Why Not Disclosing Pregnancy to Your Employer Is Likely a Mistake

You find out that you are pregnant, but you are hesitant to disclose this to your employer and you decide to wait for at least a few months to think about your options. About a month or more into your pregnancy you start getting sick which forces you to take sick days or other types of days off. You never tell your employer that the reason for your feeling sick is pregnancy related. Then, they fire you for taking too many days off work without having any idea that you were pregnant.  This is the type of situation where no discrimination or wrongful termination claim can be made, since the employer was not on notice of either pregnancy or pregnancy related issues.  

Generally, you have nothing to gain by keeping your pregnancy secret, you disclosing it sooner than later is almost always a good idea. First the employer will find out sooner or later that you are pregnant, so why bother and hide. If your employer is the type of company that doesn't know the law or doesn't mind violating the law then they will fire a pregnant woman whether she discloses her pregnancy right away or not. But you can only bring a claim against them for pregnancy discrimination, if they are on notice of both, your condition and associated medical issues. 

If, on the other hand, your employer tries to comply with the law, then the sooner you let them know about your pregnancy and any need for accommodations because of any kind of pregnancy related sickness, the better off you will be, because the employer will have more time to accommodate you by either adjusting your work station, or giving you time off or providing other types of modification to your work, schedule, etc... Having more time to work with you will also make it easier on the employer to do what they need to do to help you. 

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