Pregnancy discrimination at work: your rights

If pregnancy has cost you shifts, a job offer or your place after maternity leave, start with the evidence, not a perfect legal label. Save the messages and rota today. Your employer cannot lawfully penalise you for pregnancy or maternity leave, and you do not need two years’ service for the protections explained here.

What counts as discrimination

In Great Britain, section 18 of the Equality Act 2010 prohibits unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy, pregnancy-related illness suffered during the protected period, compulsory maternity leave, or exercising or seeking the right to maternity leave. Refusing you training because “you’ll be away soon” can count, even if your pay stays the same.

You do not need to identify a colleague who was treated better. An employer’s good intentions do not excuse the treatment, and there is no defence that discriminating was justified by business needs. You still need to show the link to pregnancy or maternity. As Acas explains, the employer must know, or reasonably be expected to know, about your pregnancy.

The “protected period” starts when pregnancy begins. For someone entitled to statutory maternity leave, it ends when additional maternity leave ends or on an earlier return to work. Equivalent maternity leave under another statutory or contractual scheme can also count. Without either right, it ends two weeks after the pregnancy ends. But this is not a deadline for all protection. Since 1 January 2024, section 18 expressly covers treatment in or after that period because of pregnancy or illness suffered during it. Penalising you after your return for taking maternity leave is also unlawful.

Recruitment: interviews, offers and pregnancy questions

Refusing to employ you because you are pregnant is discrimination. Section 39 of the Equality Act covers recruitment arrangements, job offers and refusals. You do not have to disclose a pregnancy at interview or volunteer your family plans.

“Are you pregnant?” or “Are you planning a family?” can be evidence of discrimination if the employer then rejects you for that reason. A separate rule in section 60 restricts pre-offer health questions, with limited exceptions such as checking an intrinsic job function or arranging interview adjustments. The recruitment decision must not penalise you for pregnancy or the cost of maternity cover.

Keep the advert, your application, interview notes and any message mentioning pregnancy or availability. If an offer is withdrawn just after you disclose, ask for the reason in writing. Timing can help prove your case, but it does not establish discrimination on its own.

For example, a hotel that withdraws a housekeeping offer after you disclose pregnancy, or a supermarket that cuts your checkout shifts for the same reason, may be treating you unlawfully. Keep the messages and rota; ask what changed and why.

Rights during pregnancy

If you are an employee, pregnancy also brings rights to paid appointments and protection from unsafe work. These are separate from a discrimination claim.

Antenatal care

Employees have a day-one right to reasonable paid time off for antenatal care recommended by a doctor, midwife or health visitor, including recommended classes and scans. After the first appointment, your employer may ask for evidence of the pregnancy and appointment. Eligible partners who are employees have unpaid time off to accompany you to up to two appointments, capped at 6.5 hours each, under section 57ZE of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Agency workers qualify for paid antenatal time off after the 12-week qualifying period.

Health and safety

Tell your employer in writing that you are pregnant and ask for an individual risk assessment. Risks may include lifting, prolonged standing, night work or exposure to chemicals. Your employer must remove or control the risks, then alter your hours or conditions if needed. If that is not enough, they must offer suitable alternative work on no less favourable terms, including pay. If no safe alternative is available, an employee should be suspended on full pay. You should not have to use holiday to avoid unsafe work. The HSE guidance for new and expectant mothers sets out the process.

Pregnancy-related sickness

Your employer must not count pregnancy-related sickness against you in a disciplinary absence trigger. Ask them to record it separately from other sickness. A warning for morning-sickness absences, or a poor appraisal based on those absences, may be discrimination. Bonus entitlement needs a closer look at the scheme and what the payment rewards; do not assume every reduction during maternity leave is unlawful.

Maternity leave and pay

All employees are entitled to up to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave, regardless of hours or length of service, subject to the notice requirements. The first 26 weeks are ordinary maternity leave; the next 26 are additional leave. You must take two weeks off after birth, or four weeks if you work in a factory. You and your employer can agree up to 10 keeping-in-touch days without ending leave or losing SMP. They are optional.

Statutory Maternity Pay is 90% of average weekly earnings for the first six weeks. For the next 33 weeks, it is the lower of 90% of earnings and £194.32 a week from 6 April 2026. SMP does not cover the final 13 weeks of a full year’s leave, although an employer’s scheme may pay more. To qualify, you need 26 weeks’ continuous employment with the employer continuing into the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and average earnings of at least £129 a week in 2026/27. Our maternity leave and pay guide covers notice and evidence.

