What Are Your Employment Rights When Pregnant or on Maternity Leave?

If you’re a woman and have a baby, you’re eligible for protection from workplace discrimination. Familiarise yourself with the laws in place to protect your rights as a new mother.

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is illegal in the United Kingdom, but unfortunately, it still happens. It takes many forms, including firing a woman for getting pregnant, not hiring a pregnant woman, or giving her a promotion because she has a child. It can also involve taking away job responsibilities when an employee is pregnant and refusing to offer reasonable accommodations to help expectant mothers do their jobs. As a pregnant woman or new mum, you must understand your rights to stand up for them if necessary.

In today’s episode, we have Suzanne Staunton from JMW solicitors, where she works as an Employment Discrimination Barrister and Partner. Her role includes providing advice, preparing cases, and presenting the cases at court or tribunal.

She joins us to help you understand some of your rights during pregnancy and maternity leave, how you can approach the situation and ensure you’re not being discriminated against, and whom to talk to in case it happens.

Key Highlights

[00:58] About Suzanne

[02:36] Telling your employer about the pregnancy

[05:38] What about those working from home?

[07:26] Are you eligible to attend antenatal appointments on full pay?

[09:43] Informing your potential employer about your pregnancy

[12:15] What if you’re ill and admitted during pregnancy?

[14:58] What are you eligible for on maternity leave?

[17:48] Your rights during maternity leave

[19:32] Can your employer change your role while you’re pregnant?

[20:52] Can your employer change your work location while you’re on maternity leave?

[23:04] Keeping contact with your employer during maternity leave

[28:04] Is there a legal requirement for a business to respond to flexible working requests within a set period of time?

[29:00] Can your employer make you redundant while you’re on maternity leave?

[34:07] What should you expect on your return to work?

[40:17] Do you have a right to time off in case of pregnancy loss?

[43:00] Do you have the right to time off for your fertility treatment appointments?

[49:00] Most common cases of pregnancy and maternity discrimination

[52:30] What should you do if you’re discriminated against?

[55:03] Speaking to HR about discrimination

[57:31] How to connect with Suzanne

Notable Quotes

You must write to your employer to notify them that you are pregnant.

Working from home shouldn’t make any difference to your pregnancy leave.

All employees are entitled to maternity leave, which is distinct from maternity pay, and that’s 52 weeks.

Women on maternity leave or pregnant have the same rights to be consulted. And to go through that redundancy process as anyone else.

You have a right to return to the same job. But if it’s not reasonable or practical, your Employer has to offer you an alternative job.

If your baby is stillborn before the end of the 24th week of pregnancy, that is treated as a miscarriage. And unfortunately, that means that you can’t qualify for any maternity leave or pay.

If you’re not well enough to work, you should follow your employer’s sickness reporting procedures. And if you need time off sick due to a miscarriage, your company should treat it as pregnancy-related sickness.

Don’t work for anyone else during your maternity leave.

If you feel like you’re being treated differently at work, then keeping a diary is absolutely the best thing that you can do.