Maternity Leave

By Employment Law Bulletin and CCH

The NSW Anti-Discrimination Tribunal has found that employers must consider an employee's request for part time work following maternity leave.

The employee had worked for the employer for 5 years before taking the maternity leave. She requested to return to work 3 days per week. The employer refused the request without discussion with the employee, and refused to explore the possibility of job sharing.

Reddy v International Cargo Express [2004] NSWADT 218 930 September 2004)

(Employment Law Bulletin vol. 9, no 9, December2004/January 2005)

In another matter, CCH report:

Pregnant Childcare Worker Dismissed

A childcare worker who was dismissed four days after lodging a maternity leave application has been awarded $15,175 compensation.

The woman had worked at the childcare centre for about 13 months. Shortly after informing her employer that she was pregnant and intended to take maternity leave, the woman received a letter setting out 17 instances of unsatisfactory job performance. The woman provided a written reply, refuting all 17 allegations, and at the same time submitted her application for maternity leave. Without further discussion, the employer dismissed her and claimed that it had done so because of the issues it had raised in the letter.

The NSW Industrial Relations Commission found that the allegations relating to performance and conduct were mainly inconsequential or spurious and were not backed up by any documentary evidence, nor had the employee been made aware in the past of any issues that were likely to place her employment at risk.

Wintle v Another World 4 Kids Kindergarten/Pre-School (2005) EOC ¶93-364.

(CCH Equal Opportunity Alert Issue 148 2 March 2005)