Can pregnancy absence be used against u?

[tami2k]

It's been a few months I've returned from 1 year maternity leave only to find out I am pregnant again (abs shock) there are complications which means the pregnancy may not make it. Now I am WFH which is ok but might need to time off after possible surgical procedure abs this whole ordeal is so stressful my job in this finance company is v intense I might need to take time off.
If I take time off will it be used against be in terms of triggers? Someone told me about this pregnancy related absence can't idk if that's just hearsay tho. They are normally good but I don't want to do anything that may do compromise by job esp after being off sick due to a bad pregnancy before as I need it.
Idk legally where I stand n what my right are ideally I didn't want work to know but I may have no choice now.
Any advice appreciated x

It's worth checking your policy, but, my work place stated in mine that any sickness related to pregnancy is not allowed to be used against you, isn't even allowed to be put on your 'normal' sick leave.
However, if it's a problem in your last 11 weeks of pregnancy then they can force you to leave for maternity
Goodluck op!

@GAW19 I've looked through the maternity policy triggers aren't if I directly correspond with them they will have record I queried it which I rather avoid rn but think I will have to. Mine is similar too if ur on sick 4weeks prior to DD then can force u to take it.

No it can’t get used in relation to disciplinary/absence management etc

More detail here

maternityaction.org.uk/advice/sickness-during-pregnancy-and-maternity-leave/#sickness-during-pregnancy

They can’t use it against you in any way, such as a disciplinary or redundancy.

If you are absent from work for a pregnancy-related condition anytime from 4 weeks before your due date, they can trigger your maternity leave.

Doing that any earlier as per pp would be unlawful.

I do believe they have to know you're pregnant though. So you can't have a load of absence and then say "I'm pregnant you can't do anything about it." So the "clock" so to speak, on not being able to be disciplined for pregnancy related absence starts from when you inform them you're pregnant or when its reasonable for them to assume you're pregnant.

Unless @flowery wants to correct me. I know he/she is a legal expert and very well respected on here.
I've attached the image from maternity action org. I believe I read it somewhere else as well but can't remember where.

@freezedriedromance

Unless *@flowery* wants to correct me. I know he/she is a legal expert and very well respected on here. I've attached the image from maternity action org. I believe I read it somewhere else as well but can't remember where.

It's an interesting point isn't it? Yes case law shows that if an employer does not know about the pregnancy, it isn't acting in a discriminatory way.

However that doesn't seem particularly fair. In the case of someone being dismissed or given a warning for absence that was pregnancy-related (but the employer didn't know), a claimant could surely make a strong argument that the reason for the dismissal was pregnancy-related, and that but-for the pregnancy, she would not have been dismissed. It's entirely possible someone could be ill and not realise it was because of a pregnancy until after the event. Or to have been worried about telling their employer about a pregnancy.

It would be interesting to see a case whereby an employer was told on appeal that absence it was relying on to dismiss someone safely was pregnancy-related, and didn't then overturn it. I wouldn't want to make that argument as an employer!

But either way, if someone wants protection, making sure their employer is fully aware is obviously the best thing to do.