Employee ignored on maternity leave wins over £10,400

Employee ignored on maternity leave wins over £10,400

An employee who was repeatedly ignored by her employer while on maternity leave has won her claims for pregnancy/maternity discrimination and constructive dismissal. What did the employer fail to do here?

Ignored during maternity leave

Ms Ginter (G) was a care home receptionist. During her absence on maternity leave, her manager left. G's new manager was Ms Maloy (M). M didn't know G but had been told she was on maternity leave. G expected M to contact her on starting as her new manager, but M failed to do so. G subsequently contacted the care home for copies of her payslips and P60 which she needed for mortgage purposes. She also phoned M around the same time to congratulate her on her new role and to advise her that she would be in contact in a few months to discuss her return to work.

G had no further contact from M after that point, nor did she receive any payslips or P60, despite phoning the care home about 40 times. The receptionist would either not put her through to speak to M or would tell her that M was unavailable and would call her back, which M never did. G also received no reply to several emails. Finally, after three months of being repeatedly ignored, G sent an email saying that she had decided not to return to work at the end of her maternity leave. She received a response to that email from the group HR manager, accepting her resignation. G submitted claims for pregnancy/maternity discrimination and constructive dismissal. The employment tribunal upheld her claims and awarded her over £10,400.

Constructive dismissal claim

The tribunal ruled that G's resignation came at a point when she felt exasperated and disappointed at the lack of contact from M. It found that it was reasonable for G to conclude that the care home had no interest in her returning to work and had decided not to have any contact with her. In addition to failing to keep in touch with G, the care home had also failed to comply with its statutory duty to supply payslips. There were serious breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence, so G was constructively dismissed.

Tip. You must supply payslips to workers, either in printed or electronic form, on or before each payday, even if they are absent from work.

Discrimination claim

The tribunal also ruled that: (1) an employer has a reasonable obligation to let a maternity leaver know that their manager has changed, and how to get in touch with that new manager - the care home had failed to do this; and (2) the care home had also failed to contact G about her return to work, making her feel that it had no interest in whether she returned. These failures amounted to 'unfavourable treatment towards G' because she was on maternity leave.

This case is a reminder that employees on maternity leave, or similar family-related leave, should not be ignored during their absence. They still have a right to receive key communications such as about a change of the management, job vacancies, etc. You should also ensure you deal with any queries they raise. If you do ignore them, it may not only leave them feeling forgotten and undervalued, but also it may lead to tribunal claims.

Tip. Hold regular check-ins with such employees, maintain open communications about their return to work and ensure they still have access to key documents.

The employer failed to give the employee contact details for her new manager, failed to comply with its statutory duty to supply payslips and failed to contact her, or reply to her, about her missing payslips and return to work. Always maintain open lines of communication with maternity leavers and ensure they still have access to key documents, such as payslips.