Ok this is a bit of a long one but I hope you HR people can help, a friend of mine is 4 months pregnant and she was recently admitted into hospital on suspected pre-eclampsia. As it turns out, she doesn’t have it but was quite stressed out as she also thought she had lost the baby during this time. She was in hospital for 3 days and stayed in touch with her boss every day to let her know what was happening.

Upon return to work she was dragged into the office and given a row for being off! Her boss then told her that she didn’t believe her and demanded details of the admitting consultant to prove she was there. She also wanted to see a copy of her pregnancy notes. My friend then got the hospital to fax something up confirming she was attending. As a result of the admission, she had to go to her GP for a couple of times to be checked out. One of the appointments was during work time and despite the fact she provided an appointment card her boss refused to let her go. The following day she went to her GP and is now signed off with stress (understandably). Her boss then phoned her to say she would be raising a disciplinary.

Am I right in saying that there is NO way her boss will get away with that? What are my friends rights? As she is really, really stressed out by the whole thing. Not to mention the fact that she has just come out of hospital.

Thanks for all your advice in advance
e q