PREGNANT&WORK TRYING TO SACK ME

LegacyUser

Hi. Im a public servant and am 3 months pregnant. My 2year probation period was extended by 3months due to my sick leave record.I only recieved notice of this 3 weeks after the 2year date was up. During the 3months extension I never had any sick at all. Got a letter a week before my extension date was up and i was given 2weeks notice. I find this very unfair as I had no sick leave during the 2months extension. I have spoken to my union about this and they advised that I cannot be dismissed because I have had no sick since september and that was only 1 day. Also Im covered by the Maternit Protection Act but that states that I cannot be dismissed for pregnancy related issues only.
Could someone please give me some advise as to what my stand is in relation to this.
Thank you.

axel rose

I had to edit this as I initially read this arseways. How much sick leave did yo take prior to your pregnancy? What contract were you on? Permanent? Was it a two or three month extension? Where there any issues other than your sick leave brought to your attention?

MagicMarker

Unregistered wrote: »

Hi. Im a public servant and am 3 months pregnant. My 2year probation period was extended by 3months due to my sick leave record.I only recieved notice of this 3 weeks after the 2year date was up. During the 3months extension I never had any sick at all. Got a letter a week before my extension date was up and i was given 2weeks notice. I find this very unfair as I had no sick leave during the 2months extension. I have spoken to my union about this and they advised that I cannot be dismissed because I have had no sick since september and that was only 1 day. Also Im covered by the Maternit Protection Act but that states that I cannot be dismissed for pregnancy related issues only.
Could someone please give me some advise as to what my stand is in relation to this.
Thank you.

I don't get it, you've already been told by your union where you stand? What more are you looking for?

dlofnep

axel rose wrote: »

Easy there tiger! They have only extended your probation. Unless you havent told us everything I dont see where they are trying to sack you.

Im easily confused these days but Im confused by your post, Is your probation extended by two or three months? Am I right in reading that you have only taken 1 days sick leave in total in two years? Was it certified or uncertified?

I guess you missed the part where she stated "i was given 2weeks notice."

AARRRGH

Just so we're clear, you didn't have any sick days during the 3 month extension, but did you ever come in late, go home early, or have any sort of problems whatsoever with your manager?

partyguinness

What makes you think it has anything to do with pregnancy?

They can dismiss you. You cld then take a claim to the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the employer wld have to convince them that the dismissal was fair and nothing to do with pregnancy.

Dont take the Unions word as gospel..get proper legal advice.

axel rose

dlofnep wrote: »

I guess you missed the part where she stated "i was given 2weeks notice."

My addled brain assumed that she was referring to two weeks notice of the probation extension.

mikemac

How many sick days had you in the first two years? It must have been a poor record to get your probation extended

theteal

Unregistered wrote: »

My 2year probation period was extended by 3months due to my sick leave record.I only recieved notice of this 3 weeks after the 2year date was up.

afaik this part is legally questionable. once the 2 years is up, probation is over, any extension has to be processed before the deadline date. i had a similar situation very recently and the almighty HR dept advised i was legally unable to add the extension as the time period had expired - might be worth looking into

Serafijn

theteal wrote: »

afaik this part is legally questionable. once the 2 years is up, probation is over, any extension has to be processed before the deadline date. i had a similar situation very recently and the almighty HR dept advised i was legally unable to add the extension as the time period had expired - might be worth looking into

I know the contracts we issue state that the probation period is only complete once written notice has been issued. Check your contract to see if this is in there, if so then I would think they're covered.

Nody

Another thing coming to mind is the maximum length of probation, is the limit not 1 or 2 years maximum for probation or is the state different in this?

InReality

Its a bit tricky for you.
Normally while on Probation you can be dismissed at any time.
They were carefull to extend this so your caught from that side.
The pregnacy would give you a bit of cover , but the fact that you had pre-existing issue with sick-leave and had your probation extended for that reason would pretty much knock that out too.

In short I don't think your union are right, but if they are willing to fight your case you might get away with it.

As an aside if you have the same level of union help as the lad in the middle of the recent fas scandal you would be laughing.He got his sick leave "reclassified" as administrative leave , what ever that is. Of course he's high up the pay scale so that was probably the main reason he got away with it.

Godge

Pregnancy-related sick leave should be discounted. Also, one-off issues, a broken limb in an accident etc. can be discounted. However, if after they have been disregarded, you still have a poor sick leave, there is an issue to be addressed.

LegacyUser

Do companies need a valid reason to drop you during probation?

I was let go at the end of my probation recently, I was told I didn't do anything wrong but there wasn't enough work to go round.

wmpdd3

Current unacceptable levels in the private sector for sick leave are around 3-4 %,
By unacceptable I mean the unions are behind performance managing attendance once that level has been reached.

