Telework during late pregnancy (federal government)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Astonishing some of the cruel and indifferent comments on this thread about pregnancy and telework in general. Americans are a cruel and unhappy lot.

Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pregnancy isn't a disability.

The conditions you often develop late in pregnancy can be: https://www.pinesfederal.com/blog/2024/june/pregnancy-accommodations-for-federal-employees/

I was put on telework years ago toward the end of my pregnancy due to pre-campsite risk

I see you moving the goal post. OP said nothing about any condition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pregnancy isn't a disability.

The conditions you often develop late in pregnancy can be: https://www.pinesfederal.com/blog/2024/june/pregnancy-accommodations-for-federal-employees/

I was put on telework years ago toward the end of my pregnancy due to pre-campsite risk

I see you moving the goal post. OP said nothing about any condition.

F off seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pregnancy isn't a disability.

The conditions you often develop late in pregnancy can be: https://www.pinesfederal.com/blog/2024/june/pregnancy-accommodations-for-federal-employees/

I was put on telework years ago toward the end of my pregnancy due to pre-campsite risk

I see you moving the goal post. OP said nothing about any condition.

Yes she did, she said she had a specific condition and a doctor's note. And it's not like those conditions are rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pregnancy isn't a disability.

The conditions you often develop late in pregnancy can be: https://www.pinesfederal.com/blog/2024/june/pregnancy-accommodations-for-federal-employees/

I was put on telework years ago toward the end of my pregnancy due to pre-campsite risk

I see you moving the goal post. OP said nothing about any condition.

Yes she did, she said she had a specific condition and a doctor's note. And it's not like those conditions are rare.

Late pregnancy should be considered a disability even with no conditions. The stress on the body is significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question what is the big deal is you go to work.

I used to have car service vouchers in my desk for limo service, we had security who was training, my company was near a hospital.

We had plenty of women over the years go into labor at work. Better than at home by your self or with kids with no one to watch.

Between heart attacks, births, accidents, even a shooting once we do it all time. We had 6,000 staff in building so almost weekly,

Heck I tripped once on curb got a estangled hernia and they got me into hospital asap at lunch time. Had HR coordinate medical benefits, security get me over there. Was not bad at all. Better than if I was home alone.

Years ago at 35 weeks pregnant my doctor determined I was in early labor and recommend reduced actives but not straight up bedrest. We had a major project due when I was going to be about 37 weeks and I asked if I could telework after the 37 week mark. At the time we had intermittent telework but I rarely used it. My project lead (female mother) said no but our manager (male / not a father) said it wasn’t up to her and it made sense. My project lead’s rationale was that first babies are always late, water doesn’t break dramatically like it does in the movies, first deliveries are long, and we might need someone walking paperwork around the building at that point. She said she’d done it twice and it was fine. Her husband worked in our agency and they drove in together. I took the metro and my husband took metro to grad school and hour away. It ended up not being an issue because at 36.5 weeks I worked until 6 pm and early the next morning my water broke dramatically. My daughter was born 4 hours later. My husband left a message on my project lead’s voice mail and I heard later that she started a meeting with “she’s probably having a false alarm and we expect her in later today.” By the time she gave my team that update, I either was pushing or had delivered.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thank you for all the insight, especially on medical telework versus reasonable accommodation! I have actually heard from our RA group (they requested a waiver to contact my OB). It’s wild because a colleague of mine was just given a blanket telework exemption about six months ago for pregnancy.

The telework hate here is pretty funny because I actually hate working from home, and willingly worked from the office in 2023 during my first pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I’m too menopausal for this BS, but I’d be speaking to HR every day and also make it my boss’s problem - if I’m out sick I can’t work.

You could consult an attorney, not sure where that would go though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question what is the big deal is you go to work.

I used to have car service vouchers in my desk for limo service, we had security who was training, my company was near a hospital.

We had plenty of women over the years go into labor at work. Better than at home by your self or with kids with no one to watch.

Between heart attacks, births, accidents, even a shooting once we do it all time. We had 6,000 staff in building so almost weekly,

Heck I tripped once on curb got a estangled hernia and they got me into hospital asap at lunch time. Had HR coordinate medical benefits, security get me over there. Was not bad at all. Better than if I was home alone.

