The Complainant was employed with the Respondent on a part-time basis from the 4th of September 2017 until June 2018. Before January 2018 she had no issues in work and said she was often given praise by the owner of the creche.

The Complainant informed staff at the creche about her pregnancy in January 2018. She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes early in her pregnancy and had to attend a clinic each Monday. Shortly after being informed of her diagnosis, the Complainant noticed that her duties were being allocated to other staff. In June 2017, the Complainant asked the owners about filling in the social welfare maternity leave form and she was told that this was not necessary. The owners presumed with the Complainant’s 38-week contract that she would have to reapply the following year for a job. The Complainant then telephoned the owner to ask if she could work for the summer and was informed that they did not need any assistance as there would be a lot of children on holidays. The Complainant then saw a position being advertised in the creche on a number of occasions.

The Complainant’s contract was not renewed and she was not offered any explanation for this decision.  She felt as if she was treated differently due to her pregnancy and also submitted that she had been treated less favourably as a fixed-term worker than a comparable permanent employee. The Respondent failed to give her a written statement setting out the objective grounds justifying renewal of a fixed-term contract. In addition, the Complainant claimed that she had not received her entitlement to maternity-leave under the Maternity Protection Act 1994.

The Respondent firmly denied the claim of unfair dismissal and provided that the contract stated that the duties of each member of staff may change from time to time. The Respondent denied any wrongdoing, as the contract ‘just ceased’.

The Adjudication Officer found that the Complainant had been unfairly dismissed due to her pregnancy. The Complainant was awarded compensation for her financial loss over the six-month period (€4,620.00), including holiday pay. The AO also found that under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 the Complainant was not informed of vacancies for permanent employment awarded €1,000 compensation for the breach.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2019/august/adj-00016913.html