Denying an employee’s return to her role after maternity leave ruled as discriminatory
Thursday 31st July 2025
The Employment Tribunal (ET) recently held that refusing to allow an employee to return to her position following maternity leave constituted discrimination in the case of Sarah Lindup v Bright HR Limited.
Background
Sarah Lindup (C), an award-winning member of the web team sales department at the Respondent (R), achieved sales exceeding £1.3m in the year preceding her maternity leave. After returning from maternity leave, C was assigned a different role with substantially less opportunity to earn commission, which made up a very significant percentage of the C’s remuneration.
C met with the new supervisor to discuss the possibility of returning to her previous role. C says she was laughed at and told it was unrealistic, that previously promised protected earnings would not be honoured, and that she was required to stay in her new, lower paid position.
C subsequently submitted a claim of maternity discrimination to the ET.
Decision
The ET ruled in C’s favour, concluding that maternity leave was the fundamental reason for their inability to resume her previous role and resultant loss of earning potential, and that C had been subject to unfavourable treatment.
Women returning from maternity leave are entitled to return to their previous role or a similar role, on no less favourable terms. The ET determined that, in this case, ”similar” referred to comparable opportunities to earn similar remuneration. Since C’s new role paid £24,000, while her previous position provided a salary of £65,000, the roles were not considered similar due to the difference in pay.
The Tribunal found C’s manager acted defensively and potentially insensitively, causing C a major income loss with potential ”disastrous personal consequences”. It also found no rational reason for not redeploying C to her previous role, where she had achieved over £1.3m in sales during the past year.
On the balance of probabilities, the ET concluded that the Respondent’s conduct was solely attributable to her maternity leave.
Comment
This case highlights employers’ obligations to employees returning from maternity leave.
Employees returning from ordinary maternity leave are entitled to return to the same job held before the leave was taken. Those returning from additional maternity leave have the right to return to the same job unless it is not reasonably practicable for the employer to reinstate them in that role. In such cases, the employer must offer a job that is both suitable and appropriate in the circumstances. This alternative role must maintain terms and conditions no less favourable than those the employee would have had if she had not been absent.
The Tribunal found in this case that “similar” work does mean being in the same office with the same team of people, but in the context of C’s employment meant similar levels of opportunity to earn similar levels of remuneration. A new position causing a loss of considerably more than half of C’s expected income was not a “similar” position.
For further guidance on managing the return of employees from maternity leave, please contact a member of our team.
