Pregnancy discrimination

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I haven’t come across a thread relating to pregnancy discrimination so thought I’d start one to ask beg for support and hear your stories.
I’m currently 12 weeks and since I told my manager at Christmas I have been bullied by her and my colleagues. I had to tell her early on as I work in a physical job and wanted a risk assessment done.
Some of the things that have happened just amount to childish playground behaviour, others have been pretty serious but hard to prove, it’s making each day very uncomfortable as no one speaks to me and I desperately want to quit already. The plan is to start maternity leave at 29 weeks when it can officially start but I don’t know how to hold on that long without going insane.
I know no job is worth the stress and unhappiness but I really need the SMP to survive. Can anyone point me in the direction of where I stand financially in each scenario please? If I was to quit could I bring a claim of constructive dismissal or would it be a case of relying on government support until maternity allowance kicks in? No one will employ me for the sake of a few months so I don’t think it would be simple to find a new job. Even if I get signed off sick with stress I’d only receive £99 a week maternity allowance!
Sorry for the rant, I’m not after sympathy, just to find a way to get through this so I don’t feel so alone and to help others if you’re in the same position.
 
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I’m sorry your employer is acting so terribly. I would suggest speaking with ACAS (https://www.acas.org.uk/managing-yo...rimination-because-of-pregnancy-and-maternity) as they are not legally allowed to discriminate or bully you as pregnancy is a protected characteristic.

ETA: this is just one link from the search I did on their website, not necessarily their only advice.

I also suggest joining us in the tattle pregnancy board! We’re good for being a sounding board where needed!
 
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Sorry you are going through this, I’m assuming you have no HR on site?

Definitely contact ACAS they will advise you on next steps just make sure you tell them everything. Have you looked at raising a grievance? Appreciate you may not feel comfortable doing this though. In the mean time, get a notebook and write down every upsetting/harsh/mean etc comment your manager/colleagues says to you:
- what they said
- who said it
- who else was there
- location
- date
- time

Also if you’ve told your manager that a colleague has said something harsh to you, if the manager doesn’t follow up or laughs it off. Record that as well. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have evidence.

I really hope it gets better for you though, it always blows my mind how poor employers are when it comes to pregnancy/maternity!

ETA: if your direct manager is being a knobhead as well, could you not go to another manager or their line manager? (If you don’t have HR on site)
 
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Thanks for replying. No HR and my managers’ manager is also involved! If I bypassed them and went to head office I may aswell hand the keys to my house back to the agents as I’ll be sacked on the spot. They would find a reason to sack me that is unrelated to my pregnancy this is how awful the company and people are. The passive aggressiveness and blanking me is the biggest bug bear. I try and ignore it but the atmosphere is horrible. They all gossip about me and make it really obvious by looking in my direction while talking in a group. These are all parents who were also pregnant at some point during their employment with the company so you’d think they would have some understanding! I have a diary that I add to each day, I just hope I can find a way to leave without losing too much maternity pay before it gets worse.
 
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Oh god that’s terrible, I can’t imagine how much stress this must be causing to you. I’m pleased (if that’s the right word!) that you’ve got a diary and have been recording their crappy behaviour.

They would need a strong case to sack you particularly as you are pregnant. Also if you’ve worked there over 2 years you do have employment rights as well. Although with discrimination cases the two year rule does not apply.

However, I know how shady some companies can be and this most definitely sounds like one!

Do contact ACAS and see what they suggest.
 
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Thank you I will do tomorrow, it’s been going on for 2 months now. I’m pretty thick skinned but there’s only so much someone can take when it’s 5 against 1! I’ve only worked there for 6 months so I haven’t got much employment protection and I’m still in my probation period until April. I sometimes wonder if it would be easier if she sacked me, I’d hopefully get a pay out for unfair dismissal and never have to see them again! Wishful thinking I know
 
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Thank you I will do tomorrow, it’s been going on for 2 months now. I’m pretty thick skinned but there’s only so much someone can take when it’s 5 against 1! I’ve only worked there for 6 months so I haven’t got much employment protection and I’m still in my probation period until April. I sometimes wonder if it would be easier if she sacked me, I’d hopefully get a pay out for unfair dismissal and never have to see them again! Wishful thinking I know
You have protection through maternity, so length of service doesnt matter.

Keep track of everything. Sometimes the threat of Acas is enough to make them behave or start a settlement process. Even without HR, they will be expected to follow Acas guidelines at the very least. You could raise a grievance based on maternity discrimination and bullying - unless they have proof that you've failed in your job (and can show you were given fair opportunity to address concerns and improve), they'd have little to defend against it being due to your pregnancy.

