Probation period

[louisag1992]

Tell work I'm pregnant, my manager stops taking an interest them all of a sudden I have no help, no training and all of a sudden pull me in with no notice and complete a probation review. Can anyone I guess I failed!?

You could appeal if you believe that the only reason they failed you was directly linked to you announcing you are pg.

It depends on your circumstances and how well you think your probationary period went. If you were doing fine and it came as a complete shock, then put in an appeal, with evidence of your contribution and see if they back down.

Do you have monthly assessments showing progress and areas of improvement?

You have to have a formal warning before dismissal, did you have one?

I agree with the above poster. Gather as much evidence as you can to show you were performing well in your role. From this point on, document everything. You would need to show in any proceedings that it was your pregnancy that had influenced the decision, not your performance. Your rights are limited with less than two years' service, but you are still protected against discrimination in relation to your pregnancy.

Agree. In a similar circumstance here although I'm still within my probation period. Everything I have done is in writing and I've kept every single well done that was great email and have records of everything (but I was screwed over by a previous employer during pregnancy).

How has your performance been? Had they given you any indication or a chance to improve things?

You have to have a formal warning before dismissal, did you have one?

During probation, the employer doesn't have to do much more than what the OP experienced which is to call them to a probation meeting and tell them they've failed and thanks but no thanks.

What they absolutely can't do is get the news for someone that their pg and then suddenly get rid of them. That's clearcut discrimination, if the reason they get rid is as a consequence of the pg.

get the news from the employee that they're pg...

Basically he poked holes in my performance after I have asked countless if times for support, guidance and training or 1-2-1s. He just didn't take an interest even more so after I told him I was pregnant.

Unfortunately if they have evidence that they were unhappy with your performance, ie emails or any written evaluations etc, then trying to prove that your pg was the reason is, realistically, very difficult to do.

i.e. if the performance issues pre-dated your announcement.

No evidence of this at all! But hey ho, he can come in still drunk, sit on Facebook all day and hes golden! Oh well, not someone I want to work under I suppose.

Do they have a probation policy? And if so, have they followed it?

I was told my probation was being extended to the maximum allowed period. Prior to this surprise meeting there had been no indication whatsoever that they were unhappy with my performance. Nada. I was also issued with a written warning because "it was part and parcel of having probation extended".

I studied the probation guidance and they hadn't done any of what they were supposed to do. Hadn't had any performance meetings/feedback etc. None of the required paperwork had been completed. And according to the guidance, probation could only be extended to the maximum amount under exceptional circumstances. For example, the employee had been off sick for a chunk of the probation so company unable to review performance fairly.

I appealed and won. Probation passed and written warning scrubbed