Miss A Prosser v Community Gateway Association Ltd — 2021

Miss A Prosser started work for Community Gateway Association Ltd on 24 June 2019 under a zero-hours worker contract. She told the respondent that she was pregnant on 13 March 2020 and was sent home on 17 March 2020 during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The tribunal held that the claims were in time because the later issues about pay, return to work, maternity pay, and birthday leave formed a continuous course of conduct ending on 1 September 2020.

On the merits of the pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim, the tribunal found that she was not told on 17 March 2020 that she would be away from work for 12 weeks. It accepted that she was sent home because she was classed as clinically vulnerable, and held that this was not unfavourable treatment. The tribunal also found that the late payment for cancelled shifts was a mistake that was later corrected, with payment made beyond the strict terms of her zero-hours contract, and that the delay was not because of pregnancy.

The tribunal further found that the 27 May 2020 risk assessment lawfully limited her to day adviser shifts and excluded night and responder shifts for safety reasons while Perspex screens and desk spacing were being arranged. When she was told on 16 June 2020 that she could not yet return to work because adequate social distancing was not in place, the tribunal treated that as a factual safety issue and not unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy. It also rejected the victimisation claim: although the grievance of 9 July 2020 was a protected act, the birthday leave issue arose because zero-hours workers had mistakenly received that benefit in 2019, and the maternity pay point was accurate because she was not contractually entitled to maternity pay. The tribunal also recorded that her maternity allowance matched statutory maternity pay, so she suffered no financial loss, and it confirmed that she was a worker under a zero-hours contract and not an employee.