Sharing news of a pregnancy with those in your close circle is often an exciting occasion.
But those feelings may change when you start to consider when and how to tell your boss or employer.
We asked some experts how much notice you need to give an employer for parental leave and what to consider before you have the conversation.
The 12-week pregnancy 'rule'
There's an unwritten "rule" that says women should keep their pregnancy news quiet — at least for the first 12 weeks.
According to Penny Sheehan, obstetrician and head of the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne's Preterm Labour Clinic, there are no clinical guidelines stipulating when a woman should or should not announce her pregnancy.
Dr Sheehan says at 12 weeks, most people can "believe with some confidence" that their pregnancy will be ongoing.
But she says it's up to each individual (or couple) to decide when the time is right for them to share the big news.
"I've never told [anyone] to not tell anyone. In fact, I would usually say to share it with a support person and some close family and friends, so that you do have some support," she says.
When you need to tell your employer about your pregnancy
Legally you need to provide a minimum of 10 weeks' notice before you intend to finish work.
Dr Melissa Innes, an associate lecturer in the School of Business at the University of the Sunshine Coast, on Kabi Kabi Country, says this is to ensure the employer has enough time to advertise and recruit a replacement.
"The idea is that that you try and give them as much notice as you can because that's a healthy working relationship.
"And yes, it does provide for them to find someone to help out while you're not there."
She says employers have legal obligations to provide parental leave under the Fair Work Act.
What that looks like "does depend on the nature of your workplace and the relationship that you have with them and how long you've been with your employer," says Dr Innes.
"If you're working for a great employer who is focused on their employer brand … then they may have some best-practice approaches to parental leave."
These can include financial support beyond government schemes, flexibility in leave and return to work, and superannuation contributions during leave.
If these are in place, Dr Innes says an employee might feel happy to let their employer know much earlier than 10 weeks that they intend on taking parental leave.
How to have the conversation about a pregnancy
Dr Innes says an employee needs to provide the "10 weeks' notice in writing".
"I personally would prefer initially a face-to-face discussion about something as personal as this that's going to affect your life in a big way," she says.
"But legally you do actually need to provide that written notice."
She says you also need to clarify how much time you're intending to take and whether you're taking continuous unpaid leave, as per the Fair Work Act.
She also recommends investigating whether your workplace has other options in place and how much you would like to use those, for example flexible parental leave and working from home.
The same applies to partners when they want to take parental leave.
Sunshine Coast-based business author and psychosocial safety specialist Brenda Jamnik says people may find themselves needing to have conversations with employers sooner than they'd hoped due to complicating factors.
"Some women will have a different performance level," she says.
"For example … [with] constant morning sickness, sometimes they just can't drag themselves out of bed.
"If you've got a really good workplace, they will understand that [you] may need to access leave."
Dr Jamnik says parental leave typically begins six weeks before the expected due date, or earlier if the employer agrees.
If someone wants to work beyond that, the workplace can ask for a medical certificate from the employee stating whether they are fit to work and if their position is safe for them to work in during this period.
"Some people get upset about this," says Dr Jamnik, "but really it is about the mum's fitness for work because the employer has a duty of care."
Employers need to support pregnant staff
Dr Jamnik says employers need to make suitable workplace adjustments for a pregnant employee to ensure they can work safely.
"The employer has an obligation to make what's called reasonable adjustments to ensure not only that they provide modified work hours [if needed] but also that they might adjust the workplace to make it safe," she says.
"If [the employee is] in a retail sector, they might ask if they can have a chair.
"They can ask for ergonomic stations, changes to their start and finish times, those sorts of things."
"If the employer says, 'look, we've got no safe job', they're entitled to unpaid parental leave or they're entitled to leave."
She warns that businesses cannot discriminate against any employees because of their pregnancy.
This article contains general information only. You should consider obtaining independent professional advice in relation to your particular circumstances.
