When will you "tell" at work?

[meggles]

For mamas working outside the home, when will you tell your boss and/or co-workers? I work for a small non-profit, so while everyone is sure to be excited and kind, my leaving will cause a miniature upheaval because they'll need to find a qualified replacement asap. I'm also not sure how Maternity leave works...I'd like to get paid while on "leave," but I honestly don't think I'll return to this job after the baby is born. Any thoughts?

[earthie_mama]

First find out what the leave guidelines are, many smaller companies are not required to give paid leave. Then after your little one is born, take your leave if you can , and if you decide to stay home, then tell them you are sorry, but this is what you feel is best.....

[*~Danielle~*]

I worked when I was pregnant with my first. I didn't end up telling my boss until I had to. I started showing around the 5th month and couldn't keep it a secret any longer. She was starting to get the hint when I had to keep leaving early for doctor's appointments and then when we had our 20 week ultrasound I spilled the beans.

[Thalia]

I won't tell until we've passed the 12 week mark at least. I have a very supportive mentor and boss at work who I am looking forward to telling, because I know he will advocate for me. After that we may just wait to tell everyone else until it becomes obvious. My appointment is up in September, so we've been negotiating my new appointment. So far it looks good, three years instead of the two year appointment I had last time (I'm a lecturer, so I'm not tenure track). But they will surely know I'm pregnant before September, so I hope that doesn't change anything.

I think at my university we do not get paid leave, but we do get leave, and of course FMLA guarantees at least 12 weeks leave. I need to talk to my HR rep and benefits counselor to get the whole scoop.

My concern is that my appointment is a joint one, spread over three schools, and I don't know how they are going to find someone who can do all three jobs while I am gone. I'm also concerned about documenting everything that needs to be done for the three programs that I run. Luckily, I have started putting together some materials over the last couple of years, and our child should be born at a relatively quiet time of year. I've also been given more people to delegate to lately, so I may be able to train one or two of them to do what needs to be done while I'm gone. But mainly, I am just going to have to let go of what will happen when I'm gone. When I'm on leave, I really want to be on leave!!!

[swtpesq]

I just started a new job (found out I was pg the night before my first day!), so I will definitely be holding off on telling them as long as I can! I figure after the 12 week u/s would be a good time.

As far as leave is concerned, FMLA probably doesn't apply to you (unless by "small" non-profit you mean something over 50 employees), so technically they don't have to guarantee that you can come back to your same job after leave. In California, you can, however, receive state disability for up to six weeks after the birth (longer for a c-section or complications), and then 6 weeks of state-sponsored paid family leave (I believe that's about the same rate as the disability). It's not the same as having a fully-paid leave, but it's definitely better than nothing!

Good luck to you!

[didkisa]

I plan to spill the beans at work after 12 weeks and wait as long as I can (I might be too excited or too big to wait any longer, tho')! LOL

I don't plan to return to work afterwards and want to start "ramping down" to part time and ease into not working at all, since it will be quite an adjustment for me. I also want to be sure they are fully covered for my position after I'm gone cuz I'm not answering the phone if they call!

How I'll "announce": take my boss to lunch and give him this spiel: I've decided to make a career change. I've been working on my new "job" for the last several months and plan to make it full time in a few more months. During that time I'd like to reduce my hours, while training my replacement..." --something along those lines, anyway! Then I'll let him spread the news like wildfire!

[Ahappymel]

Well....
I work in a very small office of loving and conservative people who will likely not agree with my path to happiness. They'd like me to find theirs...married, Christian and Right-Wing Republican (No offense intended. To each our own).
So...that being said, I got quite a few clucks of the tongue when I got pregnant with my first not being married. I expect I might get at least a few eye-rolls, some big sympathy for my son and maybe a few lectures. My ex (son's dad) is likely to not be happy with me either. I haven't told my son because he (being 4) will probably want to tell.
So, I am enjoying this happiness without negative contribution as long as I can
I'll tell when I start to show noticeably whenever that may be.

[Carrie Posey]

I will be telling once we see a heart beat-I did tell one person because the last July 07 spot in our infant room was going to be gone (which by the way is the soonest spot that one could get!) I work in a child care center that my son attends and the new peanut will go there too!!

[Jess_n'_the_bean]

I told my boss when I found out - she is very supportive and I wasn't keen on hiding my dashes to the bathroom to puke in week 5-6. She respects the fact that I won't tell the rest of the team until the end of the 1st trimester...but OMG is it hard not to shout it from the rooftop!!

My philosophy about telling people is - tell the people who need to know and tell the people who you would want support from if something did go wrong. So, we told our parents and a few very close friends - made them promise to zip it until mid-June when we will be out of the danger zone.