Looking for employment while pregnant?

mindlor · Nov 30, 2011

Good lord will these threads ever stop coming? LOL If you have to post on here and ask the question it means you are having a moral internal struggle.

It sucks as an employer to hire someone, orient them and then they drop the preggo bomb. To me, it is unethical.

But the letter of the law states that you dont have to divulge.

Ultimately it is your choice....

noahsmama · Nov 30, 2011

There have been many threads posted here on this topic in the past. Here's just one:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/help-pregnant-job-554385.html

Opinions vary as to whether you should divulge this information or not, but legally you don't have to, and if you do it might be used against you (not officially of course -- they will never say they're not hiring you because of your pregnancy, unless they're stupid).

If it were me, I would keep this info to myself.

Congrats on your pregnancy, and good luck in the job search!

babyNP., APRN · Nov 30, 2011

Good lord will these threads ever stop coming? LOL If you have to post on here and ask the question it means you are having a moral internal struggle.
It sucks as an employer to hire someone, orient them and then they drop the preggo bomb. To me, it is unethical.
But the letter of the law states that you dont have to divulge.
Ultimately it is your choice....

So just because a woman is pregnant, it's unethical for her to look for a job? Pregnant women are not useless--a good employee is worth her weight in gold who takes a a couple of months off to spend time with her baby (which, btw, she wouldn't be eligible for FMLA anyway) than someone who never takes time off work but is a drag on the team.

People should be hired based on their merits and what they can bring to the company. I would much rather hire an interested pregnant woman who will be a good team player than someone who is half-hearted about the job. Gone are the days that a woman is stuck at home with no choices and I'm can't believe you are trying to continue that archaic notion by making the OP feel guilty.

mindlor · Nov 30, 2011

Not meaning to attack pregnancy. I feel that applying for and accepting a job, knowing in advance that soon after you will need an extended time off is unethical, that includes pregnancy, a planned world cruise, or any other situation that would basically cripple the unit until they can find a replacement during the extended break....

One of the main tenants of nursing is VERACITY...look that one up please :)

JennyANP · Dec 1, 2011

It's unethical to discriminate against someone who's pregnant...but you know they would.

mindlor · Dec 1, 2011

ok, its time for a little history lesson.

Back in the day, a woman who already worked for a company would get pregnant. Many times, she would go and have her baby/babies and then be ready to come back to work, only to find they had hired someone else. They would say sorry, we cant wait, we have a business to run. And the woman would be out of luck.

Eventually, people figured out that this was unfair. So we have the laws that we have today. These laws were intended to protect women, and rightfully so, who were already employed.

Now people are using these laws in a manner in which they were not intended to be used. I dont care how you slice it, but a person who accepts a job knowing that in 4 or 5 months they will need a lot of time off, without letting the employer know, is not being ethical.

Remember the golden rule? Consider how you would feel if you were the nurse manager...???? It makes me feel badly that people cannot see the wrong in this....anyway, thats about all I have to say on the topic.....people are responsible for their own actions, what is ethical to someone else may not be ethical to me and I certainly understand that.

So, we can agree to disagree?

You guys can scream and hoot and holler all you want, but thats the way of it. Its fraudulent, and dishonest. Yes the law as it is protects you, people are working to rewrite these laws to be more clear as to exactly who is protected....

babyNP., APRN · Dec 1, 2011

Um, she wouldn't be eligible for FMLA, so all she would be eligible for is her sick leave time and in 4-5 months, probably not a ton would be accrued anyway. Her job will not be held if she takes an unpaid leave of absence, so what's wrong with taking 2 weeks of sick leave? If the employer doesn't want to hold her job while she's away, it's perfectly legal.

JennyANP · Dec 1, 2011

The last baby I had I was back to work in a week. Anectdotal, but it's true.

noahsmama · Dec 1, 2011

One of the main tenants of nursing is VERACITY...look that one up please :)

I'd be happy to look up the word VERACITY if you look up the word TENETS.

mindlor · Dec 1, 2011

I'd be happy to look up the word VERACITY if you look up the word TENETS.

You are spot on LOL. I thought about that last night and did realize that I messed that up !!!

noahsmama · Dec 1, 2011

You are spot on LOL. I thought about that last night and did realize that I messed that up !!!

Yeah, it's easy to mess up a word when you're typing fast. I normally don't point out little mistakes like that, but since you were suggesting other people grab their dictionaries.......(I love words and love dictionaries, BTW).