Being made redundant while pregnant

[justdontgothere]

Have recently been made redundant from my job and I'm pregnant. People keep saying 'claim unfair dismissal' to me - but I imagine this isn't straightforward/is quite a lot of added stress? Would I jeopardise my references from the company by doing this, regardless of the outcome?

Interested to hear any professional advice and personal experiences of this.

It depends whether you think you've been made redundant because you are pregnant or whether they have followed a fair process. You can probably get a bit of initial advice from an employment lawyer who can let you know what they think.

Being made redundant while pregnant isnt automatically unfair dismissal. As long as they have followed proper processes then it isnt unfair dismissal.

Did they do everything properly? Were there no other positions in the company they could offer you?

In the current climate, redundancies are happening everywhere, so before you start claiming unfair dismissal you should check into it.

Difficult to advise without more info.
Was anyone else made redundant or just you?
Do you have any reason to suspect that your pregnancy is the main reason that they made you redundant?

You don't necessarily need to consult an employment solicitor in the first instance, you could talk to Maternity Action and/or Citizens Advice. There is lots of helpful info on their websites about redundancy and maternity discrimination.

maternityaction.org.uk/advice/pregnancy-discrimination/

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/leaving-a-job/redundancy/check-if-your-redundancy-is-fair/

Redundancy in pregnancy is legal if all processes followed correctly
Was there any alternative similar roles offered to you? Do you have concerns they didnt follow the correct process?

Thanks all.
Others have also been made redundant. It is related to impact of Covid on the business.
I think they have been quite transparent, but I also have some suspicions that someone has been kept in my place (or what could have potentially been my place). I'm not certain at the moment though.
But don't really want to go into details here (not helpful when I've asked for advice, I know).
I'm not going all guns blazing down that route by any stretch, but given a few people have mentioned it, I thought worth asking for any experiences that I may be able to relate to.

No alternative roles offered, no. The onus seems to have been put on us to make suggestions as to what alternatives there could be to avoid redundancy.

So you don't want to go into detail about your experience but you want other people to go into detail about theirs?

Anyway. This link is probably the most helpful
maternityaction.org.uk/advice/redundancy-during-pregnancy-and-maternity-leave/
See heading "unfair dismissal and discrimination"

If you think you may have been unfairly selected for redundancy, you can ask your employer what criteria were used to select for redundancy and how you were assessed against those criteria. You are entitled to a written statement of the reasons for your dismissal.

(Plus lots more relevant info on the page.)

Have they not assessed everyone and used a points-based system on your previous work/training to work out who to make redundant?

Have you already gone through the consultation period or is it a v small company?

Ouch @AnotherEmma
I'm still in my notice period so don't want to put any outing details. But I can appreciate how that could come across, even though that's certainly not what I intended
I hadn't even thought about a claim until a few other people put the idea in my head. Hence why the op is so vague.
Yes they have used scoring, but I'm not convinced that the scoring is totally fair. E.g. Someone who has less experience than me in some technical aspects of the role has been kept.
I didn't know whether I could ask for how others have scored against me?

“Pregnant than screwed” is a useful resource for support. I’m all the social media channels.

Then*

Sorry to read this. I was made redundant whilst pregnant (years ago now). There were about 19 redundancies across the business and about 5 of us were pregnant or on maternity leave.

It will be difficult to prove redundancy due to pregnancy rather than a business downturn. But you can question the scoring and take a colleague or friend with you to give you support and keep you level headed.

If you are over a certain number of weeks, they have to pay your maternity pay. You could angle for some more £ by alluding to unfair dismissal/ potential claim and they may pay you more if you sign a settlement agreement signing away your right to do this.

Good luck

Thank you @PinkPushchair
It's certainly crappy timing! Sorry to hear it happened to you, too.
Thank you for the suggestion. I will have a think about how to approach it, I'm reluctant to become accusatory however equally if I'm on my way out and I can make it easier for my family financially for the next few months then it might be worth trying to suggest that.

I also (on the advice of my solicitor who advised on the settlement agreement) approved any reference they would give me as part of signing it.

I think if I had my time again I would become more bolshy. Women are conditioned not to rock the boat. F*ck that (still bitter!)

Very true @PinkPushchair
I just don't want to jeopardise my reference from them for when I'm back on the job market. I'll speak to acas and/or citizens advice and go from there.

Unless you can prove that they are making you redundant due to pregnancy, then it's perfectly fair.

@Remmy123

Unless you can prove that they are making you redundant due to pregnancy, then it's perfectly fair.

Not entirely- if there is suitable alternative employment available, a pregnant employee has the right to be offered this before an employee who is not pregnant. So it may be worth finding out if anyone was kept on or offered an alternative role if this was not also offered to you

@Remmy123 I've been told that if I were to put a complaint in, the onus would be on them to prove that they hadn't used my pregnancy as a factor, not the other way around.
All of this is very useful though, thanks.

It's very difficult as some employers obviously deliberately or otherwise are going to skew the process to make sure pregnant women/women with young children are first in line