Finding out you’re pregnant can bring with it a whole host of emotions, but worrying about your employment should not be one of them. While you’re pregnant, and throughout your maternity leave, not only are you protected by your statutory employment rights, but also by specific rights to protect you from pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
Examples of these include:
• The right to a health and safety risk assessment
• The right to paid time off for ante-natal care
• The right to one year’s statutory maternity leave
• The right to pay, holiday and benefits to which you are entitled
A full list of the rights and benefits to which pregnant women and women on maternity leave are entitled is available on the Maternity Action website. These rights are applicable to all women regardless of the number of hours they work or the length of their service.
If an employer fails to observe these rights and treats you unfavourably in any way, you can claim unlawful sex discrimination and take them to an Employment Tribunal.
Examples of unfavourable treatment include refusing to adjust your working conditions should they be unsuitable, refusing your right to training or promotion opportunities, putting pressure on you to resign, or dismissing you as a result of pregnancy-related illness.
You are protected from discrimination as soon as your employer knows you are pregnant, but you do not have to let them know until the 15th week before your baby is due.
Can I Be Sacked When Pregnant?
Whilst it is possible to be dismissed while pregnant, employers must be able to prove that it is for a valid reason such as gross misconduct or persistent poor performance. Except in the most serious cases of gross misconduct, your employer will be expected to have given you a formal warning and conducted a disciplinary hearing relating to either issue.
If you have been dismissed whilst pregnant or on maternity leave and this has not been the case, you may have been discriminated against. It is automatically unfair to dismiss you because you are pregnant or on maternity leave. You are entitled to written reasons to explain your dismissal, and these should be provided within 14 days of your asking for them. If your employer won’t give you these reasons, or if there’s cause to believe that the reasons given don’t reflect the truth, you can make a claim to an employment tribunal.
Can I Be Made Redundant When Pregnant?
There are three situations in which you can lawfully be made redundant from your place of work. These are:
• When the business closes down temporarily or permanently
• When the business moves and you can no longer get there
• When fewer employees are required for existing work
When selecting employees for redundancy, employers should use fair selection criteria.
The fact that you are pregnant or on maternity leave should not be taken into consideration when redundancies are being made, and again, you are entitled to written reasons should you be selected for redundancy.
This being said, employees on maternity leave have special protection from redundancy should alternative employment be available within your organisation. If it’s not possible to continue to employ a woman on maternity leave in her existing position and another suitable position is available, it must be offered to her before others who are not on maternity leave. This type of preferential treatment is an example of lawful positive discrimination.
Howells Solicitors
If you’re pregnant or on maternity leave and believe you have been treated unfairly, our team of expert solicitors can help with all aspects of employment law, pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
Call us free on 0808 178 2773, email info@howellslegal.co.uk or click here to find out more about what you can do if you feel you've been wrongfully dismissed.
