Pregnancy and maternity are no reason for worse treatment

Treating an employee worse because she is pregnant or on maternity leave is unlawful discrimination. This is set out in section 18 of the Equality Act 2010.

What is prohibited

An employer must not treat a woman unfavourably (s18):

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• because of her pregnancy or a pregnancy-related illness;
• because she is on compulsory maternity leave;
• because she is taking, or seeking to take, ordinary or additional maternity leave.

'Unfavourably' covers, for example, dismissal, being passed over for promotion, losing a bonus, being moved to worse terms, or pregnancy-related criticism.

An important difference

In these cases the woman does not need a 'comparator': it is enough to show she was treated badly because of the pregnancy or maternity leave. That makes it easier to claim than ordinary sex discrimination.

The protected period

Protection runs from the start of the pregnancy to the end of additional maternity leave (or her return to work, if earlier). If she has no right to maternity leave, it lasts at least two weeks after the pregnancy ends.

What to do

1. Keep a written record of what happened and when, and save correspondence.
2. You can raise a formal grievance with the employer.
3. For advice and tribunal time limits, contact Acas.

Source: section 18 of the Equality Act 2010. Checked 26 October 2026.