Pregnancy discrimination?

[PatchesTheCunt]

NC as outing. I'm currently 19 weeks pregnant, under consultant care with a high-risk pregnancy, also under the perinatal mental health team due to lifelong mental health issues. I have bipolar disorder and C-PTSD, and sleep deprivation is a massive trigger, which usually results in severe depressive episodes and hallucinations in a very short amount of time. I am medicated and highly vigilant about my early symptoms, so I can seek help quickly before things spiral out of control.

I have also suffered with PGP in my previous pregnancies, which resulted in me ending up on crutches. A spinal fracture I sustained a few years ago is also causing me problems, thanks to the combination of pregnancy and sitting down for 12 hours. All of these things have been disclosed at work.

I work 12hr shifts in an office-based role, 9am-9pm, 4 days on/off. I requested a move to an earlier shift (6am-6pm), due to the fact that I'm a naturally early riser and am struggling with sleep in pregnancy. I sleep terribly finishing work late, as I can't decompress enough in the short time I have at home before bed, and my eating patterns are all over the place too.

My manager put in the request, and it was immediately rejected as not being in the best interests of the business. My manager then suggested working 2 days in the office, then 2 at home, for my wellbeing, as she said she had the authority to make this call. I accepted this, but within days senior management decided to end hybrid working and call everyone back into the office, unless there were significant reasons as to why this would negatively affect an employee.

I appealed this, only for my manager to tell me that pregnancy was not an illness. She dismissed my mental health reasons, stating that there are several employees with mental health issues, and exceptions cannot be made or "everyone will expect the same treatment". She also said that other women in the office worked throughout their pregnancy, what she failed to tell me is that these women were granted permission to WFH when they requested it on pregnancy grounds.

Three weeks later, a group of new starters were taken on. They're on 6am-6pm shifts, and hybrid working, despite me being told that neither of these things were available to me. My manager's attitude is "Tough, there's nothing I can do."

This particular manager carried out a health and safety risk assessment with me when I disclosed my pregnancy at 12 weeks, and barely listened to any of my concerns.

My question is, does this constitute discrimination? Would communication from the perinatal mental health team be enough to push my employer into reassessing my requests? I swing from thinking I'm being unreasonable, to feeling utterly fucked over.

Has anyone got any advice as to how I can handle this? I am a union member and will be speaking to the helpline next week.

Potentially this is discrimination by a lower key approach may be better.

Send an email to your manager and HR. Request a new risk assessment based on your pregnancy and reasonable adjustments under the EA 2010 because your pregnancy has exacerbated some of your disabilities. Set out the disability reasonable adjustments of temporarily moving to a 6-6 shift and 2 days WFH. In your letter state the date you first requested a move to 6-6 shift and WFH. Ask if you could swap with one of the new recruits as they have been recruited on 6-6 shift hybrid working.

If this does not result in a change then lodge a grievance along the same lines but set out a time line so it is clear your request was refused and then they recruited people on 6-6 shift hybrid working. Make it clear you are raising the grievance based on two protected characteristics, Disability and pregnancy& maternity.

Speak to ACAS and pregnant then screwed pregnantthenscrewed.com who will both be able to advise how to lodge the grievance.

Certainly sounds poor.

Another vote for contacting Pregnant Then Screwed - they do brilliant work.

Thank you both for your replies, I'm definitely calling Pregnant Then Screwed next week, I've seen them recommended a lot on here.

@Crazylazydayz , that's all sound advice, thank you. My manager knows I'm incredibly stressed about this, and it's starting to affect my performance, but she won't discuss anything with me. Another manager I work with is considerably more empathetic, and she understands that in terms of my illness, prevention of potential episodes is far better than attempting to treat them.

She's already suggested going to HR to request another risk assessment. She isn't my direct line manager though, so communicating too much with her is very likely to rub my manager up the wrong way (she has form for taking offense at her direct reports going to any manager that isn't her, but fails to see why people do this in the first place).

Emailing your manager and HR is a way of respecting your manager’s role but also bringing in HR. A sensible HR will contact your manager and ask for an update then give advice.

@Crazylazydayz , thank you for your insight. Naturally I'd like to keep this as amicable and professional as possible, as I do need the job. I'm just mindful of having my very valid health concerns dismissed, particularly when the company appear to have a severe case of double standards!

Do you think getting a letter from the mental health midwife will help my case? My psychiatric history is well documented and although I haven't had much involvement with the perinatal mental health team as yet, they do seem to be very supportive and switched on.

A letter would certainly add weight and forwarding it with the email would be you providing additional evidence. The key is copying in HR.

@Crazylazydayz that certainly gives me a bit of hope. If my mental health was to spiral, they're certainly the kind of company that'd shrug and tell me to get signed off. Like I said in my OP, prevention is far more effective than trying to stabilise me (I've needed electroconvulsive therapy in the past, after a year of being signed off with depression), and I simply can't afford the loss in wages.

My manager is critically low on empathy as it is. She has form for refusing employees sick leave, up to and including cases like norovirus that ended up infecting the whole team, a severe case of Covid, and compassionate leave. I'm entirely unsurprised by her attitude towards me, despite the fact that both mental illness/disability and pregnancy are both highly protected characteristics.

All you can do is politely repeat your entirely reasonable requests and see how your manager reacts.

Good luck

Thanks so much @Crazylazydayz, I really appreciate all your advice - I feel a bit calmer now, I've been tying myself in knots wondering if I really am making a mountain out of a molehill here!