Can a pregnant women be expected to show up at the office first?

[Strix]

This is not someone at my work, but I wanted to post here and see what the collective wisdom of MN thinks. The woman in question is in obviously pregnant. She has raised a concern that she does not want to be the only one at the office for health and safety reasons. Can she do this? Or is she bound to show up in her contracted hours, even if no one else is there, while she is pregnant.

If it was me, and I was pregnant, this would not bother me. There is nothing dangerous about this office. It's not in a dangerous neighborhood.

But, perhaps she does have a legal right to not come in when no one else is there?

Are you a lawyer, Ribena? I am deffo not so just wondering.

What Ribena said. Have a read of this Strix, has a section about car allowances and the position not being clear.

If it's received in place of a car, then a woman would lose out by opting for the allowance rather than the car. Even if it isn't, a car allowance is usually provided on the condition that the employee purchases and maintains a suitable car. Obviously the costs of the car, particularly if a loan or lease are involved, don't go away just because the woman is off work, so that's worth bearing in mind as well.

But, surely HMRC has the authority over working families?

Nope, not directly no. They have authority over tax. Government is often not as joined up as it should be. For example, HMRC could agree someone was self employed for tax, and a tribunal could differ for employment law.

You could use the guidance as evidence at a tribunal that you had acted in good faith, but it wouldn't stop a tribunal deciding that the payment was due, if they felt that that was the law.

So who is the legal authority. Or is it just a big shade of grey to be defined in tribunal/court.

I think I am out of my depth here. I'm just curios really as I'm not having any more sprogs.

Shades of grey, shades of grey. Everything in employment law is shades of grey (yes, am in law!)