Years ago at 35 weeks pregnant my doctor determined I was in early labor and recommend reduced actives but not straight up bedrest. We had a major project due when I was going to be about 37 weeks and I asked if I could telework after the 37 week mark. At the time we had intermittent telework but I rarely used it. My project lead (female mother) said no but our manager (male / not a father) said it wasn’t up to her and it made sense. My project lead’s rationale was that first babies are always late, water doesn’t break dramatically like it does in the movies, first deliveries are long, and we might need someone walking paperwork around the building at that point. She said she’d done it twice and it was fine. Her husband worked in our agency and they drove in together. I took the metro and my husband took metro to grad school and hour away. It ended up not being an issue because at 36.5 weeks I worked until 6 pm and early the next morning my water broke dramatically. My daughter was born 4 hours later. My husband left a message on my project lead’s voice mail and I heard later that she started a meeting with “she’s probably having a false alarm and we expect her in later today.” By the time she gave my team that update, I either was pushing or had delivered.

Women who stand on "you should do it because I did it" are so irritating. Glad your boss was better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pregnancy isn't a disability.

The conditions you often develop late in pregnancy can be: https://www.pinesfederal.com/blog/2024/june/pregnancy-accommodations-for-federal-employees/

I was put on telework years ago toward the end of my pregnancy due to pre-campsite risk

I see you moving the goal post. OP said nothing about any condition.

Yes she did, she said she had a specific condition and a doctor's note. And it's not like those conditions are rare.

Late pregnancy should be considered a disability even with no conditions. The stress on the body is significant.

This. During the COVID shutdowns, it was noted that premature births decreased. Probably because women were finally able to take it easy during pregnancy. And many other countries allow maternity leave to start in the 3rd trimester, not forcing women to work until the day of birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look into the pregnant workers fairness act. It covers exactly this scenario and should be a quick RA approval. I had an employee do this and it was processed the next day (normal RA requests take 2-4 months.)

This. Explicitly reference PWFA in your request. We have had 100% of requests under PWFA approved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to add… Your comment of “seems like they want my water to break at work” is a bit dramatic. If you are so concerned, ask for a leave.

Not to mention that most women’s water doesn’t spontaneously break. Oftentimes the doctor does it once the woman is admitted to the hospital when her contractions are frequent enough to warrant hospital admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to add… Your comment of “seems like they want my water to break at work” is a bit dramatic. If you are so concerned, ask for a leave.

Not to mention that most women’s water doesn’t spontaneously break. Oftentimes the doctor does it once the woman is admitted to the hospital when her contractions are frequent enough to warrant hospital admission.

Maybe, but it does happen. When my water broke, spontaneously, there was an audible gush of water.

And it's crazy that a workplace would rather someone take leave than let them telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I’m too menopausal for this BS, but I’d be speaking to HR every day and also make it my boss’s problem - if I’m out sick I can’t work.

You could consult an attorney, not sure where that would go though.

Ha, I have been doing every 48 hours, the same email chain. Finally got a response today that they are trying to contact my OB. I see a group OB practice through a large hospital. The only way I can contact them is the portal or by calling L&D. I have an appointment this week though, and am tempted to be a little shit and have them call our RA group from the appointment lol

I’m just so lucky that so far, I haven’t had too much issue getting into work. I do think I’m going to bring up the various statutes at some point because it’s been like three weeks. If the holdup is contacting my OB, what do they do if someone breaks their leg?? (I asked if approval was retroactive, but that was one of the many emails I didn’t hear back on)

My water did break spontaneously, like in the movies, and on the earlier side with my first. So imo concerns aren’t invalid here. There’s a reason why in most countries and California you can take off at 36 weeks and it’s not just for comfort imo.

[Anonymous]

lol, my reasonable accommodation request was denied. I was told this by my OB and not even by the person doing RA requests.

I’m giving them until Friday, and then reaching out to EEOC. Up until whatever new guidance from OPM was circulated (unofficial guidance), every pregnant woman in my agency was allowed to telework after a certain point. I’ve seen their documentation and it contained no more justifications than mine.