On a straightforward reading of the relevant regulations, there was no absolute requirement that an employee must have given notice to take parental leave for them to have ‘sought’ to take parental leave.
Family rights
Enhancing the pay of women on maternity leave but not men on shared parental leave is not direct or indirect sex discrimination and even if indirect, it would be objectively justified. Where enhanced maternity pay is contractual, the sex equality clause does not apply as it relates to special treatment related to maternity.
An employee who went on maternity leave was discriminated against and unfairly dismissed after her employer paused her training agreement to recoup expensive training costs.
While men on shared parental leave cannot directly compare themselves with women on maternity leave, enhancing maternity pay but not shared parental pay may give rise to an indirect discrimination claim.
Paying women on maternity leave and men on shared parental leave differently was not direct discrimination
An employer was not obliged to revisit its decision to dismiss when it became aware that the employee was pregnant.
Generic risk assessments of jobs where breastfeeding workers are involved are incompatible with EU law as each worker’s personal circumstances must be considered. A failure to conduct an appropriate risk assessment gives rise to a prima facie case of discrimination.
Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd
An employment tribunal has held that a male employee was subjected to direct discrimination when his employer refused to allow him to take 12 weeks shared parental leave at full pay when a female comparator would have been entitled to it