Hi, I wondered if anyone could help me with some advice for my friend.
We are both professionals employed by a small business with a single owner. Neither of us have contracts - we both asked multiple times but they were never provided, and after a while I stopped asking - I was under the impression that when you had worked for a year, you had a verbal contract based on your working hours and conditions. I realise I was a little naive and probably should have pushed more.
I am currently on maternity leave, and have had no major issues with my boss, although he was decidedly unsympathetic to the fact that I needed to make some adjustments to the way I worked in later pregnancy e.g. needing a chair rather than standing up all day. I also came under a lot of pressure not to start my maternity leave early when it became apparent I wasn't coping with the strains of the job - however I was signed off at 35 weeks with raised blood pressure, which put an end to any arguments, and I started my maternity leave straight away.
My colleague is 12 weeks pregnant, and has had a difficult first trimester with a lot of sickness. She has taken 6 days off sick in the last month. Previous to becoming pregnant, she has had days off sick for a few reasons, and has always been paid. I have also had paid sick days in the past. Our employer has now said that she is not entitled to sick pay for pregnancy related complications, and has not paid her for those days. As well as this, he forced her to take a further 3 sick days the previous month as holiday.
Is he allowed to do this? I realise her position is difficult as we don't have written contracts. But if he has previously paid for sick leave, can he then refuse to continue to do so now she is pregnant, or is this discrimination?
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Sick pay issues
6 replies
SpanielFace · 04/12/2012 20:07
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