My Role Changed During My Pregnancy: A Case Study

As pregnancy in the workplace is gaining more rules and regulations for the protection of pregnant women, it can mean that there are quite a few changes to the working day. Many companies are unsure how to handle such regulations but there is a great deal of advice available to ensure that the correct procedures are conducted.

For Jess Goldman, a 29-year-old duty manager for a transportation company, her working day is very different now that she is six months pregnant because she is unable to do the role she had previously.

Shift Work, Physical Work

Working as a duty manager means that Jess works shifts and is regularly required to climb about into small spaces and lift heavy equipment. When Jess Told Her Boss She Was Pregnant, at around 11 weeks, the HR manager knew that a risk assessment was required pretty quickly.

Jess told us, “My normal role is very active and totally varied – no two days are the same – so I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen when I became too pregnant to crawl around! Luckily, there had been another duty manager pregnant a few months before, so all the company processes had been reassessed in relation to the very latest guidelines.”

A Detailed Risk Analysis

The HR manager had a risk assessment conducted for Jess, with all aspects of her job looked into in terms of potential workplace hazards, heavy lifting, standing for long periods of time and any toxic substances she may come into contact with. With such an active job, many of Jess’s normal day-to-day activities would no longer be appropriate, so it was clear that she would need to be given alternative duties during her pregnancy.

Jess continued, “I was comforted to realise that my workplace was taking the potential risks of my job seriously. I hadn’t really considered the implications of my pregnancy on my role because I hadn’t realised quite how active it was before! My risk assessment showed how physical my role usually was, so it was decided that I needed to work in another area of the business until I returned from my Maternity Leave.”

Alternative Working Arrangements

As a relatively large organisation, the transportation company was able to find alternative work for Jess for the remainder of her pregnancy. Keen to harness her skills, Jess was offered an office-based role that was for set hours each week, liasing with the duty managers that she previously worked alongside.

Jess explained, “It actually gave me a better understanding of my role because I was seeing it as an overview, rather than just getting caught up in the day-to-day business. I was no longer required to run around all day as I was office-based and it was also easier to arrange my antenatal appointments, as I was not working shifts. I plan to come back from my maternity leave after 10 months and I am hoping that I will be able to do a hybrid role of both jobs, as I can see how it benefits the company and I love it!”