Can i sack a pregnant employee

Illegal reasons include race, gender, disability, pregnancy, and the fact that you requested a pregnancy-related accommodation among other things. You can show that your pregnancy was a motivating reason for your termination in a variety of ways.

These methods of proof are the same in all kinds of discrimination cases. The following are some examples:. The timing is suspicious. You had great reviews up until your pregnancy, and then you kept doing the same thing as before. You were performing well. The timing of these write-ups and the termination is suspicious. Unless there is some other, legitimate explanation, it looks like pregnancy discrimination. Note that this is also probably gender discrimination—of course mothers can be reliable employees.

You were treated worse than non-pregnant employees. Maybe it is normal at your organization for people to receive a three-step disciplinary process before termination, and no one has ever been terminated without that procedure. You were an exception, and you just so happened to be the only one who was pregnant. Your employer made comments about pregnancy being a burden.

It is important to make sure that all criteria are fair and non-discriminatory. This means you cannot select an employee based on the fact they are pregnant, on maternity leave or are exercising their statutory rights.

Again, you should think about the impact that pregnancy may have had on their performance. Finally, if you are making someone redundant whilst on maternity leave, the employee must be offered any suitable alternative job vacancy. Remember, if an employee has been continuously employed for two years, they will have the right to statutory redundancy pay. Pregnancy and maternity-related challenges are amongst the most difficult for employers to deal with, and the margin for error is high. Call to speak to one of our friendly team or use the button opposite to request your free consultation.

BLOG Written by Rachel Holding on 9 November When faced with employee issues, your employment contracts can either protect your interests or put you. In fact, most recently, the March.

If you dismiss a disabled. BLOG Written by Alexandra Farmer on 1 November With normality returning, many organisations have made the decision to roll out remote and hybrid working on a. BLOG When you think about workplace health and safety, your probably think about protecting your workers. However, under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at. Most notably, a precedent has been set for remote and hybrid. If you dismiss a pregnant employee or an employee on maternity leave, you must provide her with a written statement that clearly explains the reasons for the dismissal.

As is always the case, employers need to remember is that there must be a fair reason for dismissal. You must have followed the correct procedure and have carried it out in a fair way. This is especially true if you are looking to fire an employee who is pregnant. Remember, an employee can make a claim for unfair dismissal if the main reason for dismissing them is the fact that she is pregnant or on maternity leave, irrespective of their length of service.

This is why it is always a good idea to seek a HR company to ensure that you are on the right track when dealing with a poor-performing employee who is pregnant. It is possible to make a pregnant employee or an employee on maternity leave redundant; however, there are certain protections in place. You can read more about redundancy here. You must warn all your employees of a potential redundancy situation, including those who are on maternity leave or off work with a pregnancy-related sickness, and inform them of how it will impact on them.

When selecting people for redundancy, you should create a scoring criteria — employees in the redundancy pool will receive scores against this list and the employee s with the lowest score will be selected for redundancy.

You cannot select an employee based on the fact they are pregnant, on maternity leave or are exercising their statutory rights. Absences due to maternity leave or pregnancy should be taken into account.

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England This advice applies to England: England home Advice can vary depending on where you live. You are not required to tell your employer, or a future employer, that you are pregnant in an interview or while you are on probation.

Unfortunately pregnancy discrimination is common and it can be hard to prove that a dismissal, redundancy or other unfavourable treatment is because of your pregnancy so you should think carefully about when is the best time to tell your employer and colleagues. Legally, you do not have to tell your employer that you are pregnant until the 15 th week before your baby is due which is when you need to give notice to take maternity leave — although it may be obvious by then anyway.

You will need to tell your employer earlier if you are concerned about health and safety risks at work or to take paid time off for antenatal care. You should also bear in mind that you are only likely to have protection against pregnancy discrimination once you have told your employer that you are pregnant.

If you are not feeling well in the early stages of pregnancy and need to take sick leave, you may want to tell your employer about your pregnancy so that any pregnancy-related sick leave is counted separately and not used for redundancy or disciplinary purposes.

It may be difficult to show that any unfair treatment was because of pregnancy unless you have told your employer or you have good evidence that your employer suspected or had become aware.

You can copy in your HR and others who you think should be made aware of your pregnancy. Can I claim pregnancy discrimination if I am made redundant following a miscarriage or whilst undergoing fertility treatment? There may be some circumstances in which you think that you have been discriminated against because your employer believed you were pregnant or assumed you were trying to get pregnant, for example, following a miscarriage or during fertility treatment. Protection from pregnancy discrimination in these circumstances is limited but you may be protected against sex discrimination and you should seek further advice.

The Equality Act , section 18, provides protection against discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or pregnancy-related sickness for a protected period of two weeks from the end of a pregnancy for women who are not entitled to maternity leave see questions above.

