Legal question regarding pregnancy - Virtual Assistant Forums

#1 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Am I obligated to tell new clients that I am pregnant? What expectations should the client have of me regarding time off when baby arrives? I know there are specifics with the FMLA thing for employees but how does this apply to me as an independent contractor?

#2 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

If there are any actual legal issues surrounding this, I can't speak to them and you'd want to double check with a lawyer to make sure but my first personal intuition is that no, you don't have any obligation at all - other than ethical, to keep your clients apprised of what's going on with you. But, that doesn't mean you *have* to tell existing or potential clients anything at all.
We told all of our clients almost as quickly as we told our families - but both are a tight knit group with us and we were excited to share the news.

I honestly don't think the client will have any preconceived expectations of how much time you'll take off - I still haven't decided how long I'll take off completely - probably two months...I mean, we're both home and I'm hoping to get back at least a few hours a week after that time.

Now, were we in Canada we'd get to recover 55-75% of our previous year's income (assuming we paid taxes) for an entire YEAR after the new baby - imagine!

But alas, we're American...LOL

Depending on how soon you're due and how long you're planning to be out of office completely you may want to at least give your clients a heads up...what are your own personal thoughts and feelings on this?

#3 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

My understanding is that, by law, you do not have to because you are not their employee and they do not need to allow for your departure. However, I personally would let them know as the date gets closer. The FMLA guarantees that, as an employee, you would still have the same position, same rate of pay, etc, once you return. As a business owner, you do not need to worry about this because you are not an employee. What I would recommend is to have a few VAs lined up to take on your workload for you while you are gone and get them set up before you tell your clients (provided you have enough time, I'm not sure how far along you are). Then, when you do tell your clients that you are pregnant and will be going on leave for x amount of weeks, you can tell them that you have a trusty team of VAs ready to go when that time comes and they will still be in good hands while you are gone. Let them know that you will still be checking in now and then too...if you're like me, you'll start to get bored when your baby is sleeping and need something to do for a little while (but still make sure you sleep and take care of yourself!). Congratulations on the new addition to your family!

#4 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Hmm - I do not think you are obligated to tell your new clients, especially if it won't interfere with any way with your work. However, it may be nice or a good idea to inform them that you are pregnant and that you will be 'closed' for business (not available) for a certain length of time. And maybe let them know you can recommend them to other VAs if they want, in the meantime. Or rather! this may be a better idea! You can sub-contract the work out - so you can take over once you are ready. This way you don't lose out on new clients...you only have to devote a small amount of time to degelate the work out and make sure it gets done and correctly!

I wonder what others have to say about this? Perhaps I'm missing something? But for what it is worth - that is my personal thoughts are on it. I'm curious to what others has to say about this - Tess! You are pregnant, right?? What do you say?

#5 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

LOL! All three of us were writing at the same time!

Tess, you said what I was trying to say, not obligated but it is ethical, I agree. And that is news to me! This about being able to take off an entire year and still recover 55% or so! Where did you find this info so I can store it for my later reference! :0)

#6 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Originally Posted by CYMMTJ

LOL! All three of us were writing at the same time!

LOL I noticed that too. Great minds think alike!

#7 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Hi Yvonne, you know I should clarify that, it's something that I was told by a Canadian freelancer and likely is relative to a specific Canadian province - I think it was in Quebec?? I'm sorry I don't have more info to share on that! I'd suggest checking with your local gov't agency to make sure...

#8 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Ha ha! That is why we are all here! *winks* :0)

#9 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Tess,

Okay, I'll do just that sometimes this week. Thanks for mentioning though, now I know to check more info on this kind of thing since we plan to have more babies in the future! :0)

#10 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Like you Tess, I told my current client almost as quickly as my family! We are very excited. His initial concern was who was going to do my work while I was on leave. At first he was hesitant about me subbing it out but then agreed that as long as I'm willing to remain accountable for the quality of the work it was not an issue. I plan to sub my work out for the few weeks I'll be off anticipating that it won't be long before I grow bored and want to take it back over. I am due in 77 days, May 14th. This is number 5 for me.

My concern is scaring off potential clients. I am very good at managing my time for the most part and take pride in being professional in everything I do. Pregnancy however had such a negative tone to business owners. I think many are worried that they'll be left holding the bag with no one trained to do the job. I know that was my current clients concern until I assured him I had a great "temporary" replacement in the works for him. Then you get into issues with passwords, non-disclosure, etc. A whole can of worms on its own. I have access to a lot of proprietary information with my current client and I understood his concern with me giving that info out to others.

Thanks for the input.

#11 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

SupportmyOffice,

Wow - you are expecting your fifth! I'm already craving to have our fifth baby, hehe. But we are holding it off a bit longer...

Congrads!! :0)

#12 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

Maybe it's that all but ONE of my clients is women

but they all handled it really well and were super excited for us - we haven't even discussed what will happen while I'm on leave but I'm not too concerned...

I understand what you mean about scaring off potential clients but I just brought on a new client two weeks ago and told her almost right away, she was on referral anyway so could have known but I just told her with the idea that if she really was all that put off by it then she might not be a great match for me in the long term anyway as I really like having a slightly familial relationship with the majority of my clients.

I guess you just have to do what feels right for you - but that's a positive, even if it's a hard choice to make as to how to handle it - at least it's your choice completely

#13 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

First of all, congratulations on your new addition! Number 5, wow! I'm currently expecting my first, due April 11, but as I'm just starting out and have no long-term clients yet, I haven't run into this issue. But I am actively marketing in the hope of gaining a client (or 3, or 5, lol) by the time I have this baby. But since I am currently working full-time and hoping to build my business to the point of not having to return to my J O B after maternity leave, I'm not planning to take much time off after the baby's born. My husband jokes that he'll have to pry the laptop out of my hands during labor, lol. I figure I'll take maybe a week off, two max, and then jump back in with both feet, in all my sleep-deprived glory.

I think having competent subcontractors ready and waiting, as it seems like you're doing, is a great way to solve the issue of not being there for your clients for a certain amount of time. If you're upfront and honest with them, I don't think you'll have any problems. Best of luck to you!

There are going to be a lot of new little helpers around the forums this year! How exciting!

#14 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

As an independent contractor you are not legally bound to tell your clients about your pregnancy. However, ethically you should, but not necessarily right away. As a business owner you can't just disappear for a couple of weeks without letting them know what's going on or you will lose them for sure.

First, you need to decide how much time you are going to take off, how or if it will affect your clients and what you plan to do about it, i.e. is someone going to fill in for you, will you still be available during limited hours, etc. Then I would type up a plan of action letter and send it to all your clients with instructions, contact information, etc. If you are going to have someone fill in for you I would recommend giving it a test run with the clients prior to D-day, letting the clients know beforehand what is going on.

#15 (**permalink**) 02-26-2008

All great words of wisdom. Thank you ladies (and gentlemen if there are any).

I like what was said about having a familial relationship with clients. I've definitely established that with my current client. This is a new thing for me as my first client and I had more of a slave/master kind of relationship. Again, no longer assisting THAT client.

I agree that this is what I want from a client and that if they are put off by my family life then they probably aren't the right clients for me. Thanks for the reassurance.