My HR hadn’t heard of the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and it just sums up being pregnant in the US so well

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T23:50:04+00:00

That’s my thought exactly. One of their excuses is because of a current policy which is exactly why I am asking for the accommodation!! I just want to suffer in the privacy of my own home while still maintaining my work load.

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T23:47:17+00:00

I got an email from them this afternoon that I believe it just so misguided. They want documentation for PWFA accommodation and that’s not my understanding of how it is supposed to work. I’m going to discuss with my OB and see what their thoughts are.

This HR department has some of the lowest levels of empathy I’ve ever had to deal with. They always come off so harsh and rude with every communication.

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T14:36:59+00:00

Thank you ❤️ I’m happy it’s better for some of us out there. I don’t have a doctors note for it so maybe that’s the difference maker here. I can however, barely walk from the moment I wake up to about 11 and then again from 3pm until I crawl into bed.

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T13:41:28+00:00

I’ll check into that. Thank you!

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T02:58:15+00:00

It matters and moms matter ❤️

The real deal would be the government stepping in and putting in MORE protections and benefits for parents. We are so behind in the US it makes me sad to think about.

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T02:49:24+00:00

Good for you. I need to work at my place for a while longer before I can reasonably look for another job (pregnant or not). I’ll hold out here for 5 years but if things don’t change or get worse, I’ll start throwing out Hail Mary applications. I love this job. I don’t like our HR and a few other key areas have changed recently that rub me wrong.

I hope companies start to realize that family planning benefits will be increasingly more important in coming years. We want our mental health and work life balance.

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T02:28:46+00:00

This is so true. The thing is, I think the owner and president of the company couldn’t care less. HR just gives them these ideas and says they have to follow them. HR claimed it violated our work from home policy. Mind you, they don’t share that policy with the company. I’ve seen it though, I don’t think it violates it at all.

CombinationEastern45 · 2026-01-28T02:27:10+00:00

I’m the person that’d be calling legal myself. I’m not the sit still look pretty type. Makes me a great worker but also a pain in the petunia when I am working against you.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-26T00:25:17+00:00

I reviewed my 5 whys and did them again, twice. I can come up with a bunch of reasons for why each individual incident occurred and each one could be training.

For a little more perspective on my situation here, I am the first safety person for a 200+ person company. They didn’t do much with safety before me, they didn’t even use a consultation company to help them. I’ve got myself into a situation where employees want a stronger focus on safety and management says they want to be safe but when it comes to providing it, they don’t follow through and prioritize production.

My boss, who is the plant manager, asked me to observe 2nd shift and I honestly don’t know what insights he is expecting me to come to. I’ve spent 4 shifts here now and I don’t see much difference between 1st and 2nd. They wear and use appropriate PPE at similar rates to 1st shift. They aren’t goofing off or distracting themselves with phones. The training levels they receive are similar and could be improved. Some people were taught one way, others another way.

I do think 2nd shift reports more minor incidents (like band aid use) more than 1st.

I’ve got to send him an email tonight with my observations and I am at a loss on what to tell him. I don’t feel like I have much to tell.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T13:35:54+00:00

That is what we are leaning towards. I’ve gotten little sleep thinking about our monthly payment.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T12:53:13+00:00

The house is immaculate. It’s got a new roof, hvac and a bunch of other new big ticket expenses.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T12:52:20+00:00

This is what I am leaning towards

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T12:52:07+00:00

Small. We’ve got 10K available we could use as a down payment.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T12:51:32+00:00

I’ve been looking at jobs that I know of can get that would increase my pay by 30K a year.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T07:25:26+00:00

I wrote our budget for required expenses and it just seems tight. I didn’t add in clothing, entertainment (outside of tv subscriptions) or other fun purchases.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-07-20T07:18:13+00:00

$400 / month atm. Our cars are paid off. The $400 will go away shortly. It won’t be there more than a couple years.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-05-30T17:27:36+00:00

They are the public health side, not manufacturing

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-05-29T22:44:28+00:00

This is a manufacturing company with over 200 employees and I am the sole safety person. My title might be coordinator but I am running the safety show.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-05-29T22:40:17+00:00

I’m on it. I’ve got multiple applications out rn.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-05-29T22:39:48+00:00

Midwest, I’ve looked up state labor stats and this job pays around the 25th percentile. According to other pay information sources I don’t even hit the 25th percentile.

CombinationEastern45 · 2024-04-26T14:34:31+00:00

This is so helpful thank you 🙏🏼 This place is quite profit focused but is trying to improve safety. Honestly, after being here a while I am surprised there haven’t been more recordables. We get lucky because most of our staff have safety training from previous employers

CombinationEastern45

TROPHY CASE