Can you work if you are pregnant?

[Rock007]

Hi everyone! My wife is a Canadian. She applied for my PR outland and hopefully we will be moving to Canada in 9 months. My wife and I have been talking about our plans once we resettle in Canada. One of the important questions is:
1) Can my wife work in Canada if she is pregnant? She said she is not picky and is willing to work anywhere, even in Walmart or a restaurant.
2) Is it illegal for her to hide her pregnancy when applying for a position and if you are hired can you continue working without telling your employer that you are pregnant?
3) Secondly, if you quit because you are pregnant, how many months in advance should you give your notice?
4) Most importantly what if your employer fires you when he finds out your are pregnant is it legal for him to do so since my wife will be hiding her pregnancy from him? Or what if my wife first finds a job and then gets pregnant, can her boss fire her and then accuse of her of being negligent?
Please advise us on what to do when my wife is pregnant.

 

[Alurra71]

Hi everyone! My wife is a Canadian. She applied for my PR outland and hopefully we will be moving to Canada in 9 months. My wife and I have been talking about our plans once we resettle in Canada. One of the important questions is:
1) Can my wife work in Canada if she is pregnant? She said she is not picky and is willing to work anywhere, even in Walmart or a restaurant.
2) Is it illegal for her to hide her pregnancy when applying for a position and if you are hired can you continue working without telling your employer that you are pregnant?
3) Secondly, if you quit because you are pregnant, how many months in advance should you give your notice?
4) Most importantly what if your employer fires you when he finds out your are pregnant is it legal for him to do so since my wife will be hiding her pregnancy from him? Or what if my wife first finds a job and then gets pregnant, can her boss fire her and then accuse of her of being negligent?
Please advise us on what to do when my wife is pregnant.

If your wife is the Canadian here, then she certainly can work if she wants. Why would she hide her pregnancy? Unless she is planning to do a couple months and then just go out on maternity leave to get the benefits of that there is no reason to hide her pregnancy. Why would you quit your job because of a pregnancy when Canada has such a great maternity leave program. If a boss fires your wife for negligence, I seriously doubt it would be due to becoming pregnant. I don't think I have ever even heard of such a thing.

 

[scylla]

If your wife is the Canadian here, then she certainly can work if she wants. Why would she hide her pregnancy? Unless she is planning to do a couple months and then just go out on maternity leave to get the benefits of that there is no reason to hide her pregnancy.

FYI - to qualify for materinty benefits, a person needs to accumulate a minimum of 600 hours of insurable employment. So if someone comes to Canada and just works for 2 months, they won't qualify.

 

[Rock007]

Thank you Alurra. My wife is worried that she will not find a good contract job in the first few months back in Canada. Contract jobs usually offer you great benefits and even mat leave.She thinks she is more likely to find job in Walmart or other stores in that nature. Do you know if they give benefits to employees in walmart or any other stores that are similar? I have been told that sometimes employers fire you for the wrong reason so that they don't have to pay for your mat leave. Do you know the details for what happens when a person is pregnant as a cashier or a store clerk?
thank you once again.

 

[Rock007]

thank you scylla. Do you know if low income jobs like walmart allow their employees to continue working even if they are pregnant? Is there some kind of a law against hiring people that are pregnant? I have never seen anyone pregnant and at work in Canada. If they refuse to hire you legally, is it wrong for you to hide your pregnancy to find a job in Canada?

 

[chakrab]

thank you scylla. Do you know if low income jobs like walmart allow their employees to continue working even if they are pregnant? Is there some kind of a law against hiring people that are pregnant? I have never seen anyone pregnant and at work in Canada. If they refuse to hire you legally, is it wrong for you to hide your pregnancy to find a job in Canada?

lot of pregnant people work in canada. am not sure where you been, but i have seen pregnant employees in walmart as well. it's a natural thing and nothing to hide from. most jobs will require you to do an interview and I don't think one can hide pregnancy at that stage. do keep in mind that, depending on the province, your health plan may not kick in for 3 months after you land in canada. so you may not have proper health coverage depending on the timing.

also employers don't always pay for maternity leaves. it comes out of the EI.

 

[keesio]

You can definitely work while pregnant. I know many people who were pregnant and working. In my office, the previous HR lady had two kids during my time here and both times she worked until about 8 months mark.

However if you a looking for a job while visibly pregnant, that may hurt her chances of getting a job because some employers may not want to hire someone they suspect will be on maternity leave in a few months. But if you are not visibly pregnant, I don't think they will ask you and you don't have to disclose that information.

 

[SenoritaBella]

It is not illegal to work while pregnant. I think I understand your dilemma - your wife would like to work but is worried that revealing the pregnancy could jeopardize her chances of getting hired or that if she didn't disclose it at the interview but shortly after took maternity leave, it will not look good/leave the company hanging.

If I got your concerns right, those are valid reasons to be concerned. It is against labor laws to discriminate against an employee due to race/ethinity/sex/sexual orientation/religion/pregnancy/disability, etc but there are people who will swear they have been discriminated against on this basis.

So the answer is really a personal decision both you and your wife need to make. Personally, if I was less than 3 months along, I would not mention it for 2 reasons: a) anything can happen to the baby(i.e. miscarriage) so even people currently working don't mention until after 3 months and b) assuming I am healthy, I could still work for at least 6 months leading up to delivery. But it is important to disclose it to your Manager/Boss no later than 4 months of pregnancy, and provide a plan for how you hope to get your work done leading up to when you take mat leave. Employers appreciate when you take initiative and hopefully, you are able to train the new person before leaving.

If all esle fails or your find that not disclosing it creates a lot of stress, you can take a chance to disclose it at the interview and see how it goes or wait until after the baby is born then try finding work then. Hope this helps!