Sick pay when pregnant ( GP practice nurse )

Hopkinson1

Hello.

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum. 

My fiancé is a GP practice nurse, worked there for around 15 months, she is 3 months pregnant and if I'm honest I'm not too happy with her treatment since she has told them she's expecting, she's being treat more of a hinderance now and is coming home from work saying she feels as though shes being pushed to the side now, the practice have cancelled all courses she was due to go on in the next couple months etc even though she want to do them. She very rarely rings in sick but last week she had to ring in with morning sickness. Her line manager has done a return to work form with her and told her she wont be paid for the day, as the following day she did an extended access shift ( for her GP practice ) and that fell within 48 hours of a 'sickness bug' so she should have been at home 'resting'. She has said she thinks this is unfair as it wasnt a sickness bug but it was morning sickness, but she was told its up to the GP practice at their own discretion. 

I haven't told her that im going on this forum for advice, but inside im really not happy with how they seem to be handling a pregnant member of staff that has done countless hours of 'time owing' and overtime on days off. 

So what i guess im asking is..


- is what they did with her non payment of a sick day correct ? 

- Is cancelling already booked courses due to a staff member being pregnant discrimination ?

Thankyou !

Undervalued

Hopkinson1 said:

Hello.

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum. 

My fiancé is a GP practice nurse, worked there for around 15 months, she is 3 months pregnant and if I'm honest I'm not too happy with her treatment since she has told them she's expecting, she's being treat more of a hinderance now and is coming home from work saying she feels as though shes being pushed to the side now, the practice have cancelled all courses she was due to go on in the next couple months etc even though she want to do them. She very rarely rings in sick but last week she had to ring in with morning sickness. Her line manager has done a return to work form with her and told her she wont be paid for the day, as the following day she did an extended access shift ( for her GP practice ) and that fell within 48 hours of a 'sickness bug' so she should have been at home 'resting'. She has said she thinks this is unfair as it wasnt a sickness bug but it was morning sickness, but she was told its up to the GP practice at their own discretion. 

I haven't told her that im going on this forum for advice, but inside im really not happy with how they seem to be handling a pregnant member of staff that has done countless hours of 'time owing' and overtime on days off. 

So what i guess im asking is..


- is what they did with her non payment of a sick day correct ? 

- Is cancelling already booked courses due to a staff member being pregnant discrimination ?

Thankyou !

1. Yes, it very well may be correct.

Any company sick pay (over and above any statutory sick pay entitlement) with almost always be "discretionary" rather than a hard and fast contractual entitlement. Legally the employer's discretion is really quite wide as long as it is not so far off the mark as to be "perverse". SSP does not apply for the first three days of absence. The pregnancy aspect of this might complicate things (or at least might make many employer's extra careful) but is not a trump card.

2. Not in itself. What reason, if any, have they given?

Doing extra hours and going "over and above" doesn't confer any additional legal right I'm afraid. Morally maybe......

Bobbobbobingalong

How has the absence been recorded, as pregnancy related or some other illness - what does it say in the return to work interview? Your OH should have been treated the same as somebody who was off with a non-pregnancy related issue. In other words, if any other employee would have received sick pay for being off ill, then so should she (assuming it has not been exhausted) and not doing so may well be illegal. 

I wouldn't get too hung up on courses being cancelled, just get an assurance that they can be booked again in the future - get it included as an objective during annual review to crystallise it.

TBagpuss

Cancelling the courses may or may not be discrimination - I think it would depend on things like what the course was and how it would affect her moving forward - for example, t may may much more sense for her to to the course on her return if it if for something where she would need to get practical experience after ding the course, or where the course s for a certification which is only valid for a limited time or needs to be renewed regularly.

However, if not completing it might put her at a disadvantage (e.g. lower pay, unable to apply for promotions, being 'left behind' colleagues) then it might be different.

IF she member of a union? If so, she should take to them.

Regarding the morning sickness- would she normally get sick pay if she was off due to being sick? IF so, then not paying her for this may well be discrimination. However, if the norm if someone is vomiting is that they have to stay off for 24/48 hours and they don't get paid then I am not sure that the cause of the vomiting would change that, not last as it's hard to be 100% certain of the cause! 

Hopkinson1

Thankyou for the advice received I really appreciate it.

 I work as a store manager for the coop and I’m just a little disappointed in how some company’s seem to treat women once they find out a staff member is pregnant, it’s worlds apart from how my employer would treat a pregnant staff member.

We think the best route for her to take next is hand her notice in once she is a few months prior to going on maternity, as she would qualify for SMP payments, then go on to the bank shifts for the hospital. As unfortunately the way she’s being treat still hasn’t improved.

thank you again !

whosthatrubi

Your partner could contact https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/ for advice, I've heard they're really helpful