Can I Get Fired for Missing Work Due to Pregnancy
Your rights at piece of work if you are sick during pregnancy
Terminal updated: 2 Aug 2021
This article provides information on pregnancy-related sickness and protections at work for pregnant women. For more information on health and safe during COVID, come across our FAQ page on rights relating to pregnancy and new parents and our page on health and safe rights for meaning women.
Ill leave during pregnancy
If yous are too ill to piece of work you demand to accept sick go out. You should follow your employer's ill leave procedures. About employers will permit you lot to have a few days off without a doctor's notation, but for longer periods of time they can ask for a doctor'due south note.
Ill leave is unlike other forms of leave in that you can eventually be disciplined or dismissed for taking also much ( except for illness related to pregnancy ). If you have odd days of sickness hither and at that place and your employer believes yous are taking more time off than you demand or that you are not genuinely ill, your employer may bailiwick or dismiss you for misconduct.
If you take a long catamenia of sickness or repeated periods of disease ( except for disease related to pregnancy ), fifty-fifty if your employer believes your disease to be genuine, your employer can say that you are no longer able to work and dismiss you on the grounds of capability. This is true even if your illness was caused in the workplace.
How long you can take off volition depend on lots of factors, including your length of service and how long your illness is likely to last, as well as your employer's need to find someone to embrace your absence.
In determining how much sickness absence you have had, employers are not immune to accept into account:
- Pregnancy related illness during your pregnancy.
- Time off for ante-natal appointments for your pregnancy
- Maternity, Paternity, Adoption or Shared Parental leave
- Parental exit
- Time off for dependants
- Health and safe suspension
- Holiday or almanac go out
If you accept been off sick for a long time, sometimes an employer will ask y'all to submit to an occupational health assessment, or to give consent to a medical report beingness sought from your GP. Unless your contract says y'all must agree to this, you lot can say no, only your employer might draw their own conclusions if you say no.
Pregnancy-related sickness and sickness absenteeism records
If y'all are ill during pregnancy, your employer'due south normal sickness rules apply, with a few exceptions. If the illness is pregnancy-related information technology should exist recorded as such and it should be ignored in respect of any employment decision or the assessment of any benefits at any stage of your employment.
Your sickness absence during pregnancy should non count towards your sickness record if your employer has a procedure that may lead to dismissal one time an employee reaches a sure level of sickness absence.
For this reason information technology is a adept idea for your physician to state on your sick notes when an illness is pregnancy-related.
Ill leave for health and safety risks
Y'all should not exist asked to continue sick leave if the reason yous cannot work is because it is not safe for y'all or your baby. This is true even if you have a pregnancy-related medical condition that makes it more difficult for you lot to do your job.
You are entitled to protection from your employer in this situation – y'all should not be penalised past beingness forced to take sick get out. The law says that if you cannot do your job because information technology involves a health and condom take a chance to yous or your baby, your employer must either:
- Remove the risk – for example, avoiding heavy lifting if this is usually office of your task
- If the risk cannot exist removed, offering you suitable alternative work on the same pay
If neither option is possible, your employer must suspend you on full pay for as long as the gamble continues, which could be correct upwardly until the signal y'all start your maternity exit.
If y'all receive less than full pay or are put on sick leave in this state of affairs then you may have a merits for pregnancy discrimination. You may also be entitled to claim full pay from your employer by making a claim for 'unlawful deduction of wages' in an Employment Tribunal. If this happens to y'all, you should seek communication straight away. Also meet our article on wellness and safety rights for pregnant women for more information.
Often asked questions
What pay can I get if I am off sick during pregnancy?
You should check your contract to see if you lot are entitled to whatsoever contractual sick pay. Most employees and agency workers are at the minimum entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, or Employment and Support Allowance.
You should not exist treated less favourably than other employees because you are sick. For instance, you should be paid your employer'south normal ill pay. If your employer does not have sick pay or you take exhausted your entitlement, and then your employer must pay you Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you lot meet the conditions of entitlement.
Volition my motherhood pay be afflicted if I am off sick and on SSP?
If you lot practise not receive total pay from your employer when you are off sick or your earnings drop in weeks 18 to 26 of your pregnancy, your Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) may exist reduced. Your SMP depends on what you lot actually receive during the adding period. If y'all only receive Statutory Ill Pay during this period yous volition non qualify for SMP, as you need to earn the lower earnings limit to qualify. If you lot do not authorize for SMP, yous may qualify for Maternity Allowance, only you may amend off financially by using your annual leave during these weeks if your maternity pay is at chance. For more data, see our article on computing maternity pay.
Tin can my employer start my maternity leave early if I am off sick?
Your employer can first your motherhood get out automatically if you are off piece of work for a pregnancy-related illness in the iv weeks before the week your baby is due. It does not matter what you lot previously agreed with your employer. Your maternity get out and any motherhood pay will offset on the day after the get-go solar day of absence from work. However, your employer may choose to overlook the odd day of absence during this menstruation if they wish.
This advice applies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Republic of ireland. If you live in another part of the Great britain, the law may differ. Please call our helpline for more details
If yous have further questions and would like to contact our advice team please employ our advice contact grade below or call u.s..
Have you heard nearly your right to request flexible working? Watch our film to find out more.
The information on the police contained on this site is provided free of charge and does non, and is non intended to, amount to legal advice to any person on a specific case or matter. If you lot are not a solicitor, you are advised to obtain specific legal communication about your case or thing and non to rely solely on this information. Law and guidance is changing regularly in this area.
Source: https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/your-rights-if-you-are-ill-during-pregnancy/
0 Response to "Can I Get Fired for Missing Work Due to Pregnancy"
Post a Comment