What are some examples of pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace?

See below for some common examples of pregnancy discrimination at work:

  • Refusing to promote an employee because they are pregnant;
  • Not offering you the same training or promotion opportunities;
  • Treating you unfavourably because you have a pregnancy-related sickness;
  • Dismissing an employee due to pregnancy;
  • Refusing to provide workplace adjustments and accommodation;
  • Bullying or harassing an employee for being pregnant;
  • Forcing an employee to take unwanted leave, or making changes to their role due to pregnancy;
  • Mistreating an employee for raising a complaint about pregnancy discrimination;
  • Making a person’s role redundant while they are on maternity leave without there being a genuine redundancy situation;
  • Changing a person’s role, and expecting them to re-apply for it when they return from maternity leave (this may also include an employer suggesting to the person that they don’t apply);
  • Cutting someone’s hourly rate or yearly salary while they are on maternity leave;
  • Refusing employment benefits, such as childcare vouchers or profit share bonus to somebody on maternity leave;
  • Bullying/harassment.