Info zone – Pregnant women and new mothers

Hotelier John Bean owns the 30-bedroom Hiatus hotel and employs more than 25 full-time staff. The receptionist, Joanna, is pregnant and has begun to complain that standing for long periods is becoming tiring.

She has asked for a chair for reception, but Bean is reluctant to agree as he feels it looks unprofessional. She is also asking to be excused from working the night shifts.

Now another employee, Amber, who was taken on as a chambermaid six months before, is pregnant and says she will no longer be able to lift heavy loads, such as laundry, move furniture while cleaning rooms or carry out heavy-duty cleaning.

While Bean feels sympathetic towards the women, he also feels resentful that his staff, who were employed to carry out specific tasks, are now unable to do so. *

A pregnant woman whose job involves a substantial amount of standing should, if appropriate, be given a chair

What the expert advises

Julie Keir is a solicitor at the EPI Group, Dundas & Wilson

Employers of women of childbearing age whose workplace or work activity could involve a risk to the health or safety of pregnant employees, employees who are breast-feeding or those who have given birth up to six months previously, are legally required to assess those risks.

Information about any risks identified by the assessment should then be passed on to all women of childbearing age in that workplace. Additionally, employers should explain what they will do to ensure that pregnant women and new mothers are not exposed to the risks that could harm them, their babies or unborn children.

Where a risk is identified, an employer must take a number of steps to ensure that an employee who is pregnant or is a new mother is removed from the risk.

Some risks, from chemical or biological substances, for example, are already covered by specific health and safety regulations. Where this is applicable, employers should follow the requirements of the regulations. Otherwise, the employee's working conditions should be altered to remove the risk.

If altering the employee's working conditions or hours of work is not reasonable, or would fail to remove the risk, the employer should offer suitable alternative work if such work is available.

If no suitable alternative work can be provided, the employee should be suspended from work on full pay for as long as the risk applies.

These obligations apply regardless of the number of hours the employee works or her length of service.

Pregnant workers are especially at risk from manual handling injuries and this risk may be removed for a woman whose job entails some lifting by having someone else do the lifting for her or by providing her with aids to help with manual handling duties.

Fatigue caused by standing or other physical work is associated with miscarriage, premature birth and low birth weight. A person whose job involves a substantial amount of standing should, if appropriate, be given a chair so that she does not have to stand for long periods.

Employers should also take into account certain features of pregnancy. For example, a pregnant employee may suffer from morning sickness and the employer should take this into account if the employee is exposed to nauseating smells during her work.

If such a risk exists, the employer should do whatever is possible to remove the risk. Where this is not possible the employee should be offered suitable alternative work.

Alternative work must be suitable for the employee to do in the circumstances. It would not, for example, be suitable and appropriate to ask a chambermaid to take over the function of a chef. In addition, terms and conditions must be no less favourable than her normal terms and conditions.

If the employee turns down the work offered she is regarded as being suspended from work on maternity grounds and will not be entitled to her wages or salary for the period during which the offer applies.

But the period of suspension still counts towards continuous employment for the purposes of assessing seniority, pension rights and other payments linked to length of service.

Be aware

If the employer's obligations are not complied with, the employee will be entitled to complain to an employment tribunal. It is important to note that breach of the duty to ensure the health and safety of employees who are pregnant or are new mothers may result in criminal prosecution. Additionally, an employee may raise a civil claim in relation to harm or loss suffered as a result of her employer breaching that duty.

Contacts

Dundas & Wilson
0131-200 7619
Julie.Keir@dundas-wilson.com

Department of Trade and Industry
020 7215 5000
www.dti.gov.uk/er/maternity.htm

This case study is a work of fiction and consequently the names, characters and incidents portrayed in the article are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.