Making Sense of Employment Law - Discrimination in Pregnancy
Pregnancy discrimination - who is protected?
Pregnancy discrimination law protects employees, workers and anyone under a contract to personally carry out work. It covers all areas of employment, including:
- Recruitment
- Promotion
- Training
- Redundancy selection
In October 2005, the Sex Discrimination Act was amended to prevent discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy. Pregnancy discrimination is now automatically discriminatory on the grounds of sex, without the need to provide a male comparator.
A male comparator (actual or hypothetical) is used in other sex discrimination cases to test whether a man would have been treated better in similar circumstances.
Types of discrimination in pregnancy
Pregnancy discrimination describes certain actions by an employer during the period from conception to the end of statutory maternity leave - known as the protected period.
There are many forms of workplace discrimination and pregnancy discrimination is where a woman is treated less favourably on the grounds of her pregnancy or pregnancy-related illness.
See also maternity discrimination.
If you would like to talk to our pregnancy discrimination lawyers email Fiona Martin or call your local martin searle solicitors’ office on 01273 609911 (Brighton) or 0208 256 4490 (Croydon).
Rights of pregnant women in the workplace
Pregnancy discrimination law gives pregnant women specific workplace rights. Where an employer fails to observe these rights, pregnancy discrimination lawyers can often help bring an Employment Tribunal claim for unlawful sex discrimination and / or unfair dismissal.
To prevent sex discrimination and pregnancy discrimination, pregnant women have the following rights.
Health and safety
Employers must make suitable and sufficient health and safety assessments of the risks pregnant employees face at work.
Ante-natal appointments
All pregnant employees - regardless of hours worked or length or service - have a statutory right to paid time off for ante-natal care.
Pay
An employee is entitled to her normal hourly pay rate during any time off for ante-natal care.
Unfair dismissal
It is automatically unfair to dismiss a woman or to select her for redundancy where the principal reason is connected to her pregnancy. A pregnant woman is also protected against detrimental treatment for reasons connected to her pregnancy, for example, a failure to promote or pay a bonus.
See our Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Factsheet for more on detrimental treatment and unfair dismissal.
Want to talk to us?
If you would like to discuss an issue concerning workplace discrimination in pregnancy or for any other information relating to discrimination in the workplace email Fiona Martin or call your local martin searle solicitors‘ office on 01273 609911 (Brighton) or 0208 256 4490 (Croydon).
