Fixed contract pregnancy panic

[turnah]

Hello all, hoping for some advice as I'm awfully confused and getting rather anxious. I've been up half the night in tears thinking about it.

I started my job in June 2018 on years fixed contract which had been extended until June 2020 covering someone who is seconded to another department, and shows no signs of returning.

I have fallen pregnant and am due in May 2020. I have researched and found I'm eligible for SMP but am wondering what my rights are in terms of the role. The employer offers 20 weeks half pay + SMP which will come to an end on the date my fixed contract is up.

What are my rights in terms of the role being extended if the girl I'm covering for doesn't return. There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice and am confused, if this is the case, and she doesn't return would the dismissal be deemed unfair? I googled my way into this thinking due to being protected as pregnant I need to be treated as a fixed term employee and the less that 2 years doesn't matter anymore, and if the role still exists then the contract should be extended??

Jumping further down the Google rabbit hole if they don't extend should they offer a suitable job if one is available?

Hoping I'm not clutching at straws and the answer isn't "tough luck, it will just end". But I'm aware it might me.

I haven't told my employer I'm pregnant yet, I was just passed over for a perminant role from an internal interview for the same job last week, a girl with half as much experience got it; rumours have been going around that I'm pregnant (I've popped!) but it may just have been she interviewed better and hit the points. Can't help but feel it went against me though, the interviewer hinted at me being with child last week.

Have I anything to lose telling work now?

Thank you!

Your pregnancy/maternity leave can’t be a factor in decisions about your employment. So if they would otherwise have extended your contract, they can’t change that decision because of your maternity leave. But if they weren’t going to extend it anyway, that is fine.

If a woman’s role is made redundant while she is on maternity leave and there is a suitable alternative vacancy available she must be offered it.

However although the end of a fixed term contract is often redundancy, I would say if you’re covering for a specific person who returns, that isn’t a redundancy as the role itself and the work it is doing are still very much there.

However they should make sure you are aware of vacancies and again your pregnancy/maternity leave can’t be a factor.

I would tell them as soon as possible so that there’s no risk of them being able to claim ignorance.

Flowery is pretty spot on as usual, I think if I was you I'd bite the bullet and tell them, if you are starting to show then they have probably guessed already so better to be upfront.

If the person whose job you are covering does come back then they are not obliged to offer you redundancy or an alternative job (although in many workplaces they would treat you as a priority for internal vacancies anyway), if she doesn't come back then a number of things could happen and it will depend a bit on internal policies/processes and factors like whether the job is still required - so again probably best to have the conversation now so you know where you stand. Either way you'll get your SMP so that is something... good luck and hope it gets sorted for you.