Created on: 07 Aug 2020 | Last modified: 17 Dec 2021
As public health advice has been updated, the starting position now is that pregnant employees need not be excluded from returning to working at school.
However, each pregnant person is clearly in a unique situation (in relation to where they work, their health, their pregnancy etc.).
As such, if your employer has not already contacted you to discuss undertaking an individual risk assessment and you are concerned about returning to school, you should make contact with your employer straight away. (You could contact your head teacher directly, or may want to contact HR.)
Following a pregnancy risk assessment, where adjustments to the work environment and role are not possible and alternative work cannot be found, staff should be suspended on paid leave. Advice on suspension and pay can be found in HSE Guidance.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is calling on all pregnant workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
There is growing evidence showing that women who are pregnant are at increased risk of serious consequences from coronavirus (COVID-19) and as a result, they should be considered a clinical risk group within the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
More information can be found on the Government website.
On the same day, the Chief Medical Officer in Scotland, Professor Gregor Smith, issued a letter “…strongly advising pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccination as the best way to protect themselves and their baby from serious illness. The JCVI have also advised that pregnant women can get the COVID-19 booster.”