If you do not qualify for SMP, check Maternity Allowance. For self-employed applicants, registration for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the baby is due is a separate condition. Contributions affect the amount. You can receive between £27 and £194.32 a week for up to 39 weeks; the maximum requires Class 2 National Insurance contributions for at least 13 of those 66 weeks. Employed applicants who miss SMP have different earnings conditions.

Dismissal and redundancy

For employees, dismissal because of pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave is automatically unfair under section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the maternity regulations. No qualifying service is needed. The usual two-year threshold for ordinary unfair dismissal is irrelevant to this claim. Being pregnant does not, however, prevent a lawful dismissal for an unrelated reason.

There is extra protection in a redundancy situation. In Great Britain, an employee’s priority for a suitable alternative vacancy starts when they tell their employer they are pregnant. It covers maternity leave and normally lasts until 18 months after birth. Tell your employer the actual birth date; otherwise the end date is calculated using the expected week of childbirth. The employer must offer a suitable vacancy ahead of employees without this protection, rather than make you compete with them. Breaching that duty can make a redundancy dismissal automatically unfair.

This is priority for a vacancy, not immunity from redundancy or a guarantee of keeping an existing role. The employer does not have to create a job. If several protected employees qualify for too few vacancies, the employer may need to choose between them fairly. Acas explains the distinction. After miscarriage before 24 weeks, this separate redundancy protection normally ends two weeks after the pregnancy ends.

If an employer disciplines you for taking maternity leave, read our guide to discipline during maternity leave. An unrelated conduct issue can still be investigated; maternity leave is not a defence to misconduct.

Returning to work

After ordinary maternity leave, meaning up to 26 weeks, you are entitled to return to the same job on the same terms. After additional leave, the same job remains the starting point. Only if returning to it is not reasonably practicable can your employer offer a suitable and appropriate alternative on no less favourable terms. Regulation 18 sets out those rights. Keeping your maternity cover in place is not, by itself, a reason to demote you.

Since April 2024, employees in Great Britain can request flexible working from day one. Employers must handle the request reasonably and can refuse only on a statutory ground. Refusal is not automatically pregnancy discrimination. A blanket “no part-time work” policy may instead be indirect sex discrimination if it disadvantages women and the employer cannot objectively justify it. Our flexible working guide explains the procedure.

A care assistant may be taken off safer duties instead of having risks assessed; a warehouse worker may lose night shifts after disclosing a pregnancy. Ask for the risk assessment and the reason for any rota change in writing. The employer must address pregnancy-related safety risks, not quietly push you out of paid work.

Who is protected: employees, workers and agency staff

Discrimination law covers more people than statutory maternity leave. The Equality Act’s definition of employment includes contracts to do work personally, so workers and some freelance arrangements qualify. Agency workers also have protection, including against discrimination by the hirer. The contract and working arrangements matter more than the label “self-employed”.

If you are genuinely self-employed, you have no statutory maternity leave or employee antenatal time-off entitlement, but may qualify for Maternity Allowance. Equality Act protection depends on whether your work falls within its personal-service definition. For agency workers, health and safety duties still matter, but paid suspension protection depends on the qualifying rules. Get advice before accepting an unpaid end to an assignment.

If you work in Northern Ireland

The Equality Act workplace rules and the Great Britain reforms described here do not govern Northern Ireland employment claims. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is covered by the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976. Leave and dismissal rights come from separate Northern Ireland legislation; SMP rates are the same. Pregnancy discrimination claims go to an Industrial Tribunal, with early conciliation through the Labour Relations Agency, not Acas. The usual discrimination time limit remains three months less one day, subject to conciliation rules. Do not assume the Great Britain 18-month redundancy extension applies. See Northern Ireland employment differences and nidirect’s pregnancy-at-work guidance. England, Wales and Scotland share the main maternity discrimination rules above.

Bringing a claim: deadlines, process and compensation

Start with the date of each decision or incident. A grievance is useful, but it does not stop the tribunal clock. Do these small steps today, even after a shift:

1. Save it. Screenshot messages; keep the advert, rota, payslips and letters. Write a dated note of what happened, who was there and what reason was given. Store copies somewhere you control.
2. Ask once, in writing. Ask your manager or HR to explain the decision and request a grievance form if needed. Keep working through the grievance if you choose, but do not wait for its outcome to check your deadline.
3. Call Acas early conciliation. In Great Britain you normally must notify Acas before bringing a tribunal claim. Timely early conciliation pauses the clock and can extend the deadline. In Northern Ireland, contact the Labour Relations Agency.
4. Put the deadline in your calendar. In Great Britain, a discrimination act on or after 1 October 2026 has a starting deadline of six months less one day. An earlier act retains three months less one day. Under the transition rules, conduct extending over a period uses its end date. Get advice before treating separate incidents as one continuing act. Northern Ireland retains three months less one day.
5. Get help naming the claim. A pregnancy-related dismissal may give an employee both a discrimination claim and an automatically unfair dismissal claim. Discrimination compensation is uncapped, including lost earnings, benefits and injury to feelings. The remedies differ, and you cannot recover the same loss twice.

