarial job- not something that would require lots of intense hard work that I won't be able to do while pregnant...

If it's the kind of job that takes a week or two or six to learn and you're not planning on coming back... hmm... don't know if it's fair. OTOH you asked a rav, and other people who aren't pg might take a job and leave after a month anyway.

Seraph

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 4:21 am

If its illegal to not tell a boss in the 5th month, well the guy isn't my boss yet if I haven't been hired yet, so I guess once I have the job I'll tell them, but not at an interveiw...

Why have I never heard this law before?

I thought bituach leumi for maternity leave you only get if you were on the job for more than a year....

shalhevet

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 4:34 am

breslov wrote:

I thought bituach leumi for maternity leave you only get if you were on the job for more than a year....

It works on x months out of the last y that you've worked, not neccesarily in the same job and doesn't have to be consecutive. There are two numbers, one for 6 weeks paid leave and one for 12 (someone in another thread posted that it's now 14). The amount is the average you earn in the last 3 months before you leave.

You could phone BL and ask them.

shalhevet

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 4:36 am

breslov wrote:

If its illegal to not tell a boss in the 5th month, well the guy isn't my boss yet if I haven't been hired yet, so I guess once I have the job I'll tell them, but not at an interveiw...

You're right!

Quote:

Why have I never heard this law before?

Maybe because you've never been working in Israel in your 5th month before. Very Happy

[/quote]

Seraph

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 4:47 am

shalhevet wrote:

breslov wrote:

If its illegal to not tell a boss in the 5th month, well the guy isn't my boss yet if I haven't been hired yet, so I guess once I have the job I'll tell them, but not at an interveiw...

You're right!

Quote:

Why have I never heard this law before?

Maybe because you've never been working in Israel in your 5th month before. Very Happy

Yea, but I have married friends working in Israel... I would think I would have heard of it...

BeershevaBubby

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 8:47 am

Wait... you're going to interview for a job, 5 months pregnant, not tell them you're 5 months pregnant and may not come back from maternity leave.

So at best, you're looking at 3 or 4 months of time this company is going to invest in you and then leave them hanging...

Them and your replacement since they can't legally fire you while you're on maternity leave.

In the meantime, there's someone else out there who could use the job as much as you need, but is willing to commit to the company.

And yes, maternity leave in Israel was just upped to 14 weeks. And yes, you have a legal obligation to inform your employers that you are pregnant by the 5th month. Not telling them in the interview because they aren't your employer (yet) is spiltting hairs and doesn't reflect well on you.

Marion

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 8:51 am

I'm with Kmelion. ESPECIALLY in Israel. At my interview for my current job I was asked (since I was just coming off an extended maternity leave) what our plans for enlarging our family were. I replied, honestly, that I didn't know, but that I could guarantee I wouldn't be going on maternity leave in the next 9 months. In the end, it turns out that I'm due, b"eh, right around my 1 year anniversary with the company. But I couldn't have known that when I interviewed. I think if you're looking for something to tide you over, you need to be honest in the interview, regardless of whether it's due to a pregnancy or just because you're looking for something short term. Maybe you should be looking to replace someone on maternity leave...that would fit in your timeline.

gold21

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 9:24 am

I told my current employer that I was expecting when I started.
I was in the beginning of my 5th month at the time, and knew it wasnt too long b4 I put on maternity....
it wasnt an issue. they asked if I planned to return after the baby and I said yeah and they were like ok no prob then....
I felt uncomfortable not telling them since I was already far enough along- 5th month. if I was only a few weeks pregnant, I dont know if I would have told.

Marion

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 2:18 pm

breslov wrote:

My problem is- I started a diff job 2.5 weeks ago, didn't tell my boss from the start that I was preg- told her only the second day on the job, after I was already hired... And then she starts coming with me that "all my coworkers are complaining about me", etc, which I find very unlikely... But I had other issues with her- she was doing morally wrong stuff and she knows I have issues with it... I think she's just looking for an excuse to get rid of me, and its probably either because of the moral issues or because she didn't want a pregnant woman working for her, so she came up with other "non-discriminatory" reasons to fire me... But I'm quitting before she has the chance to fire me officially...

BTW, she CAN'T fire you now that she knows until after 45 days have passed from the END of your maternity leave. That's the law. If, however, she feels she gave you the job under false pretenses (you intentionally didn't tell her you were pregnant and she thought she was hiring a long-term worker), she can apply to the Ministry of Labour for permission to terminate your employment for cause. It's a long, drawn out process, and if you're already in your 5th month, might not be worth it for her, time-wise. If you think you're doing your job that you were hired for, I wouldn't even necessarily be thinking of quitting. You haven't worked long enough (a year) to qualify for unemployment insurance (and it takes forever to kick in anyway).

NotInNJMommy

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 7:55 pm

Not reccommending anyone do anything illegal, but I wouldn't mention being pg if it's not necessary...

I don't know about Israel, but if they ask questions about family englargemtn...well, that's illegal here in the US, yet companies still do it, and I was advised to imply I'd already "gotten that out of the way" even if I intended to keep having babies, IY"H.

Furthermore, even though it is illegal to discriminate in hiring, etc. toward a pregnant woman, and I made it clear that I'm the breadwinner and plan to go back to work after a standard 6 week maternity leave (nonpaid), no one in any hiring department would even talk to me before I had the baby, and I was also only 4 mos pg.

I basically had to give up once I started showing bc no one would talk to me anyways (even to start something after the baby).

Hashgachah pratis, a gov't contractor tracked me down and the hiring process takes so long that they haven't cared that I'm having a baby and not in a position to start until after at this point. B"H

Seraph

Thu, Apr 26 2007, 11:53 pm

Kmelion wrote:

So stick with the job you have already for another few months...

I mean, don't you think your boss's attitude towards you right now is because she feels deceived? And now you're proposing to do it again?

I didn't make it clear- I was practically fired, so I quit first. And apparently its not bec I'm preg.