Maternity Discrimination and pregnancy
Many of you may have read about the self-represented Claimant who was awarded £60,000 by an Employment Tribunal having been discriminated against following her maternity leave. Donna Patterson was a part-time buyer in the supermarket’s online business and was asked to return to a full time role once her maternity leave ended. Upon raising her [...]
This week we are looking at employment status. Employment status is an issue that dominated much of the employment tribunal news agenda around five years ago with companies such as Uber, Deliveroo and Addison Lee. Employment Status can be divided into three categories, employees, workers and self-employed. The test of whether someone is self-employed or [...]
Channel 4 and Monzo have made headlines recently for becoming among the first businesses to adopt a specific miscarriage policy. By law, employees only become entitled to maternity/paternity leave if their child is stillborn (when their child dies after the 24th week of pregnancy or during birth). There is no legal entitlement to maternity/paternity leave [...]
This case looks at what constitutes unfavourable treatment for a discrimination claim. More specifically, can treatment still be unfavourable if it precludes the employee from danger? Facts Mrs. Town was employed by Devon and Cornwall police as a police officer (on the ‘front line’ as a Response Officer). In November 2017 she informed her manager [...]
There is no question this week but this case serves as a classic example of way an ostrich approach to Tribunal defences is not a good strategy. Ms Grunwell, the Claimant, bought claims for unpaid holiday and maternity discrimination against Chelmsford Unisex Hair Salon, the Respondent. Her claim alleged she was dismissed by the Respondent [...]
Greetings and welcome back to another weekly case law update. Last week we looked at harassment on several grounds including race, sex and sexual harassment. This week we are looking at settlement agreements and tribunal procedure regarding the admissibility of evidence. Long-time readers may remember the case of Bailey v Faithorn Farrell Timms LLP which […]
The next lot of rates to be updated are the family friendly pay rates for maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay and adoption pay. As of 7th April (next Monday) rates will increase from £145.18 to £148.68 a week. On the same day, the minimum weekly earnings to qualify for parental pay will also […]
The question this week is: Does sending an important email to an email account that staff on maternity leave don’t access amount to an act of unfavourable treatment? Ms Jackson, was one of 18 Claimants who was made redundant by South West Yorkshire NHS, the Respondent, whilst off on maternity leave. As the Claimants were […]
It is believed over 50,000 women lose their jobs each year as a result of being pregnant or taking maternity leave. One in nine women surveyed by the Department for Business and Energy said they had been dismissed, made redundant or felt they had to resign following their return from having a child. Following a […]
Over the past few months we have run employment law related features on government scandals. Following the swathes of cabinet and government resignations this month, we were going to play a game of ‘Constructive dismissal, or no constructive dismissal?’ in our topical news segment this month. Would you say Boris Johnson’s implied term of trust […]
The history about the employability, mobility and equality of female employees is one that often hangs on pregnancy and maternity. Whilst it is discriminatory and illegal to treat women unfavourably due to pregnancy and/or maternity, many employers wrongly perceive female employees as an absence risk, commitment or financial risk due to the fact they might […]
Can a decision to dismiss an employee be fair if the decision to dismiss was before the employer discovered the employee was pregnant but the employer had knowledge of pregnancy before the dismissal took effect? Really Easy Car Credit Ltd v Thompson Ms Thompson, the Claimant, was employed as a telesales operative by Really Easy […]
A recent survey of over 1,000 business decision makers by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found that a large proportion of employers hold antiquated views. Maternity and sex discrimination in the workplace: Nearly half of employers think it is acceptable to ask a female applicant if she has children during an interview (46%) […]
After looking back at some particularly sombre pieces of festive news, it is time to look forward at what to expect from 2018. 2018 could be a big year for case law. For the gig economy, the Uber and Pimlico Plumbers appeals will be heard before the CoA and Supreme Court respectively early this year, with decision impacting worker status […]
