Mrs E approached us for advice on returning to work (following maternity leave) on a flexible basis. She had made several attempts to discuss this with her employer who had delayed and who were not following any procedure when dealing with her request. Following a letter from us to Mrs E's employer, they agreed to implement and follow the statutory procedure for dealing with flexible working requests and had two formal meetings with Mrs E. We supported her request by drafting a detailed business case for working at home for two days per week, anticipating the impact that this would have on the business and suggesting solutions to any foreseeable difficulties. Following a successful trial period, Mrs E now is able to balance her caring commitments with the requirements of a demanding job.
We were contacted by Mrs Y who, following a return from maternity leave, experienced some negativity and hostility from her employer. Changes had been made to her job description while she was away and parts of her job had been reallocated to others leaving her feeling demoralised and isolated. When her position became untenable, she resigned and we supported her with a claim for constructive dismissal and sex discrimination. We negotiated a significant out of Court settlement to compensate Mrs Y for losing her job in this way and she was able to secure alternative employment elsewhere.
We were contacted by Miss B who was finding her working environment difficult while pregnant. Her employer had failed to conduct a health and safety risk assessment and they had ignored the employee's complaints. Following a letter from us, the employer agreed to conduct a health and safety risk assessment which revealed that the environment was such that the employee could not continue to work safely while pregnant and that she should be suspended on full pay during the remainder of the pregnancy.