ETZ 4(WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4102927/2019 Hearing at Edinburgh on July 2019 Employment Judge: M A Macleod Tribunal Member: A Mathieson Tribunal Member: J Auld Miss E Spiers v Sherien Ahmed — 2019

The claimant worked as a housekeeper for the respondent's guest house from 3 June 2014. She told the respondent that she was pregnant in early 2018 and, in August 2018, said that she intended to return to work after maternity leave but might initially only be able to work weekends because of childcare. In January 2019 the respondent texted that the claimant's last maternity payment would be in January 2019, that a P45 and a letter confirming end of employment would follow, and that there were no shifts available. The tribunal held that this amounted to dismissal, effective from 18 January 2019.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's view that the claimant had to give a return-to-work date before resuming work. It held that, under the Maternity and Parental Leave Etc Regulations 1999, the claimant had an automatic right to return and no obligation to notify the respondent in the way suggested. The tribunal also found that the claimant's service was continuous despite the 2017 closure of the business, because she continued to be regarded as employed and did occasional cleaning shifts for cash. That finding gave the tribunal jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal claim, and it concluded that the dismissal was unfair and also automatically unfair under regulation 20.

The tribunal further held that the dismissal was direct discrimination on grounds of pregnancy and maternity because it was based on the claimant being on maternity leave and the respondent's erroneous assumption that she should not be permitted to return without giving a return date. On remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £512, compensatory losses of £1,536, and £500 for loss of statutory rights, making a monetary award of £2,548 subject to recoupment under the 1996 Regulations; the prescribed element ran from 13 March 2019 to 5 June 2019. It also awarded £2,000 for injury to feelings in the lowest Vento band, and awarded two weeks' notice pay. The holiday pay claim was not proved.