Can they sack me? UK

[zilla]

Can I be sacked for being signed off sick between now and the start of my maternity leave?

 

[My_First]

No one can sack you for being off sick but they could make you take maternity leave early if sickness is pregnancy related.

 

[maisie78]

No they absolutely cannot sack you for being off sick if it is pregnancy related. The only thing they can do is start your maternity leave from 36 weeks if you are signed off sick at that point.

 

[tristansmum]

They can't sack you. I believe they can make you start mat leave at 29 weeks if you are on long term sick leave

 

[maisie78]

It is definitely 36 weeks. Do not let them try and force you off at 29 xx

 

[zilla]

Thank you!
It's not strictly "pregnancy related" though - it's work induced stress caused by being discriminated at work for my pregnancy. Does this make a difference?

 

[maisie78]

I'm not entirely sure. It does specify "pregnancy related" so I guess they couldn't force you but it wouldn't surprise me if they did it anyway being as you are pregnant and off sick. It would really depend if you wanted to try and fight them on it. Just bear in mind if you try to argue it isn't pregnancy related they could argue that you are not protected from being off sick whilst pregnant. I think for the sake of going off at 36 weeks instead of 40 I would probably just accept that and call it pregnancy related sickness. Hope that makes sense.

Are you in a union? They could be the best people to speak to x

 

[Gaige]

Thank you!
It's not strictly "pregnancy related" though - it's work induced stress caused by being discriminated at work for my pregnancy. Does this make a difference?

If you're being discriminated against because you're pregnant then you should definitely speak to a union (if you're part of one) because that is really not on at all!

 

[Dinah93]

Get legal advice. They can not sack you for pregnancy related illness, but they can sack you after 6 weeks absence if your absence is having a significant detrimental impact on the business - it's quite hard to prove they're lying on this one. I took legal advice (was verbally told it's impossible to provide a reliable service when I keep taking a year or more off in a go to have babies) and was told because it was maternity and gender discrimination it meant court, and I needed to be able to fund the fees upfront as in this kind of case neither side can reclaim fees from the other, and at the end of the day I could only get 3x my annual salary if I was found to have been unfairly dismissed, but usually it was closer to 1x-1.2x. Solicitors fees and court fees would have come to £8-£12k in their estimation. I let it go but I was livid that employers basically have carte blanche on employment equality now.