Employers and maternity

voodoo

Hi all,

Just wanted to see if we have any legal people here who could give some advice on an issue my wife is experiencing at the moment.

My wife works for a large Irish retail outlet as a buyer and travels alot with work. We recently found out that she is expecting twins and under the doctors orders, has been advised not to travel to the Far East or long distancce work and got a letter to that fact.

Since she has told them this, they have been very rude and unkind to her despite her 6 yrs of service to them. They have historically been renowned for the way they treat their staff and have had numerous attempts (some successful, some unsuccesful) to file for Constructive Dismissal....

What redress do you think should be taken here or should she try to just put up with it for the next few months, bearing in mind that this is emotionally affecting her personal life!

Regards,

Voodoo

Nuttzz

I'm not a legal person but perhaps she should take some time off at her own expense until she has the kids, depends on your cash situation really.

I dont mean to sound rude but your wife's employers pay her to do a job and are not interested in some sob story about her and her kids, they just want the work to be done. Her managers are already visualising her returning from mat leave and not been able to go to the far east etc because of one thing or another to do with the children (thats just the way they think)

This happens quite a bit in work places the problem is the burden of proof is on your wife, I dont see how you can prove anything in this situation.

slave1

Methinks a visit to your GP, who if he/she is decent enough will give your wife a couple of weeks off sick - especially if she goes in stressed out and bordering on crying.

This is the route if your wife gets sick pay, its a pity the way the co. treats her.

If your wife is continually upset it is not unheard of to be continually off from the mid-20 weeks onward, I mean it is twins which are harder to carry.

Nuttz has given a viewpoint from an employer point of view but not from a decent employer. Your wife has many rights which all center around protecting her/babies welfare. You could also give your local Citizen Advise bureau a call.

Let us know how it all goes and start going to bed early because when they arrive you can forget about sleep for a few years

Victor

Originally posted by voodoo
under the doctors orders, has been advised not to travel to the Far East or long distancce work and got a letter to that fact.

She may be entitled to Health and Safety Leave (I understand it's like extended Materntity Leave).

If her employer starts discriminating / intimidating her ("they have been very rude and unkind to her"), she has case against them under anti-discimination law.

voodoo

Guys thanks for the views!

Muchos appreciated... Yeah, I know all about the sleep! It's gonna be a very tiring process ok....

Well I have also suggested taking some time off as she is really stressing out at the moment, which is not good!

They are still not being overly supportive of her (basically as I think they had high hopes for her)...

Anyway, realistically, if she can bear with it till the maternity leave, then we're all happy as the plan is not to work beyond that or get something locally for 2-3 days a week.... They dont pay maternity leave either :dunno:

sceptre

I mentioned this to my GF when I was on the phone to her tonight[1] - I know next to nothing about employment law (it wasn't a required course in my day & I've never had much of an interest in labour law) but she's doing some study in it at the moment from the health and safety angle. Anyhoo, apparently under the pregnancy regulations (2000) the employer is obliged to do a risk assessment where advice like this has been given by a GP. I've not read the regulations (though I'll have a look over the coming days) but she said that merely asking whether they've done a risk assessment should put them in a hole as they almost certainly haven't (most Irish employers not having the copon to realise what obligations they have). Following the risk assessment, they'd be pretty much obliged to temporarily adjust working conditions or temporarily assign her to other work. Apparently section 18 of the Maternity Act 1994 comes into play as well. Anne mentioned a few other things as well (including the health and safety leave that Victor mentioned) but I don't type well with one hand[2] so I just took a few brief notes.

I'll have a look over the next few days. To be honest at a glance it looks like the employers have put themselves in a hole and potentially shot themselves in the foot and they don't even realise it.



[1]She's actually become a little used to my "this chap I don't actually know said..." conversations. Frankly I think she's rather glad I spend my time on the net discussing politics and tech & whatever rather than looking at porn
[2]The other hand was holding the phone before I get any more smarty-pants PMs