Hi All, 

In January of 2013 we had an employee join in junior sales role. Her performance declined in this role and she moved into another role on probation as this was treated as a clean move. She moved across in early February 2014 and is currently still on Probation. Her manager came to me and told me that she is pregnant and was worried where this leaves her in terms of her role/ probation and maternity. 

My thoughts….

Her continuous service date is Jan 2013 from the previous role 

There is no break in service as she just moved roles she did not leave the business 

She has a year's service so we would have to give her the full maternity package even though she is on probation.

We have to be careful if she does not pass the probation in this new role as we would need to make it clear that the reasons are not pregnancy related. 

Questions

– Do we have to automatically honour her maternity leave and full pay? 

– If she does not pass her probation period based on performance only , can we simply dismiss her or is she now classed as a protected characteristic because of the pregnancy? 

– Anything I should be aware of ?

– Apologies if this may be obvious but I just would like some guidance on this if possible? 

Many thanks in advance!

Adam