Members: Laura Crooks and William Muir Ms K McColl v Represented by: Ms L Hunter - Solicitor South Lanarkshire Council — 2018

Ms McColl had worked for South Lanarkshire Council since 2004. After her first maternity leave, the tribunal found that she and the then care home manager, Julie Glen, agreed that she would work 22.5 hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week and every alternate weekend. That pattern then continued in practice and on the pre-populated rota, and the tribunal found it had become a term of her contract, alternatively a term implied by the parties' conduct.

When a new manager, Debra Allison, took over during the claimant's third maternity leave, the council said there were no fixed set days and required a fresh flexible working application. The tribunal found the council did not contact the claimant to discuss the proposed change, did not hold the meeting required by its own policy, and did not issue a written decision. It accepted the claimant's evidence that she was told the arrangement was only for a limited period and that she resigned on 22 June 2017 because the respondent had repudiatorily breached contract and the implied term of trust and confidence. The tribunal also held that the claimant had been denied her right to return to her job under regulation 18(2) of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999.

The tribunal upheld direct pregnancy/maternity discrimination under section 18 of the Equality Act 2010. It found that, during the protected period, the claimant was not consulted or invited to meetings, her concerns were handled dismissively, and the request for set days was not dealt with in line with the council's policy. Injury to feelings was assessed at £8,000 at the upper end of the lower Vento band, with £1,132.31 interest from 5 March 2017 to 12 December 2018. The tribunal also awarded £2,185 basic award, £2,174.54 compensatory award, and £500 for loss of statutory rights; the overall award was £13,991.85.