Christmas is the season of goodwill, so it is never nice to leave someone out of social events. However, in one recent case, forgetting to invite an employee who was on maternity leave ended up costing a company dearly. Read about the case below and discover how you can avoid a similar situation.
The Case in Brief
- Mrs Howie, a new mother, brought a claim against her employer Holloways of Ludlow Design & Build Ltd (the Company) for unfair dismissal and pregnancy and maternity leave discrimination.
- Mrs Howie has been compensated for her claim of unpaid wages and holiday pay.
- The London South Employment Tribunal, given the nature of the discriminatory conduct, awarded Mrs Howie somewhere around the middle to lower band of the Vento guidelines as a result of their failure to invite Mrs Howie to Christmas drinks and withheld information about the company’s financial position and likelihood of her redundancy.
- Mrs Howie will be awarded up to £9,000 as a result of the company’s discriminatory behaviour.
What Happened?
Mrs Howie started her maternity leave in July 2017. It had been agreed with the company that she would return to work the following summer.
As a result of the financial situation of the company, they decided to hold an informal Christmas drinks party rather than a Christmas party. Staff were informed by word of mouth or text message and had failed to inform Mrs Howie.
On 29th January 2019, Mrs Howie emailed the company to ask if she could return to work early, asked about her KIT days and annual leave. Mrs Howie was informed in February that Mrs Howie’s role (General Manager) was smaller and might be doing more project management work.
Mrs Howie was later told, in March: “we haven’t needed a General Manager to do the same as you did before you went off on maternity leave. However, we know that you would be an excellent Project Manager”.
The claimant returned from maternity leave on 1st July 2019. At 9am the company held a meeting with Mrs Howie to inform her that another client had pulled out of the project that was due to start and there was no longer a Project Manager role available and that they had decided to make the claimant’s role redundant.
The Decision
The London South Employment Tribunal, held that Mrs Howie had been unfairly dismissed by the company, they had:
- Failed to warn and consult Mrs Howie about the potential redundancy.
- Mrs Howie had been deliberately excluded from discussions of the company’s financial difficulty in late 2018.
- Mrs Howie had been kept out of the loop until she requested a meeting with the company in February 2019.
The Employment Tribunal also found that the company had discriminated against Mrs Howie by treating her unfavorably because she was exercising the right to ordinary or additional maternity leave, as a result of the following:
- The company had failed to invite her to the Christmas drinks they were hosting in 2018 because she was on annual leave. It was admitted by the company that ‘it did not occur to ask’ Mrs Howie and that if Mrs Howie had been at work she would have been invited.
- The company withheld information about the company’s financial position and the likelihood of Mrs Howie’s redundancy. Mrs Howie had been excluded from information about the company and her role that other staff would have had.
How to Ensure You Treat Your Staff Fairly, and Within the Law
No matter what size your business is, following the law and ensuring you do not treat an employee unfavourably, for example, by failing to invite them to Christmas drinks because they are on maternity leave, can have a drastic repercussions.
If you are unsure about the law, potential consequences of your actions, and require discrimination or redundancy advice, please get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable employment law solicitors. We can advise on how to maintain fair practices and help you ensure a similar case is not held against your firm.
