A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld an Employment Tribunal’s finding that a female employee on maternity leave had been discriminated against on grounds of pregnancy and unfairly dismissed.
In St Alphonsus RC Primary School v Blenkinsop, the employee was a teaching assistant who became pregnant but delayed telling her employer until she had a MATB1 form from her midwife which confirmed the expected week of childbirth. The midwife told the employee she would be entitled to maternity pay and the employee then raised this with her employer. The employee signed the appropriate maternity leave form, giving the expected week of childbirth as 23 July 2007 and her date of start of maternity leave as 25 May 2007.
Shortly after, the employee was offered a temporary contract for September to December 2007, but she did not accept as she felt it was too close to the birth of her baby. In January 2008, she had a meeting with her employer. She wanted to return to work on 25 February 2008, nine months after the start of her maternity leave. Her employer made it clear she would not be returning to work on that date. The employee asked her employer to put in writing his reasons for stating there was no post for her to return to. The employee was entitled to have the reasons for her dismissal in writing.
The employer responded suggesting that the employee had indicated she would not be returning to work and her rejection of the offer of the temporary contract from September to December 2007 meant that there was no post for her at the school. In appealing the Employment Tribunal’s findings of unfair dismissal following discrimination on grounds of pregnancy, the employer argued that the employee’s effective date of dismissal was at the meeting in January so her Employment Tribunal claim was out of time.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed this point. It concluded that the employee had sufficient continuity of employment on 25 February 2008, when she was denied the opportunity to return to work. The Employment Appeal Tribunal agreed that it was implied in the employee’s signing of the maternity leave form and use of the words “maternity leave” that she intended to return to work. The offer of temporary employment implied that the employer intended to her to return to work once her maternity leave was finished. Therefore the employer’s appeal that the employee was on a fixed term contract which had ended was rejected.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that she had been discriminated against on grounds of pregnancy and maternity leave so her claim for unfair dismissal succeeded.
If you are on maternity leave and have problems with returning to work or are concerned about how your employer is treating you, phone either Ashley Hunt or Vaishali Thakerar now on 0116 212 1000 or complete one of the on-line forms. Initial discussion of your situation is free so you can find out where you stand.
