How do you handle being laid off while pregnant?

welly01

DH and I are considering trying for #2.  But my company just got bought out and although they tell us they intend to keep us long-term, the general consensus around the office is that they will just keep us long enough to get our information converted into their accounting system.  Estimated assumed timeline is within a year.  We won't be delaying our TTC goals because really, no one knows what will happen.  But just the possibility of being laid off while 6 months preggo is pretty scary to me.  DH has access to health insurance, so that shouldn't be a problem (I don't think).  But if I can't find a job while pregnant, then that would mean 6+ months out of work.

Has anyone been laid off while pregnant?  How did your job search go?  Did you just stay home until after the baby was born?

jf198400

I haven't been laid off but I have had a lot of job uncertainty over the past few years. I was worried about my job when I was pregnant with DD1, I came back from ML and still had a semi secure job. 18months later I had DS and my job was again insecure while I was on ML. Had a job to come back to but it basically sucked and was still uncertain, so I started job hunting. I changed jobs when DS was 8months old. About a year later we were thinking about ttc#3 when my company got sold. I decided to put TTC on hold to see whether I should stay or go at my job. Because we were all "rehired as new employees" at the new company I was no longer eligible for Fmla and the new company didn't offer STD. I decided to job hunt again. Luckily I found a new job 2 months later. We waited 3months and started TTC. I am hoping to SAH after baby3, but at least now if I decide to stay I have Fmla protection.

Sorry for my long winded personal story. My advice is to start job hunting now instead of waiting for potential layoffs. Hopefully you will find a new job soon and can start TTC. This is all personal decision though based on so many things: how old are you, how much does it matter to you if you wait a few months to TTC, do you think you will conceive quickly (based on previous experience), how long do you think it could take to find a new job, can you financially manage if you are laid off for a short or longer time period, can you afford to just stay home until after you have the baby, would you be okay with taking a shorter ML if you did get a new job while pregnant? You need to really discuss the possibilities with your DH and decide what will work best for your family. For me personally, if we could afford for me to be home for a few months, id start TTC and job hunting and just see what happens. If you get a job before you get pregnant, maybe put TTC on hold for 3months. If you get pregnant before you find a job, maybe stick it out at current job unless a great opportunity presents itself.

djm31012

I think its so personal like PP said based on your own situation--can you afford to be out of work for a bit? What type of field are you/are jobs hard to come by? Keep in mind for most maternity leave policys you need to be at your job for a year to qualify. So by getting a new job now, that may make you ineligible. I personally would stick it out, keep your plans as is and just see what happens. If you start trying and its not happening and you are miserable at work...then look. if you get laid off while pregnant or on maternity leave...id probably wait until I was close to ready to go back and then start interviewing..maybe that means when your new LO is 2 mos old, etc. Good luck to you!

welly01

Thank you for the feedback.  It really does suck that my company was bought out, but the new company does actually have better maternity benefits.  Also, I'd likely get a severance package, which would help bridge the gap until I returned to work.  I guess I could always pick up temp work until maternity leave and then search for a permanent job.

It's so hard to know what will happen and just take a leap of faith that everything will be okay.  I guess now is a good time to start building up my emergency fund to prepare for any possible lay off.

cecilyandgautam

Would you be eligible for unemployment if you were laid off? And what if you signed up for an individual STD plan now? Combined, that might help tide you over. Would your first born be about 2.5 when you expect to get laid off? You could get on the waitlist for some preschools that start at 2.5/3, and plan to pull your oldest from daycare when you get laid off so that saves you 5-6 months of childcare, though it would of course be no piece of cake to be a SAHM & postpartum & trying to apply for new jobs all at the same time. 

I know a lot of temp agencies are superficial - discriminating based on looks when they aren't supposed to - but if you have a relationship with a temp firm, you could try to pick up some shifts when you're pregnant but laid off. I have an old temp manager I could call if I were laid off and he knows I'm good, so he would still give me a chance.

welly01

jf198400 said:

