This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

When do you tell your manager you are pregnant?

Posted in:Advice Family & Relationships Career Growth

Is there an expected timeline for when you need to tell your manager that you are pregnant? I work 100% remotely as a software engineer. Do you do it closer to due date when you plan to submit the paperwork for maternity leave?

I am trying to figure out if saying it too soon might affect my career, ie I won't be put on large projects or I might be the candidate for layoffs? Is it all in my head?

Claretha219·Feb 01

It is not in your head. Remote candidates are more likely to be laid off. Women and other marginalized folks are more likely to be laid off. Anything at all that can be withheld should be. Unless the baby is actually being born in front of them, they do not need to know anything. I like your parental leave paperwork as the time to divulge.

Leonarda134·Feb 01

thank you for the input! Don't know if it helps, but we are 100% remote company; so, everyone is remote. We had a round of layoffs in December and I know some people who were on maternity leave we part of the cut :(

sophieguillermin·Feb 05

Hi @leonarda134,I understand your concern. I am also pregnant and work for a 100% remote company. I recommend that you read the fine prints of the HR policy of your company as well as the legal frame for maternity leave in the country you are hired. You are normally entitled by law to give notice to your employer a certain number of weeks (15 weeks before the due date in the UK for example) and give a certificate from the hospital to your employer. I agree that it is generally not necessary to say it earlier than legally required to as it already gives ample time to your employer to make arrangements.Please also know that there are laws to protect you from being fired once your pregnancy has been announced, unless it’s an entire team or department layoff.Best of luck!

annacarver·Feb 06

It’s definitely not in your head. I think a bit of it depends on your relationship with your manager. Is he/she someone you trust and have a good relationship with? If yes, I’d probably say no later than month 6, as that will give them ample time to prepare (I told mine around month 5, I’m also fully remote). If you aren’t super close or trusting of your manager, I’d do as someone else mentioned and read the fine print from HR, but also generally you don’t want to leave anyone flat footed. So the time you will be out comes into play too. If you’re getting at least a couple months off (which I hope you are!), giving your manager time to prepare is usually helpful.

Leonarda134·Feb 14

thank you for the feedback! I ended up telling my manager last week, I still need to submit officially with HR, but I have been waiting on it for a bit. Not sure why. There might be potential for layoffs this year and while I know it's illegal to add me to the layoffs based on my pregnancy, I wonder if it adds more risk to the situation. I am glad I told my manager, for some reason it made me feel better, we have a good relationship, though a short one, I've been on the job only for about 7 months now. Now I need to decide when to tell HR.