What is pregnancy and maternity discrimination?
The Equality Act protects women from certain types of discrimination, and applies from the beginning of pregnancy until the end of maternity leave. During this period, the law protects female employees or job applicants from discrimination that occurs on the grounds of pregnancy, any illness related to pregnancy (such as nausea), booking maternity leave and changes to her working environment or reduced physical tasks.
Discrimination
The Equality Act protects pregnant employees and those on maternity leave against ‘unfavorable’ treatment. This is important, as it means that pregnant employees and those on maternity leave need not prove that they were treated unfairly relative to their colleagues, but only that their employer disadvantaged them in some way because of their pregnancy or maternity leave.
Common areas where pregnancy and maternity discrimination occurs:
- Recruitment
- Pay and terms and conditions of employment
- Job vacancies and promotion opportunities
- Training opportunities
- Managing absence during pregnancy
- Work performance
- Dismissal
- Selection for redundancy
- Return to work
Provision
Employers should consider the physical effects of pregnancy and adjust the workplace accordingly, such as potentially changing roles, work place environments (fumes, standing for long periods and so on) and should also consider if there will be breastfeeding on site. If so they may need to offer a separate area to make sure the mother feels comfortable breastfeeding her child.
What to do if you believe you are being discriminated against due to Pregnancy and/or Maternity
You should initially try to resolve the issue informally by talking to your manager. If a formal internal complaint fails to resolve the matter, you can start a claim in an Employment Tribunal. However, discrimination claims are often difficult to prove, as employers typically do not leave explicit evidence. You should also be conscious of the strict time constraints: discrimination claims must be brought to an Employment Tribunal within three months of the alleged discriminatory act.
If that does not resolve the matter you should raise a formal complaint with your employer’s HR department. At this stage, you may want to consider consulting Lestons to support the complaint, we will examine their policies / procedures on the matter and seek to assist you in bringing about a fair solution. As a general rule should we succeed in your matter we will seek a reimbursement of your fees paid to us. Employers tend to be significantly more responsive when you have taken steps to obtain professional legal advice.