For a safety risk, contact the Health and Safety Executive. The Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes guidance and can use its powers on strategic issues; the Equality Advisory and Support Service offers individual equality advice. Neither replaces your tribunal deadline. Citizens Advice and law centres can help you find local advice. A union can advise members and may provide legal support. Ask for help early, especially if your employer has cut shifts or you fear losing work.

Compensation for injury to feelings

The Vento bands guide injury-to-feelings awards in Great Britain discrimination claims. For claims presented on or after 6 April 2026, the bands are £1,300 to £12,600 for less serious cases, £12,600 to £37,700 for cases in the middle band, and £37,700 to £62,900 for the most serious cases. Exceptional cases can exceed the upper band. These are guidelines for the injury-to-feelings part of an award, not a promised payout or a cap on total compensation. A tribunal can also make a declaration and an appropriate recommendation in a discrimination case.

What is in force and what is scheduled

1. 6 Apr 2024Redundancy priority extended in Great Britain

   Protection now reaches pregnancy and normally lasts until 18 months after birth.

2. 1 Oct 2026Main tribunal limits increased in Great Britain

   The main limit is now six months rather than three. The Northern Ireland discrimination limit is unchanged.

3. 1 Jan 2027Ordinary unfair dismissal change scheduled

   The qualifying period is scheduled to fall from two years to six months for dismissals from this date. Pregnancy-related automatically unfair dismissal already needs no qualifying service.

Questions people ask

Do I have to disclose a pregnancy at interview?

No. You do not have to volunteer it or your family plans. If disclosure costs you an offer, keep the recruitment messages and ask for the reason in writing.

Can I be dismissed while pregnant with less than two years’ service?

Only for a lawful reason. Employees have day-one protection against dismissal because of pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave, plus discrimination protection. Ordinary unfair dismissal has separate service rules.

Can my employer give my job permanently to my maternity cover?

That does not override your return rights. After ordinary leave, you are entitled to the same job. After additional leave, a suitable alternative on no less favourable terms is allowed only if return is not reasonably practicable. Our redundancy guide covers genuine job losses.

How much time off do I get for antenatal appointments?

Employees get reasonable paid time off for recommended antenatal care. Eligible employee partners get two unpaid appointments, up to 6.5 hours each. Agency workers qualify for paid antenatal time after 12 qualifying weeks.

Am I protected if I work through an agency or freelance?

Agency workers have discrimination protection. Freelancers may qualify through a personal-service contract. Leave and pay have separate tests. See agency worker rights and employment status.

How long do I have to claim?

For a Great Britain discrimination act on or after 1 October 2026, six months less one day before conciliation adjustments. Earlier acts, and Northern Ireland claims, retain three months less one day. A continuing act can use its end date. Contact Acas or the Labour Relations Agency in time.

Sources

1. State of the Nation 2026, Pregnant Then Screwed and Women in Data
2. Individuals: equality advice and support, Equality and Human Rights Commission
3. Equality Act 2010, section 39: employees and applicants, legislation.gov.uk
4. Equality Act 2010, section 60: health questions, legislation.gov.uk
5. Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023, legislation.gov.uk
6. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination, Acas
7. Employment Rights Act 1996, legislation.gov.uk
8. Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, legislation.gov.uk
9. Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, legislation.gov.uk
10. Redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents, Acas
11. Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave: pay, GOV.UK
12. Eligibility for statutory maternity pay, Acas
13. Maternity Allowance: eligibility, GOV.UK
14. Maternity Allowance: what you’ll get, GOV.UK
15. New and expectant mothers at work, Health and Safety Executive
16. Neonatal Care Leave and Pay, GOV.UK
17. Employment Rights Act 2025, section 152: tribunal time limits, legislation.gov.uk
18. Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations, SI 2026/954, regulation 4 and Schedule: time-limit transition, legislation.gov.uk
19. Employment Rights Act timetable, 25 September 2026, GOV.UK
20. Vento bands presidential guidance, ninth addendum, April 2026, judiciary.uk
21. Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, legislation.gov.uk
22. Working when pregnant, nidirect.gov.uk