Dismissed While Pregnant: Your Rights and What to Do Today
Dismissal connected to pregnancy is automatically unfair from day one of employment. No qualifying period. Uncapped compensation. Here is exactly what to do.
schedule 9 min readperson Eugene Pienaar, Solicitor (non-practising)
AUTOMATICALLY UNFAIR -- NO QUALIFYING PERIOD
If you have been dismissed and pregnancy was any part of the reason, you have a claim from day one of employment. There is no two-year qualifying period. Compensation is uncapped. Contact ACAS today -- your time limit is three months less one day from dismissal.
The Legal Protection
Dismissal connected to pregnancy is one of the strongest protections in employment law. Under section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010, a dismissal is automatically unfair if the reason or principal reason is connected to the employee's pregnancy. There is no qualifying period. A woman dismissed on her first day of employment because she is pregnant has the same protection as one with twenty years service.
The protection covers dismissal connected to pregnancy itself, a pregnancy-related illness, taking or seeking to take maternity leave, and any detriment connected to those reasons. It also covers situations where the employer does not explicitly state pregnancy as the reason but where the timing and circumstances make the connection clear.
What Makes It Automatically Unfair
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The dismissal does not need to be overtly connected to pregnancy. Tribunals look at the real reason for the dismissal, not the stated reason. An employer who dismisses a pregnant employee for "performance reasons" shortly after being told about the pregnancy faces an inference that the real reason is the pregnancy. The burden then shifts to the employer to prove otherwise -- and that is a difficult burden to discharge.
Common patterns that tribunals scrutinise include: dismissal shortly after the employer learns of the pregnancy, a sudden discovery of performance issues that were not previously raised, a redundancy selection that conveniently identifies the pregnant employee, and disciplinary proceedings that begin after a pregnancy announcement.
Two Claims Available Simultaneously
A pregnant employee who is dismissed has two separate claims available. First, automatic unfair dismissal under section 99 ERA 1996 -- no qualifying period, compensation uncapped. Second, pregnancy discrimination under section 18 of the Equality Act 2010 -- also uncapped, also available from day one. Both claims are brought in the same ET1 and heard together. The compensation elements overlap but the claims reinforce each other and a tribunal finding on one strengthens the other.
The Equality Act claim covers not just dismissal but any less favourable treatment connected to pregnancy -- demotion, exclusion from projects, removal of responsibilities, refusal of pay increases, and any other detriment. If the treatment short of dismissal is the issue, the Equality Act claim is the primary route.
What to Do Right Now
Document everything immediately. Write down the date you told your employer about the pregnancy, how you told them, who was present, and what their reaction was. Write down the date of any disciplinary action, redundancy notification, or dismissal, and what reason was given. Preserve all written communications -- emails, letters, text messages, WhatsApp messages. Do not delete anything. Make a contemporaneous note of any verbal conversations while the details are fresh.
Contact ACAS at acas.org.uk and start early conciliation today. Your time limit is three months less one day from the date of dismissal or the last act of discrimination. The ACAS early conciliation process pauses the clock. Missing this deadline means losing the right to claim permanently.
Request your contract of employment, payslips, and any written communications about your dismissal or redundancy. You are entitled to these. Keep copies of everything relating to your pregnancy disclosure and any performance management that followed it.
Redundancy While Pregnant
If your employer claims the dismissal is redundancy rather than performance-related, additional protections apply. A pregnant employee who is at risk of redundancy has a right to be offered any suitable available vacancy before other employees at risk. This right applies even if the role is a different grade or pay level -- the employer must offer it as an alternative to redundancy. Failure to do so makes the redundancy automatically unfair, separately from any pregnancy discrimination claim.
If you are the only person selected for redundancy, or if the selection criteria were applied in a way that disadvantaged you because of your pregnancy, that is also challengeable. Absence related to pregnancy must not be counted in any attendance-based selection scoring.
Compensation
Compensation for automatic unfair dismissal covers lost earnings from dismissal to the date of the tribunal hearing, future loss of earnings, loss of pension contributions, and injury to feelings. Compensation for pregnancy discrimination under the Equality Act additionally covers injury to feelings assessed on the Vento scale -- £1,100 to £56,200 depending on severity -- and personal injury where the discrimination caused psychiatric harm. There is no cap on either award. An employer who dismisses a pregnant employee faces potentially very significant exposure.
The Time Limit
Three months less one day from the date of dismissal. If the last act of discrimination was before dismissal -- for example a demotion on discovering the pregnancy -- the clock runs from that act. You must contact ACAS before the deadline expires. Contact them today. Do not wait to gather evidence or seek advice first -- start ACAS early conciliation now and do those things while the clock is paused.
Educational purposes only. This article is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship. If your situation requires legal advice, consult a qualified solicitor or visit equaljustice.legal.