Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination happens when someone is treated unfairly at work, on areas such as hiring, pay, promotions, or firing, because they’re pregnant, might become pregnant, or are on maternity leave. It’s illegal to discriminate against pregnant people, yet this still occurs in the workplace. 

Croner are experts on advising how to prevent discrimination in your business. For immediate support and experienced advice, call one of our experts today on 0808 501 6651.

Discrimination can be cause huge financial and reputational damage to your business and even land you on the receiving end of an employment tribunal. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases are still prevalent across the UK, despite it being classed as one of the Nine Protected Characteristics. It’s essential that your business proactively looks to prevent discrimination and that you and your employees are regularly looking out for indications of any discrimination.  

• What classes as discrimination due to pregnancy?
• Discrimination during pregnancy
• Is pregnancy discrimination illegal?
• Expert HR support from Croner

What classes as discrimination due to pregnancy?

Discrimination of pregnancy can include treating an employee unfairly while they are pregnant, have recently given birth, or are currently breastfeeding. Under the Equality Act 2010, ‘pregnancy and maternity’ are characteristics that are protected. Treating an employee unfavourably because of this will class as discrimination.

What are the signs of discrimination during pregnancy?

As with most discrimination cases, the behaviour towards the affected employee can take many forms; some are obvious, while others can be more difficult to spot. A few red flags to look out for towards the employee include:

• They receive an increase in critical feedback.
• The employee is singled out over others.
• They don’t receive a promotion or pay rise, despite meeting criteria for one.
• Their workload suddenly decreases or increases for no apparent reason.
• Their calendar has fewer appointments.
• Learning and development opportunities stop coming their way.
• They don’t receive an invite to corporate events.

While the examples above should be discouraged, they are not always a sure sign that discrimination is occurring and there are often reasonable explanations. However, if there is a sudden and unexplained change, this may be discriminatory in nature.

Discrimination during pregnancy

Discrimination of pregnancy can take several different forms - one of which is hiring discrimination due to pregnancy.

If an employer decides not to hire a candidate because they’re pregnant, likely to get pregnant, or about to go on maternity leave, this is classed as discrimination. Discrimination can also be shown by:

• Refusing to give the candidate an interview
• Offering a full-time position on a part-time or limited period
• Offering a lower salary or less favourable terms

Another common example is pregnancy promotion discrimination. You should not discourage an employee from applying for a promotion, and you should not refuse promotion due to pregnancy or maternity leave. Similarly, you shouldn’t refuse a pregnant employee pay or reward opportunities because of their pregnancy.

Unfavourable treatment is another example that amounts to discrimination. Behaviour such as:

• Singling out pregnant employees for redundancy.
• Making inappropriate comments relating to pregnancy.
• Penalising women who suffer from illness because of their pregnancy.

Is pregnancy discrimination illegal?   

It is the case sometimes that employers believe they can legally discriminate against employees on health and safety grounds. This is incorrect.

If you have concerns regarding a pregnant employee, you should conduct a full risk assessment and take reasonable steps to remove any risk. If the risk is unable to be removed, you should suspend the employee on full pay or offer alternative work until the risk has been eradicated. Remember, your duty of care to your employees also extends to pregnant employees.

If you’re unsure whether an employee is at risk, seek our expert health and safety advice.

If you decide to dismiss the employee or act in a discriminatory manner to the point where they decide to quit, then you may find yourself in legal trouble and charges brought against you.

Expert HR support from Croner 

We’ve been helping employers for over 80 years in all things HR and Employment Law. If you have any further questions regarding pregnancy discrimination or maternity leave and pay, get in touch with one of our Croner experts now on 0808 501 6651.