This would be about 20 days sick in the last 2 years if you were full time for the 2years(4% of 231 possible day work).

Not sure for the private sector but I'd love to know!

Milly82

Godge wrote: »

Pregnancy-related sick leave should be discounted. Also, one-off issues, a broken limb in an accident etc. can be discounted. However, if after they have been disregarded, you still have a poor sick leave, there is an issue to be addressed.

Pregnancy related sick leave is treated as normal sick leave.

IsThatSo?

Milly82 wrote: »

Pregnancy related sick leave is treated as normal sick leave.

AFAIK it can't be held against you the same way that "normal" sick leave can.

r14

Milly82 wrote: »

Pregnancy related sick leave is treated as normal sick leave.

Sick leave during your pregnancy cannot be treated like normal sick leave for the purpose of sacking you. Once you have the baby any sick leave that you take after that can be counted.

Have a look at this for more info:
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/cha/c10914.htm

In particular;

Protection against discriminatory dismissal
Women may not be dismissed for reasons related to their condition for the period from the beginning of their pregnancy to the end of the period of leave from work. In the event of dismissal, the employer must give good grounds in writing. Measures should be taken to protect such workers from the consequences of unlawful dismissal.

I think you may want to contact a solicitor to take this any further.

seamus

Nody wrote: »

Another thing coming to mind is the maximum length of probation, is the limit not 1 or 2 years maximum for probation or is the state different in this?

I don't think there is a maximum probationary period, but once your probationary period exceeds one year, the unfair dismissals act kicks in.

I get the impression here that this wasn't probation at all. It was a two-year initial contract, after which the company/body would decide to either take her on as a full-time employee or would end her contract. In this case, simply dropping the contract is perfectly legal and has nothing to do with pregnancy or whatever.

If this isn't the case, then it would be highly illegal for them to give you two weeks' notice without any kind of warnings or disciplinary notice or even a reason. And it's because of this that I very much doubt she was on a probation in a permanent contract.

kiwikid

r14 wrote: »

Sick leave during your pregnancy cannot be treated like normal sick leave for the purpose of sacking you. Once you have the baby any sick leave that you take after that can be counted.

i don't think its entirely true and maybe hangs on the time you told your employer you were pregnant. Prior to that notification they can take you at your work that a sick day you were indeed sick and not pregnant when your leave would be allowed for to attend appointments.

Did i miss where OP said what the origional issue with sickness leave / extension was explained?

Unions love argie bargy - even when they are wrong. I don't think from the limited info here that you have any case.

r14

kiwikid wrote: »

i don't think its entirely true and maybe hangs on the time you told your employer you were pregnant. Prior to that notification they can take you at your work that a sick day you were indeed sick and not pregnant when your leave would be allowed for to attend appointments.

The law is very protective of pregnant women. Essentially once you become pregnant they are not allowed sack you for any reason related to your pregnancy (even if you haven't told them you are pregnant). Since men can't get pregnant treating a woman differently due to pregnancy is automatically sex discrimination - so the sick leave due to pregnancy can't be counted.

That said they can take account of anything not related to pregnancy and so the previous sick leave/probation issues can still cause problems.

OP- Not a clear cut case but worth further research.

Godge

r14 wrote: »

The law is very protective of pregnant women. Essentially once you become pregnant they are not allowed sack you for any reason related to your pregnancy (even if you haven't told them you are pregnant). Since men can't get pregnant treating a woman differently due to pregnancy is automatically sex discrimination - so the sick leave due to pregnancy can't be counted.

That said they can take account of anything not related to pregnancy and so the previous sick leave/probation issues can still cause problems.

OP- Not a clear cut case but worth further research.

Agree with this completely.

IsThatSo?

The issue here is not the pregnancy though, nor any sick leave related to pregnancy.

OP had probation extended by 3 months due to previous sick leave record, would possibly not have been pregnant at the time.

The pregnancy issue is clouding the waters here as it seems to be irrelevant to the actual query.

OP, if your union said they can't let you go as no sick leave in the probabtion extension then get back onto them and get them to fight for you.

kiwikid

IsThatSo? wrote: »

The issue here is not the pregnancy though, nor any sick leave related to pregnancy.

OP had probation extended by 3 months due to previous sick leave record, would possibly not have been pregnant at the time.

The pregnancy issue is clouding the waters here as it seems to be irrelevant to the actual query.

OP, if your union said they can't let you go as no sick leave in the probabtion extension then get back onto them and get them to fight for you.

this is what i read into the post as well. i wouln't be so believing of unions either so i would be more inclined to ask a solicitor and then base my next step on their advice.

Varkov

The question stands, just how much sick leave DID you take in the two years?