Miss Abigail Baines v Reach2 Academy Trust PRELIMINARY HEARING BY TELEPHONE — 2021

Miss Abigail Baines was employed by Reach2 Academy Trust as a teacher and notified the respondent of her pregnancy on 4 June 2019. The tribunal recorded that the trust’s maternity arrangements provided for Statutory Maternity Pay and Occupational Maternity Pay, with the latter conditional on returning to work for 13 weeks after maternity leave. The claimant completed the payroll form selecting the option to receive Occupational Maternity Pay after returning from maternity leave, but later queried whether she was also entitled to what she described as contractual maternity pay.

The claimant resigned on 27 January 2020 and the respondent treated 1 August 2020 as the effective date of termination under the contract. She later pursued a grievance about maternity pay and asked to be reinstated so that she could qualify for Occupational Maternity Pay, but the respondent said her vacancy had been filled, there were no vacancies, and it could not reinstate her. The tribunal found that the discrimination complaints had been presented outside the statutory time limit, but extended time on a just and equitable basis because the claimant had not been aware of the time limits and was dealing with pregnancy and maternity-related stress.

Having extended time, the tribunal nevertheless struck out the Equality Act claims under rule 37. It held that the claimant’s reading of the documents was not reasonable or justifiable, that ‘contractual maternity pay’ and Occupational Maternity Pay were interchangeable terms in the papers, and that there was no cogent evidence of a separate entitlement to additional pay. The tribunal found there was no reasonable prospect of any tribunal concluding that the claimant was entitled to more than Occupational Maternity Pay, which she did not receive because she resigned and did not return to work for the required 13 weeks. It also found no valid support for the reinstatement complaint.

The unlawful deduction from wages claims under s.13 ERA 1996 were dismissed because they were out of time and it was reasonably practicable for them to have been presented in time. The breach of contract claim was also dismissed as out of time and because the tribunal had no jurisdiction once the claimant was no longer employed.