Job opportunities

Whether or not at risk of redundancy, it is likely to be sex discrimination not to keep an employee on maternity leave informed about any job opportunities that they would have found out about had they been at work. In Visa International Services v Paul [2004] IRLR 42 EAT, an employee on maternity leave was not told about two new posts that had been created. The failure to notify her was held to be a breach of mutual trust and confidence and sex discrimination, even though she would not have been shortlisted for either post given her lack of relevant experience. It is probably sex discrimination even if the employee would not have been available to take up the post until the end of the maternity leave (Webb v EMO Air Cargo UK Limited [1992] 4 AER 929), and maybe even if the job opportunity is short and for a fixed-term only (Tele Danmark A/S v Handels –og Kontorfunktion-aerernes Furbund Danmakr (HK) C-109/00 [2001] ECR 1-6993).