You are entitled to maternity leave if your baby is stillborn after the end of the 24 th week of pregnancy. For more information on your rights at work following a miscarriage or stillbirth, see our information sheet: Miscarriage stillbirth and neonatal death — rights to time off and pay for parents. You are protected against discrimination, dismissal, redundancy or unfair treatment related to your pregnancy, miscarriage or related sick leave.

It is up to your GP or medical practitioner to decide whether any sick leave is pregnancy or miscarriage-related. If your sick leave is certified as pregnancy or miscarriage-related that will apply for as long as your sick leave lasts. After the protected period has ended you may have a claim for sex discrimination rather than pregnancy discrimination under the Equality Act , section 13, if you can show that you have been treated less favourably because of your miscarriage, for example, if you are dismissed, made redundant, disciplined or you are refused a promotion.

You will need to consider what evidence you have to show that the unfair treatment or dismissal was related to your miscarriage or subsequent sick leave and it is important to get specialist advice as soon as possible. Unfavourable treatment, such as redundancy or dismissal, because of fertility treatment or sickness absence related to fertility treatment, is unlikely to be protected as pregnancy discrimination unless you are in the advanced stages of in vitro fertilisation IVF or where you are deemed to be pregnant from the point where the fertilised ova has been implanted in your uterus.

Alternatively, you may be able to argue that such treatment amounts to sex discrimination because of the invasive treatment required and resulting pregnancy.

This is a complex area and you should seek specialist advice. I have started a new job and discovered that I am pregnant. I have a six month probation period. Can my employer end my contract? Firstly, you only need to tell your employer about your pregnancy once you are ready to do so see the questions above. That also applies if you are going for job interviews or starting a new job — there is no legal obligation to tell your employer early in your pregnancy or if you do not feel ready to do so or if you think that you will face discrimination as a result of it.

You will still be entitled to maternity leave, with the right to return to the same job, even if you will not receive any SMP from your employer.

If you are not sure if you can get SMP you should give notice to your employer in the 15 th week before your baby is due and ask them to work it out. For more information, see Maternity Pay Questions.

If your employer treats you unfavourably because of your pregnancy, for example, by ending your contract, extending your probation period, taking account of pregnancy-related sickness or suddenly raising performance issues that had not previously been mentioned, you are protected by pregnancy discrimination law. If you feel that the treatment is related to your pregnancy, you can talk informally to your HR department, union representative or a more senior manager.

You should try to keep talking to your employer for as long as possible to try to resolve things amicably, especially if you want to keep on working for your new employer. It can help to get information on your rights to show to your employer as many are not aware of the law in this area.

If you are unable to solve the matter at work, see How to resolve disputes at work, below. I have been dismissed but my employer says that it is because of poor performance not pregnancy. An employer will rarely admit that an employee has been dismissed for being pregnant. There will be circumstances when a dismissal during pregnancy may be for fair reasons, such as gross misconduct or persistent poor performance.

Except in the most serious cases of gross misconduct, the employer will be expected to have warned the employee and conducted a disciplinary hearing. You should also have been given an opportunity to improve.

If the dismissal or detrimental treatment is because of your pregnancy or for reasons connected to your pregnancy, such as pregnancy-related sickness absence, it is discriminatory. You are entitled to ask for written reasons if you are dismissed at any time during your pregnancy. If you bring a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal, automatic unfair dismissal and pregnancy discrimination, your employer will have to prove that the dismissal was for a fair reason and was not because of your pregnancy.

If you are thinking of making a claim in an employment tribunal you must contact ACAS first to try to resolve it through Early Conciliation. You must contact ACAS on 11 00 within the time limit of three months less one day from the date of your dismissal. I told my employer about my pregnancy last week and have been told my post is being made redundant. Can my employer do that?

For full information about your rights, see Redundancy during pregnancy, maternity and parental leave. My employer has reduced my shifts because of a downturn in work but no-one else has had their shifts reduced and it is going to affect my maternity pay. You may have a claim for pregnancy discrimination and loss of wages if your employer is cutting your shifts because of your pregnancy or in order to avoid payment of Statutory Maternity Pay SMP.

In some cases there may be a genuine reduction in work and an employer will have to reduce the amount of work offered to its employees but this must be done in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. If your pay is reduced during the calculation period for SMP, which is approximately weeks 18 to 26 of your pregnancy, your SMP may be lower or you may not qualify for SMP at all.

If your employer dismissed you, made you redundant or ended your contract to avoid paying SMP you can contact the HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team on and ask for a formal decision, see How to resolve disputes at work below. For more information on how to get your maternity pay, see Maternity Pay Questions. You should speak to your employer about the reduction in your shifts.

It is best to ask to have an informal chat at first and try to resolve things amicably. If necessary, you can write to your employer, your HR department or a senior manager and ask them to look into it. It may also help to send your employer information on your rights to maternity pay and other rights during pregnancy.

If you are unable to resolve it and your employer continues to refuse work, you may be able to claim loss of wages and pregnancy discrimination in an employment tribunal, see How to resolve disputes at work, below. Miss W worked about 13 hours a week over two to three days as a maid in a hotel.

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