What to expect when you're expecting (73 page)

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. All public agencies and private-sector companies that employ at least 5. workers within a 75-mile radius of each other are subject to regulation under this act. If you have worked for such a company for at least a year (and at least 1,250 hours during the year), you are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during your pregnancy and for a child’s (or other member of your family’s) illness each year that you are employed. Barring unforeseen complications or early delivery, you must notify your employer of your leave 30 days in advance. During your leave, you must continue to collect all benefits (including health insurance), and when you return, you must be restored to an equivalent position with equal pay and benefits. Keep in mind, too, that you can use FMLA for weeks during your pregnancy if you’re not feeling well. (In some cases, companies may be able to exclude from FMLA women who are considered key employees—those the company can’t do without for 12 weeks and who are in the top 10 percent compensation bracket.) The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor can offer information on FMLA. For more help, contact them at (800) 827-5335; or go online to
dol.gov
.

State and local laws. Some state and local laws offer additional protection against pregnancy discrimination. A very small handful of states and some larger companies also offer “temporary disability insurance,” which allows for partial wages during time off for medical disabilities, including pregnancy.

How you’re feeling and whether you’re showing.
If morning sickness has you spending more time hovering over the toilet than sitting at your desk; if first-trimester fatigue has you barely able to lift your head off your pillow in the morning; or if you’re already packing a paunch that’s too big to blame on your breakfast, you probably won’t be able to keep your secret long. In that case, telling sooner makes more sense than waiting until your boss (and everyone
else in the office) has come to his or her own conclusions. If, on the other hand, you’re feeling fine and still zipping your pants up with ease, you may be able to hold off on the announcement until later.

What kind of work you do.
If you work under conditions or with substances that could be harmful to your pregnancy or your baby, you’ll need to make your announcement—and ask for a transfer or change of duties, if at all feasible—as soon as possible.

How work is going.
A woman announcing her pregnancy at work may unfortunately—and unfairly—raise many red flags, including, “Will she still have the stamina to produce while pregnant?” and “Will her mind be on work or on her baby?” and “Will she leave us in the lurch?” You may head off some of those concerns by making your announcement just after finishing a report, scoring a deal, ringing up record sales, coming up with a great idea, or otherwise proving that you can be both pregnant and productive.

Whether reviews are coming up.
If you’re afraid your announcement might influence the results of an upcoming performance or salary review, wait until the results are in before sharing your news. Keep in mind that proving you’ve been passed up for a promotion or raise based solely on the fact that you’re expecting (and that you’ll soon be a worker and a mother, not necessarily in that order) may be difficult.

Whether you work in a gossip mill.
If gossip is one of your company’s chief products, be especially wary. Should word of mouth of your pregnancy reach your boss’s ears before your announcement does, you’ll have trust issues to deal with in addition to the pregnancy-related ones. Make sure that your boss is the first to know—or, at least, that those you tell first can be trusted not to squeal.

What the family-friendliness quotient is.
Try to gauge your employer’s attitude toward pregnancy and family if you’re not sure what it is. Ask other women who have walked in your soon-to-be-swollen footsteps before, if there are any (but keep inquiries discreet). Check the policies on maternity leave in your copy of the employee handbook that’s been gathering dust on your desk. Or set up a confidential meeting with someone in human resources or the person in charge of benefits. If the company has had a history of being supportive of mothers and mothers-to-be, you may be inclined to make the announcement sooner. Either way, you’ll have a better sense of what you’ll be facing.

Once you’ve decided when to make your announcement, you can take some steps to ensure that it’s well received:

Prepare yourself.
Before you break the news, do your research. Learn everything you need to know about your employer’s maternity-leave policies. Some companies offer paid leave, others unpaid. Still others allow you to use sick days or vacation days as part of your leave.

Know your rights.
Pregnant women—and parents in general—have fewer rights in the United States than in most every other industrialized country. Still, some baby steps have been made on behalf of expectant workers on the federal level through the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act (see box,
page 187
) and on the state level (many states have
equal employment opportunity laws that protect against pregnancy discrimination). Many other big steps have been taken voluntarily by forward-thinking, family-friendly companies. Become familiar with what the law says you’re entitled to, so you’ll know what you can and probably can’t ask for.

The Juggling Act

Even if you don’t have any kids at home yet, staying on the job while you’re expecting will require that you practice the fine art of juggling work and family (or, at least, a family-to-be). Especially during the first trimester and the last, when the symptoms of pregnancy may be dragging you down and the distractions of pregnancy may be competing for your attention, this juggling act may be exhausting, and sometimes overwhelming—in other words, good preparation for the years of working and parenting you may have ahead of you. These tips won’t make working simultaneously at those two jobs easier, but they may help make your working life work more smoothly with your making-a-baby life:

Schedule smart. Make appointments for checkups, ultrasounds, blood tests, glucose tolerance tests, and other procedures before your workday begins (you may be too tired afterward) or during your lunch break. If you need to leave work in the middle of the day, explain to your boss that you have a doctor’s appointment, and keep a log of these visits (just in case anyone accuses you of slacking off). If necessary, request a note from your practitioner verifying your appointment, and give this to your employer or someone in your human resources department.

Remember not to forget. If your brain cells seem to be dropping like flies, you can blame your hormones—and start taking precautions so your pregnancy-impaired memory doesn’t get you into workplace hot water. To ensure that you don’t forget that meeting, that lunch date, those calls that had to be made by noon: Make lists, write yourself reminders (Post-its are a pregnant worker’s best friend), and keep your PDA handy (if you can remember where you put it).

Know your limits and stop before you reach them. This isn’t the time to volunteer to take on extra projects or extra hours unless it’s absolutely necessary. Focus on what needs to be done—and realistically can be done—without wearing yourself out. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, complete one task at a time.

Just say “yes.” If colleagues offer to help out when you’re not feeling well, don’t hesitate to take them up on their kindness (maybe you can return the favor someday). And attention all expectant micromanagers: If there was ever a time to learn how to delegate, this would be it.

Recharge as needed. When you find yourself emotionally overwhelmed, and you will (a stuck stapler can start the tears flowing when you’re pregnant), take a brief walk, a bathroom break, or some relaxation breaths to clear your head. Or indulge in a private moment of mom-to-be madness—you deserve it.