Ask the Business Coach Joyce K. Reynolds is an expert Business Coach who works with CEOs, Sr. Execs, entrepreneurs and countless others providing knowledge, solutions, motivation and support that assist her clientele in successfully meeting workplace challenges. Find out more about Joyce's coaching practice. Telling Employer about Pregnancy Question: I just accepted a job offer and start work in a week as a full time paralegal. However, my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for quite a while and still have not. What do you suggest I do if in fact I do get pregnant within the early months of my new job? I am actually waiting to see if I am pregnant in one more week. What if I am pregnant? Do I wait 3 months to tell them (and then they will figure that I withheld information about being pregnant at the job interview) or do I tell them right away? My new boss did mention that if I was to start a family, he would certainly be supportive in the way that he would support me if I had to run home and do something for the baby. He is being presumptuous by thinking that I am going to return to work. I have already decided to be a stay at home mom. I know it's a tricky situation but I want to be prepared for the worst. Will you please give me some advice on this. Thank you so much! Lisa Answer: It sounds as if you’ve found a considerate employer who is voluntarily supportive of family which, even in today’s workplace, is somewhat uncommon. Employers of that ilk must be encouraged to give women – who want to have children along with pursuing their careers – every advantage. The surest way to put at risk this kind of open, thoughtful policy is for an employer to be stung by someone who could easily be seen as using them. Given your admitted position on how you’ll handle your motherhood years, you might well fall into that category. If you had not added the caveat that you have ‘already decided to be a stay-at-home mom’ - I would most likely have suggested a strategy that involved waiting until you are sure you are pregnant and beyond the miscarriage stage before discussing this issue. However, in light of your knowing full well that you have no intention of returning to the workplace once a child is born, it is unfair to allow your employer to newly hire and train you in good faith when you are not intending to pay off his investment in you. In fact, rather than seeing him as ‘presumptuous’ for thinking that you would to return to work even if you had a child, your new employer seemed to be inviting you into a progressive environment that would support your work and your motherhood. His reward should not be your deceit. If you are pregnant and will not be continuing your profession, instead of taking a job under less than honest circumstances, I suggest you look for a temporary position that will suit you until your child is born. Also see: • Ask Joyce your workplace questions • More questions • One-on-one business coaching Disclaimer: The information in this column is intended to provide the reader with general ideas or concepts to be used as part of a broader base of knowledge they collect to determine their own best course of action and solutions most suitable for solving their workplace challenges. The information in this column is not guaranteed to be the appropriate solution for each individual.