Pregnancy Discrimination UK: Tribunal Claims Guide

Overview

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is a specific form of unlawful treatment covered by section 18 of the Equality Act 2010. It happens when an employer treats a woman unfavourably because she is pregnant, because of a pregnancy-related illness, because she has taken or is seeking to take maternity leave, or because she is exercising her statutory rights connected with childbirth.

Unlike other types of discrimination, you do not need to compare yourself to a male colleague or a non-pregnant woman, the test is simply whether the treatment was unfavourable and whether pregnancy or maternity was the reason. The protected period runs from the start of pregnancy until the end of maternity leave (or until the return to work, where no maternity leave is taken).

Common examples include being passed over for a promotion after announcing a pregnancy, having duties stripped away on return from leave, being subjected to negative comments about 'baby brain', or being selected for redundancy in a process that was not genuinely neutral. The behaviour does not have to be deliberate, what matters is the effect and the reason behind it.

Key steps

1. Write down what happened and when. Before anything else, build a clear timeline. Note the date you told your employer about your pregnancy, any appointments or sick days linked to it, the comments or decisions that concerned you, and who was present. Contemporaneous notes carry real weight later on, and memory fades quickly once you are dealing with a newborn.
2. Gather supporting evidence. Collect emails, messages, performance reviews, rota changes, meeting minutes, and anything else that shows how you were treated before and after the pregnancy was disclosed. If colleagues witnessed incidents, make a note of their names. Keep copies somewhere outside the work system in case access is withdrawn.
3. Raise it internally where possible. Many employers have a grievance procedure, and using it creates a paper trail while giving the employer a chance to fix things. Put your concerns in writing, reference the Equality Act 2010 if you feel able, and ask for a formal response. An unresolved grievance strengthens a later tribunal claim.
4. Start early conciliation through Acas. Before you can issue a tribunal claim, you must notify Acas and go through early conciliation. This is free and confidential, and it pauses the clock on your deadline. Acas will try to broker a settlement, but you are under no obligation to agree to one if the terms are poor.
5. Issue your ET1 claim form within the deadline. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims generally have a three month time limit from the act complained of, extended by the early conciliation period. Missing the deadline is usually fatal, so diarise it carefully. The ET1 is submitted online and sets out your claim, the facts, and the remedy you seek.