To think this is pregnancy discrimination?

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I started a new job a few months ago. The job was part time, but every day with the same working hours. The company is a very small family run business, in an industry that requires certain skills/qualifications in order to do the job. When I started I’d already been qualified for a year and had worked at another company doing the same job. Despite this I felt very much like a spare part from the beginning, being given work outside of my job role such as cleaning and office work 90% of the time because I’m ‘less experienced’ than the other staff and made to feel like I have to prove myself first.

a few weeks into starting the job I found out I was pregnant, which was very happy news after having some problems conceiving. I kept it to myself for a while, hiding the morning sickness and fatigue at work and just getting on with it. After the scan I posted the news on SM and nobody from the company acknowledged it. I’d felt uneasy about telling them in person because of how new I was in the role.

Immediately after my announcement they stopped updating my rota and it just showed I had no hours. This went on for a couple of weeks, and when I asked about it I was told that there wasn’t enough work for me this week. A few days later I received a contract in the post saying I’m now on a zero hours contract. I tried to get in contact about this and was ignored. Another month has now gone by and I’ve not been offered any hours or had any contact with them at all.

Is this their way of getting rid of me for being pregnant? I wasn’t planning on taking any real maternity leave anyway since my partner is a SAHD and I could have easily carried on doing the hours after a few weeks off since it wasn’t full time. I’m getting UC and I’m worried it’s going to mess up my claim.

I don’t think she’s ever formally told them.

You’re about to have a child. How are you going to cope if this is your attitude? You can’t bury your head in the sand and hope for the best.

Op, I mean this gently but you ask if this is their way of getting rid of you. You do understand you do not work for them anymore, and have not for a month?

Yikes , I think you might have shot yourself in the foot here.
What was your original contract ?

Well it probably is but because of they way you’ve gone about this, they can easily say they weren’t aware as you hadn’t actually told them and the change came about due to business needs. They are likely not interacting with the post on purpose, plausible deniability. I think you’ve shot yourself in the foot here.

By the way it’s quite normal to have to build up trust for a bit in a new job and do roles that aren’t your actual job for a few weeks whilst you settle in.

I tried to get in contact about this and was ignored. Another month has now gone by and I’ve not been offered any hours or had any contact with them at all

Yeah they've got rid of you. I'd unfriend them and hand in your notice.

What notice, she has no job.

It does look like it is pregnancy discrimination, but you would have a hard case proving it if you've not actually told anyone you're pregnant. If they've not acknowledged your posts on social media, and you've not officially told them then they are likely to argue that they didn't know and it is a coincidence that them putting you on a zero hours contract just after your announcement. Please seek advice from someone like Pregnant Then Screwed. But also you need to officially tell them you're pregnant so they can do a risk assessment and prepare to pay you maternity leave. If you leave it too late you might not be able to claim it.

What was your original contract?

Hi OP, sorry if someone else has already suggested this.

I was booted off a project at work, towards the end of my maternity leave. It was pregnancy discrimination and it wasn’t difficult to prove. I was put in touch with a charity called Pregnant Then Screwed. They were phenomenal and secured me a fantastic outcome. 10/10 would recommend this charity.

Reach out to them. They can tell you pretty quickly if you are a victim of such discrimination and they will be an enormous help.

I'm sorry to say that you've handled this incorrectly, OP.

If your colleagues are your social media, you absolutely should have informed work formally before allowing them to find out indirectly.

As it is, you can't prove that anyone saw your post, nor that they acted on it, so although it may well be pregnancy discrimination, you have no proof at all.

Not true. See my post above.

And you don’t need 2 years’ service to be protected from discrimination.

They are skating on thin ice.

Pregnant and Screwed are fantastic but I would be interested to know what they can advise in this situation, given OP has not actually told them she was pregnant and is very early on in her employment so other protections outside of the protected characteristics don’t apply.

This is no reason to not tell them an important piece of information. How long were you going to wait ?

Sorry OP you have massively fucked yourself here by not formally letting them know before posting it as although you are probably correct about this being deliberate due to the pregnancy you have absolutely no proof that they were aware of it and therefore they can simply say it was unrelated and claim ignorance. A tough lesson learned.

Not long ago someone was awarded nearly £400k in compensation for racial harassment and discrimination after less than 2 weeks at work before having to go off sick with stress. Discrimination is completely separate from other employment rights.

I’m sorry but I think it was really stupid of you to post of SM and not formally tell them! They most likely are discriminating against you but now they can plead ignorance! They can claim the zero hours is a coincidence and it will be pretty hard to prove otherwise given you haven’t told them you’re pregnant! Why did you do this??

And FWIw you don’t need absolute proof beyond reasonable doubt in an employment tribunal. You just need to demonstrate that something is more likely to have occurred than not.

OP - call Acas. They can tell you the best course of action.

Yes I know, hence my last line….

Racial discrimination bit irrelevant here. The company has plausible deniability. There is no way to prove they saw the post.

1. Did you have a contract?
2. have you actually told them formally that you are pregnant?
3. if you had only been there a few months were you still on probabtion?

Yes I’m aware I should have told them beforehand, I was just very anxious about it as they were always overly critical of me and in the moment it seemed like posting about it would be the best way. I know now it was a stupid move on my part

See my last post about level of proof needed.
Im not saying OP will win and it’s guaranteed, but it’s a lower bar in employment law and a decent lawyer could adequately demonstrate the link.

Also OP could just ask them if the reason she’s being dismissed and re-engaged (new contract issue) is because they have heard that she’s pregnant. I wonder if they backtrack a bit.

Acas.

1. Everyone has a contract, even if it’s not written down.
2. Answered, I think.
3. Not relevant.

Speak to ACAS rather than people on Mumsnet

@devildeepbluesea - hence I am interested in what Pregnant than Screwed have to say. I don’t think this is as clear cut as you are trying to make out. ACAS aren’t great at pregnancy discrimination by the way. Pregnant then Screwed had me in front of a solicitor in a week.