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Richard Grogan on employment law: Dealing with a pregnant employee

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Article Tags:
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Richard Grogan

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates writes on how to deal with a pregnant employee.

Case ADJ-7060 is a prime example of how not to deal with matters.

In this case the employee, shortly after she advised the employer that she was pregnant, was moved. She was moved to a different role within the hotel where she worked. It was acknowledged that moving the employee was part and parcel of her Contract of Employment but there was no indication of any intention to move her in any role prior to advising that she was pregnant. The AO in this case found on the balance of probabilities that the Operations Manager had stated to the employee when advising that she was pregnant that this could be “a problem”.

The AO in this case found that after the employee had been in hospital for a short period of time that she was given no particulars from the employer as to how to return to work even though she had contacted the employer about doing so.

While a risk assessment was carried out, the AO in this case pointed out that the assessment was only undertaken in respect of the particular role the employee was working in and not in relation to a number of other roles where the employer might have been able to be accommodated.

Once an employee advises an employer she is pregnant there are some basic steps which an employer should take.

  1. Pregnancy is not an illness. It is a fact of life in workplaces. It is never a “problem”. It should never be referred to as a “problem”.

  2. A risk assessment should be carried out. If the employee is in a role where there is a health risk then it is important to ascertain whether there are any other roles within the organisation which the employee could reasonably perform which would not be a danger to the health of the employee.

  3. Employees getting ill during pregnancy, is a fact of life. If an employee gets ill every effort should be made to assist them in getting back to work.

  4. Employees should not be changed from particular roles just because their contract provides that they can simply because they are pregnant. If an employee is to be changed in roles during her pregnancy then it is important that this is explained to the employee as to the reasons why and it must be absolutely clear that none of these relate to the employee’s pregnancy, unless this is based on a health and safety assessment.

  5. In undertaking a health and safety assessment at times it will be necessary to get an appropriate report from a doctor and, where a particular employee has been ill, it is important to obtain same.

  6. Employees who are pregnant should be treated with respect.

    7. In the case which was before the WRC an award of €15,000 was made. This is an award exempt from tax.

    Only a small fraction of these cases ever come to Court. It is quite frightening that there are still employers there who treat pregnant women this way.

    The decision in this case is one which clearly sets out the law but also all the relevant facts and it is one for those who are interested in this area. The case on its facts is interesting to read, both as regards to the fact that the employee acted in a very reasonable way and the actions of the employer were far from reasonable.

    • Richard Grogan is the principal solicitor at Richard Grogan & Associates Solicitors. You can subscribe to the firm’s monthly newsletter at grogansolicitors.ie.

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