I haven't been laid off but I have had a lot of job uncertainty over the past few years. I was worried about my job when I was pregnant with DD1, I came back from ML and still had a semi secure job. 18months later I had DS and my job was again insecure while I was on ML. Had a job to come back to but it basically sucked and was still uncertain, so I started job hunting. I changed jobs when DS was 8months old. About a year later we were thinking about ttc#3 when my company got sold. I decided to put TTC on hold to see whether I should stay or go at my job. Because we were all "rehired as new employees" at the new company I was no longer eligible for Fmla and the new company didn't offer STD. I decided to job hunt again. Luckily I found a new job 2 months later. We waited 3months and started TTC. I am hoping to SAH after baby3, but at least now if I decide to stay I have Fmla protection. Sorry for my long winded personal story. My advice is to start job hunting now instead of waiting for potential layoffs. Hopefully you will find a new job soon and can start TTC. This is all personal decision though based on so many things: how old are you, how much does it matter to you if you wait a few months to TTC, do you think you will conceive quickly (based on previous experience), how long do you think it could take to find a new job, can you financially manage if you are laid off for a short or longer time period, can you afford to just stay home until after you have the baby, would you be okay with taking a shorter ML if you did get a new job while pregnant? You need to really discuss the possibilities with your DH and decide what will work best for your family. For me personally, if we could afford for me to be home for a few months, id start TTC and job hunting and just see what happens. If you get a job before you get pregnant, maybe put TTC on hold for 3months. If you get pregnant before you find a job, maybe stick it out at current job unless a great opportunity presents itself.

Luckily, the buy out was not hostile and the purchasing company agreed to several terms by the sellers.  So all new employees have a hire date that is equal to our hire date of our old company...basically I'm eligible for FMLA beginning day one.  Also, I'd hate to start job hunting just based on the possibility of a lay-off.

welly01

Momtobe2912 said:

One item I would look at is changing to your husbands insurance mid pregnancy. I believe you would get a whole new out of pocket there which may be considerable. I think my current one is like $4,000 and if DH had the same we would likely get me on his insurance at enrollment to ensure just one if I was laid off mid pregnancy.

That's a good point...and that would suck!

welly01

cecilyandgautam said:

Would you be eligible for unemployment if you were laid off? And what if you signed up for an individual STD plan now? Combined, that might help tide you over. Would your first born be about 2.5 when you expect to get laid off? You could get on the waitlist for some preschools that start at 2.5/3, and plan to pull your oldest from daycare when you get laid off so that saves you 5-6 months of childcare, though it would of course be no piece of cake to be a SAHM & postpartum & trying to apply for new jobs all at the same time. 

I know a lot of temp agencies are superficial - discriminating based on looks when they aren't supposed to - but if you have a relationship with a temp firm, you could try to pick up some shifts when you're pregnant but laid off. I have an old temp manager I could call if I were laid off and he knows I'm good, so he would still give me a chance.

I think I would be eligible for unemployment, but honestly, I have no idea how that works or what criteria you have to meet.  I feel that I'm a fairly well-qualified professional that certainly shouldn't have trouble finding a temp assignment just to keep me working.  Although, I have no idea how pregnant temp workers fair in my area.

snicksnack

If you can afford to be out of work for an extended period of time and like your company I would just keep the status quo and live life as is.  My friend was laid off after she was showing and tried hard to find a job. Several companies were interested in her but her but were honest saying they could not bring her on and have her go out on leave.  So while she not discriminated against because leave is not a right in this country, in a sense she was because it impacted the end result of receiving a job offer, unless of course she was willing to have a baby and go right back to work.

SoMoNY

I always believe in being proactive.  In my 20s I went down with the ship 2x, now with kids and mortgage those days are long gone.

And its always easier to find a job when you have one, kwim?

reb84

I'd start looking for a new job now and put off TTC for a few months into the new job. I knew we were moving to a new state this January and started looking for employment. In Oct when I got emails about not being selected for different positions we decided to TTC. We got lucky and got pregnant e first try. Then I got a job offer! I don't start until April and will be 24 weeks pregnant. I would have liked to not be pregnant starting a new job but obviously there's nothing I can do about it now. Btw I got a federal job where my resume was my interview.....so my employers haven't seen my growing baby bump yet.

welly01

I'm guess I'm just really hesitant to quit a perfectly good job just because of the possibility of a layoff.  Even if there are layoffs, I anticipate that there will be severance packages offered.  Even though facing a layoff would be scary, if this company stays like they say they are, then this is a great job opportunity with a lot of growth potential and the experience would be invaluable.

amandaleigh1

I didn't lose my job while pregnant, but my job and I parted ways when DS was about 1 year old. It was a really good thing for me though it was very hard. I did a lot of soul searching about the kind of job that I would be happy with and what would give me a good work life balance that had been missing previously. So I did a career change which was hard while also being a full time stay at home mom. It is possible to collect unemployment, job search and take care of a kid. But it isn't easy and I had to hire babysitters on the regular to get job search stuff and meetings done. It was also tricky getting last minute childcare when I needed to interview. I say go for it. You can handle what comes, to just need to be creative and flexible.