When to disclose pregnancy in hiring process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, let me tell you the reality of how this works:

First, do they really want your skills and can they afford not to have those skills for the period you are on maternity leave?

Do they have any other applicant who they can hire who will not need maternity leave and who would compare with you in terms of your skill set and experience?

How they will react depends on these two factors.

Having said this, I would disclose your pregnancy after they make you an offer and negotiate the best deal you can but as a hiring manager, I can tell you that depending on the position who I would offer a position to would be influenced by whether the position is one where I can function without the individual present for a period of time during maternity leave.

Not to hire someone because she is pregnant is illegal but it is not illegal to permit maternity leave only in accordance with company policy and the requirements of FMLA. Even after the job offer is made, the hiring manager can effectively sabotage the offer through how much leeway they would give the pregnant applicant. So depending on how much you want the job, you should be willing to accept the minimum that the company allows its employees in the way of leave unless your skill set is such that you have the leverage to be aggressive in your demands.

From the standpoint of the hiring manager he/she cannot use the pregnancy of an employee as a reason for why goals have not been satisfied.

OP here. I assumed that this would be their tactic and I'm fine with it. If I get an offer and disclose the pregnancy and they are not able to give me a decent leave package, I'm going to turn the job down. I figure that is a sign that they will not be supportive of the pregnancy/ return to work process and although I think the job would be super interesting, maternity leave is more important to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP here.

I realize that I'm not entitled to any maternity leave, but if I get an offer I am planning on negotiating a leave package as part of the salary negotiations. I didn't lowball my salary b/c I am pregnant, but rather I lowballed the salary because the person (who has been in the job for 5 years) is making 105 so I assumed I would be making less than that.

Thanks for the information re: working unpaid during maternity leave. That is super helpful. I balked at that suggestion but it's helpful to know that it is illegal.

It is a fairly big organization and the person I would be working with (who would shoulder the burden when I'm on maternity leave) just took several months paternity leave so I think he would understand.

Two things:

1. You said you had the same level of experience as the person who was previously in the position. If that is really the case, you should be earning about what she was when she left, at least.

2. If the person you are working for and who would shoulder the burden took paternity leave recently, it means he has a new baby and probably can't shoulder a lot of extra work. (Maybe he can, but FWIW, I don't know many men who take paternity leave for more than a couple of weeks, so he is either doing a lot of the parenting or something else is up.)