Maternity Rights
Over the past 5 years there has been a substantial increase in the number of claims to the Employment Tribunal for pregnancy related unfair dismissal. It is difficult to know whether this reflects increasing discrimination by employers or increasing awareness of employment rights by employees but more than 1,000 women made claims in the last recorded year.
One of the reasons why so many claims are made to the Employment Tribunal is that the law relating to maternity rights is both complicated and counter-intuitive. The legal starting point is the general principle that an employer must not discriminate against an employee for a reason related to her pregnancy or maternity leave. This protection applies to all employees and any dismissal in connection with pregnancy or maternity leave (including dismissal for pregnancy related sickness absence) will be both automatically unfair and an act of sex discrimination regardless of the length of time for which the employee has worked for the employer.
All employers are obliged to carry out a risk assessment in respect of pregnant employees and to make appropriate adjustments to their working environment and must allow employees to take paid time off for anti-natal care.
All employees are entitled to 12 months maternity leave regardless of the length of time they have been employed. Statutory maternity pay (SMP) is payable where the employee has been employed for 6 months as of the 15th week before the expected date. SMP amounts to 90% of the employee's pay for the first 6 weeks of their maternity leave and then £123.06 per week for the next 33 weeks. If the employee takes more than 39 weeks maternity leave then the remainder of their maternity leave will be unpaid.
One area of law that causes particular difficulty and concern for some employers is the general rule that employers must not discriminate against pregnant women when they are recruiting new employees. The fact that a job applicant is heavily pregnant and close to their expected date must not be part of the reason for rejecting them for employment. A job rejection based upon the pregnancy of the job applicant will be an act of discrimination under the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act. It is important that employers review their recruitment procedures in light of this information and protect themselves against potentially substantial discrimination claims.
October 2008
This article gives a general overview only and the legal position at the time of writing this article. It cannot be relied upon in any particular case. Specific legal advice must always be considered to include consideration as to whether the legal position contained in this article has changed since going to print. For further information and advice, please contact Paul Archer or Lauren Harkin on 01793 527141 or alternatively by email on Paul.Archer@lemon-co.co.uk or Lauren.Harkin@lemon-co.co.uk.
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<p><strong><a href="http://www.lemon-co.co.uk/article_maternity-rights.php">Maternity Rights </a></strong><br />
The Equal Opportunities Commission has recently published research showing a substantial increase in the number of claims to the Employment Tribunal for pregnancy related unfair dismissal. It is difficult to know whether this reflects increasing discrimination by employers or increasing awareness of employment rights by employees but more than 1,000 women made claims in the last recorded year....</p>
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