Performance appraisal, training, promotion

A woman on maternity leave must be given the benefit of any pay rise linked to a performance review, as if she had not been on leave. Any pay rise must be taken into account when calculating the earnings-related element of her statutory (or any contractual) maternity pay (see Chapter 6).

Employees must not suffer a “detriment” for a reason relating to taking maternity, adoption or shared parental leave (section 47(C), ERA 96). This could include any work-related disadvantage, such as intentional exclusion from a training course because an employee is away on leave.

It would be pregnancy discrimination for an employer to cancel training because a woman is pregnant or about to go on maternity leave. In practice, the woman may want to reach an agreement with her employer to postpone training until after the end of her maternity leave, or to use a KIT day to attend the training (see Chapter 6).