When you employ staff and run a business it is important that you make sure that you are following all relevant employment laws and guidance. These are incredibly important to protect both your employees and your company. When it comes to discrimination there are a number of protected characteristics and one of these is pregnancy and maternity. Employees who are pregnant or on maternity should not be treated unfairly. When employees feel that there is no choice but to leave a position as a result of their poor treatment it can lead to a Constructive Dismissal Claim being filed with a company such as www.employmentlawfriend.co.uk/constructive-dismissal. If wrongdoing is found to have occurred, this can prove very costly for the company.
Whilst pregnant, women should be allowed to attend all of their midwife and related appointments and they should not be prevented from progressing in their career or miss out on training opportunities. If redundancies take place whilst the woman is on maternity leave they should be given the same opportunities to interview for her position or redeployment as other members of staff.
When off on maternity leave the woman should not be asked to come in and work other than coming in for regular keeping in touch days as per your maternity leave policy. They should not be prevented from returning to work if they need to take time to breastfeed their child.