Starting a new job during early pregnancy

July 8, 2015 12:07 AM

Recently hired at a decent job with good benefits. The job requires some occasional heavy lifting. The hiring process was long and in the meantime I have become pregnant (yay!).

I'm not very far along and it could all come to nothing, but I am obviously nervous about lifting (60+ lbs) while pregnant. The employer is a government agency and I don't think they can/will outright fire me if I disclose, but I also don't know if I'll be able to do my job as we discussed at my interview. Should I call them before my start date and let them know? What is likely to happen here?

If legal jurisdiction is important, I am in Boston.

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (10 answers total)

I can't say how is the best way to tell them, but sooner rather than later. I think part of the problem is that even in early pregnancy, the hormone relaxin (?) starts loosening everything up, all your joints etc. So you might very well hurt yourself on the job with the lifting, so you're smart to be nervous about lifting.
posted by pairofshades at 12:57 AM on July 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

Government agency? Yes, I would email before your start date and let them know. (Email rather than call, so it's in writing.) They are required to accommodate you if possible, and they should be well aware of their legal obligations.
posted by chickenmagazine at 3:14 AM on July 8, 2015

Under the ADA your job is protected and they need to make accommodations if necessary. Under the FMLA they are required to give you leave for the birth. If I were you, I would wait until you've actually started the job and then let them know the good news! Good Luck!
posted by HuronBob at 3:16 AM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

(FMLA applies if there are more than 50 employees and you've been there for a year. Massachusetts may have more generous requirements, though.)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:51 AM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

The FMLA only provides benefits once you have worked 1,250 hours at the organization prior to being covered by the FMLA and there are more than 50 employees within a 75 mile radius. This is approximately 8 working months at full time, so you should check timing here. You may very well not be covered under the FMLA. If that is the case, for medical leave/job retention purposes, you are only covered by Massachusetts' more generous state-specific laws. It seems that the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act is applicable here, but I am generally not familiar with it.

The ADA only requires an employer to make "reasonable accommodations" for you to perform your job, not any accommodations. The ADA does not require employers to fundamentally change your job to accommodate a medical condition. So, if your employer decides that lifting is fundamental to your job, they are not required to excuse you from lifting. Of course, you can challenge any assessment your employer makes about what your job is or isn't, but doing so always comes with it the inherent challenges associated with pursuing legal action against your employer (which tends to be disliked by future employers).

There is specific recent Supreme Court activity on pregnancy accomodations based on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in Young vs UPS that also has a tendency to reduce employer's requirements to accommodate pregnant workers.

I tend to agree that your employer, especially being a federal government, will be pretty lenient with you, as giving pregnant workers a hard time makes for bad press. Further, most people are inclined to be generous with pregnant workers. However, you should note that your legal basis for that treatment is not as strong as previous posters suggest.
posted by saeculorum at 5:02 AM on July 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

I stand corrected.... thanks for the details, saeculorum...
posted by HuronBob at 6:57 AM on July 8, 2015

Is this one of those government jobs where they're required to include "must be able to lift 60 pounds" in the job description? Or is it a job where you are actually required to lift 60 pounds? Every job posted at the university where I work has that stipulation in the description, but very few of of those jobs actually have to do heavy lifting on an even semi-regular basis. I have a touchy back, and if I'm ever in the position to have to lift a box of paper or something when my back is iffy, I just ask a coworker for help. And yes, being able to lift stuff is in my job description.

So if it's one of THOSE jobs -- one where the lifting is in the job description, but it's not an actuial lifting-things job -- I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:08 AM on July 8, 2015

I lifted far more than 60lbs throughout my pregnancy. I suspect that you will get accommodations, but if you are healthy lifting 60lbs should not really put your pregnancy at any risk. Of course, if you are not used to lifting 60lbs before this, that is probably a different story.
posted by ch1x0r at 10:37 AM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

A lot will depend on how your body handles pregnancy. Near the end of my wife's pregnancy her hips didn't seem to want to hold up her body, and even though she was health the baby was compressing her diaphragm and lungs so much that climbing a flight of stairs left her winded and dizzy.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:34 AM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Even if you can't lift during your pregnancy, you will be able to lift after your pregnancy. So this is a short term issue, that I suspect they could find some way around until you can lift. It's not like you are missing a critical skill set and will never be qualified for this job. With that in mind I wouldn't say anything until after I'd started. Like, not until someone said "hey, can you bring that 60lb box over here? ". At that point all you have to say is "I'm newly pregnant". They don't need to know the date of the conception.
posted by vignettist at 12:58 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]