Sex discrimination legislation clearly protects women from any detrimental treatment including sacking, dismissal or redundancy on grounds that are wholly or partly related to pregnancy.
If you are dismissed while you are pregnant or during maternity leave, your employer must give you a written statement of the reasons for the dismissal. If you are unhappy with these reasons and you want to make a claim against your employer, or if you think you have experienced unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy or maternity, get advice immediately from your union or a specialist adviser.
You are also protected from detrimental treatment other than dismissal, connected with either your pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave and can include, for example, being harassed, having to do inconvenient shifts or having your job downgraded.
You may also have a claim for compensation for sex discrimination: under general sex discrimination law, women are likely to have a good claim in many cases of less favourable treatment because of pregnancy or maternity.
In all of these circumstances you should get advice. You should contact your trade union representatives or specialist adviser. You should do this sooner rather than later as there are strict time limits involved in bringing cases.
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