Also, worst case, would you be entitled to claim universal credit?
 
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Thank you, it’s reassuring to know I’ll have legal support out there regardless of the outcome. I think so yes but not enough to survive on, I don’t know how people do it to be honest, my outgoings are higher than the basic rate so I’d prefer to avoid it
 
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Thank you, it’s reassuring to know I’ll have legal support out there regardless of the outcome. I think so yes but not enough to survive on, I don’t know how people do it to be honest, my outgoings are higher than the basic rate so I’d prefer to avoid it
It is really tough - when baby is here, you'd also get the child element too.

Have a chat with Acas - i hope things improve x
 
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Thank you, it’s reassuring to know I’ll have legal support out there regardless of the outcome. I think so yes but not enough to survive on, I don’t know how people do it to be honest, my outgoings are higher than the basic rate so I’d prefer to avoid it
Definitely double check before you quit if you have any thoughts of doing so. You’d have to prove you had a good reason to quit or you might not get paid as much (which you do but it’s proving it). Citizens advice can tell you all of the things you need to do regarding the job, the unemployment benefits and the maternity pay implications, I’d give them a call first.

It’s also against the law to not employ someone because they are pregnant and you don’t have to declare it so you could try to find something else if you do have to leave. There are maternity pay implications based on how Many weeks before your due date you start so ask about that too.
https://maternityaction.org.uk is a good resource, they have an advice line
 
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Thank you all, I’m finally finished after another horrible day so I’ll sit down and go through all the websites and details, really appreciate you all taking the time to help.
 
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sorry it’s been another rubbish day. Just remember, they’re assholes and the law is on your side.
 
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Thank you, I’m waiting for someone to call me back tomorrow to discuss so hopefully I’ll have a better idea of where I stand legally. Another 17 weeks of this nonsense then I’ll be free.
 
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No one got back to me unfortunately, I couldn’t speak to a real person so I left a message with a response that they would get back to me within 24 hours. I understand they’re likely all very busy though so I’ll be patient, but it’s getting worse each day. Thanks for checking in x
 
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No one got back to me unfortunately, I couldn’t speak to a real person so I left a message with a response that they would get back to me within 24 hours. I understand they’re likely all very busy though so I’ll be patient, but it’s getting worse each day. Thanks for checking in x
Did you hear anything back yet?

My work have been a nightmare. To start with they appeared supportive but cracks started to show. Rolling of the eyes when I asked to go to appointments, suggesting I was lying when I said the GTT was two hours long. From the start I’ve been transparent that I’d like to reduce my hours once baby is here and they were very understanding to start with and said they’d create a job share, they didn’t want to lose me etc. (This was in November). In January I was signed off with pregnancy related health issues for a couple of weeks before my maternity leave started. Their attitude completely changed. They have become so cold, rude and I felt like I was being interrogated whenever I phoned to update. They also suddenly said when my leave started that they don’t think they’ll be able to accommodate me coming back part time so I’ll be redeployed. This conversation shouldn’t even be happening yet until I put in my flexible request form in 12 weeks before I intend to return. Technically they haven’t done anything wrong yet, and the redeployment if they can’t accommodate your change in hours is company policy, but I do feel like the sudden change in attitude is punishing me for being unwell snd signed off. I’ve also had messages from colleagues saying they’ve been talking about it at work and saying there would be “no point” me coming back. I’ve worked there over 10 years so it’s been upsetting to hear. They shouldn’t be discussing it with my colleagues either surely it’s not their business??

They were really horrible about another colleague going off slightly early too (again due to health problems just a couple of weeks early) just total lack of empathy and understanding. What gets me is my bosses daughter just had her first child and was very unwell throughout the pregnancy. I just keep wondering how she would feel if it was her daughter being treated like this??

Sorry for the really long post, had to get it all out lol and wondering where I stand ??
 
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Hi I’m sorry to hear you’re going through the same. I haven’t had any professional advice different to what is on the maternityaction website unfortunately, I do feel let down by the supposed help on offer for women in our position, each helpline and charity I have tried have come back with the same response. I have 12 weeks left of physically being in work before I can begin Mat leave so I’m hoping the time flies.
Could you speak to someone from HR if you have one? It does sound really unfair and like they are trying to push you out from returning. I’ve had the same rude comments, but any other pregnant person is worshipped! If I’m off with sickness or anything I get the cold shoulder when I return ‘for making their job so much harder.’
Make sure you keep a record of all comments with date and times, so if you do need to make a formal complaint you have evidence of their behaviour. It’s discrimination to refuse to let you come back, they’d have to make you redundant in a certain way just before your Mat leave ends, not right now.
 
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