Pregnancy or maternity

Under section 18, EA 10, it is unlawful to treat a woman unfavourably during the “protected period”:

• because of her pregnancy;

• because of a pregnancy-related illness;

• because she is on compulsory maternity leave; or

• because she has taken, or asked to take, ordinary or additional maternity leave.

The “protected period” is:

• for a woman who qualifies for maternity leave, the period from the start of the pregnancy to the end of the woman’s maternity leave; and

• for a woman who does not qualify for maternity leave (such as a job applicant or agency worker), the period from the start of a pregnancy until two weeks after it ends (section 18(6), EA 10).

• Employers cannot lawfully justify pregnancy or maternity discrimination under any circumstances (Webb v EMO Cargo (UK) Limited [1994] IRLR 482). No formal comparison with a man is required. This is because only women can be pregnant or give birth (City of London Police v Geldhart [2019] UKEAT/0032/19/RN).

See also page 236: direct pregnancy and maternity discrimination, page 387: automatically unfair dismissal; and page 439: legal protection during redundancy for women who are pregnant or on maternity leave.