Pregnant Healthcare Worker being forced to return to the wards or take pay cut

[Guest]

Hi everyone, I am 24 weeks pregnant and in a difficult situation at work. I am a lead healthcare assistant for a large private mental health hospital, run by one of the largest providers of care, besides the NHS, in the uk. I have been employed by them for 2 1/2 years. On the weeks commencing 16/3 I was called on my day off and informed that the government had placed pregnant women in the vulnerable category and told I was not allowed in for my shifts, being put on company sick pay instead(4 weeks full pay/ 4 half then ssp). I was 20 ish weeks at the time and therefore in my qualifying period for maternity pay (the 8 weeks which determine my average pay for mat pay). Company sick pay is paid at a basic weekday hour rate, and I have a rolling rota in which I am expected to do weekends/ nights, and these shifts attract a higher pay. In the last month I was due to work most weekends, and now my average pay for my maternity leave will be much lower then it would have been. No one at the time could answer my questions about this issue or gave me any idea what was happening.*
Two weeks after the original call, they called and said I can return to work. By this time, having read the RCOG’s advice that vertical transmission to the baby is possible, and reading several articles about preterm labour due to the mum being Covid positive, I was very reluctant to return to the ward; social distancing is not possible in a locked mental health ward. I told them this and was told that if I refuse to return to the wards, then I would be unpaid until I turned 28 weeks, because I am not deemed high risk until then.*
I did some research and phoned citizens advice, and then presented my employer with the ‘management of health and safety regulations’ plus asked to be placed on medical suspension, because obviously the risk of me catching Covid of a ward full of people is higher than if I follow the government advice and stay home. I also told them that it would appear I shouldn’t have been placed on sick pay, and a risk assessment should have been done before I wasn’t allowed in.*
The responded saying that they had decided they could find admin work for me 9-5, 4 days a week and that I would have to use my annual leave for the 5th day. I would only be paid weekday rates for this and use my Annual leave, plus have to spend more days a week in work and have a higher cost of travel. I responded that this was completely different to my usual work terms and conditions, and less favourable to me so I wouldn’t consider it unless the pay was based off the rolling rota, and I got paid for the shifts I should have done, including enhancements. They pretty much laughed at me at this point.*
I eventually got passed to a higher HR department, wrote her an email with citing h+s laws and points about it being less favourable, how I was unlawfully sent home on the sick and how this has therefore effected my mat pay. I asked again to be back paid, have my company sick pay reinstated, and said I would do the admin job if they removed the annual leave part and paid me based off my rolling rota. She once again basically laughed at me and said she would get back to me on Friday(it was Monday when we spoke, so it gave me another week of worry).

- so she replied on Friday(at 4.30 pm) and said they would not back pay me for the enhancements as I received sick pay for this, and enhancements are for those of have the inconvenience of doing to unsociable hours (my contact states my basic salary ‘plus enhancements’. It also states that I will be expected to do the unsociable shifts and these will be allocated via my rolling rota. I feel that my rolling rota reflects my actual pay.*
- she said that because they feel they can support me to go back to my role and maintain social distancing then if I didn’t want to do that then the admin role was considered a suitable alternative in her opinion (not once has any of them said anything about how they could adjust my role btw). She said that she had managed to arrange it so that I no longer had to make up the hours using my annual leave, but as the role was 9-5 weekdays, then I would not be paid shift enhancements. If I refuse this role then I will be unpaid as of Monday (27th April) and to let her know so they can arrange this.*

Sorry for the long post, but essentially I could really do with some help for the following:*

1) I feel the admin role is unsuitable because it is less favourable to me. My contract is 12 1/2 hour shifts, across the shift pattern. This role is 9-5 only, so I’m in more days a week. It’s 2 hours extra a week travel time plus the fuel cost for this. Overall compared to my rolling rota shifts I will be earning less over the course of the month. I also only see my step kids tues-thurs and my usual rota very rarely has me working all the days we have them. The Hr lady disagreed with me on all these reasons, stating that I’m not getting paid less because I’m getting paid the hourly rate of a weekday which is the same as a hourly weekday rate on the ward.*

2) I’m considering asking to go back to the ward but refuse to do patient observations( where you are legally obligated to stay within arms reach or a few meters of the patient for their safety) on the basis that I’m already going to be very stressed being forced to go back into a building full of people, so the added stress of this would be to much. I could then possible stay in the office most of the day doing notes (this is actually an option they give to heavily pregnant staff usually, and has not been offered to me. It would allow me to work my normal shifts). I’m only considering this because I feel coerced into it as this other role would leave me with very little money left over a month so it’s either face the risk of the ward, work for less money and more travel cost or go unpaid. Also I actually have a strict savings plan/ financial plan that I made before getting pregnant so that I could afford the baby/mat pat/everything for baby (I’m already behind on this due to this past month). Is this a good idea? The admin role will still expose me to people in the tiny halls/ toilets etc and either way I’m at a higher risk and can’t follow gov guidelines.*

3) is the admin role actually unsuitable? The way I’ve interpreted the regulations and employment rights act is that it’s less favourable to me, and therefore unsuitable. Have I got this right?*

4) If I go back to the ward I plan on letting them know in writing that it’s because I’m being forced into it by their alternatives. I’m hoping to go through the grievances procedure but I imagine they will give me the same answers as I’ve had so far. Is this a tribunal worthy issue?*


Thank you in afford any advice you can give me, and I’m so sorry for the extremely long post. I know people are in a lot worse situations than myself, but I can barely go get milk in a completely empty store without panicking and feeling stressed. Ever since I got her email on Friday I’ve been in bits worrying about having to go back, so I really appreciate any advice.*

[ULA]

Under the Equality Act 2010 you cannot be treated less favourably because you are pregnant. You must be able to prove that you are suffering a disadvantage as a result of the unfair treatment. This means you have been treated unfavourably and that you are worse off because of the discrimination.

Part of your employer’s responsibility is to ensure that they protect your health and safety where there are any risks and a full risk assessment should be carried out in regard to your working environment taking account of the current situation.*

Changing or removing your job responsibilities would be considered as discriminatory unless they are necessary for health and safety reasons and your employer may be relying on this by offering the admin role. There is the potential of this being seen as putting you at a disadvantage because of the reduction in your salary, however I need clarity on how your salary is structured. Are you paid a contractual basic and then an enhancement because you are working on a rota which includes unsocial hours, which if you ever came of such a rota might be withdrawn.*
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[Valpho]

Hi thank you for your reply!
I work on a rolling rota. My contract is for 37.5 hours a week, at basic pay. Any shifts that I work on weekends/ nights I get an enhancement for. My rolling rota very rarely has me working just weekdays over the course of a week. My contract also states I must work the variety of shifts which will be allocated via the rolling rota. The HR lady has once again refused to acknowledge that the admin position would lead me to earn less over the course of the month, because I would still be getting paid the basic rate.*
Furthermore, she replied and said that they would be willing to pay for the extra travel cost and therefore they consider the admin role to be suitable. I restated that this role would only allow me to see my step kids for less than 3 hours a week, and she essentially said she understood it would affect my work/life balance but they have fulfilled their obligations in offering the job. So in my opinion the role would lead to me having two less days off a week, I have to spend more time traveling and would barely see the kids; therefore I still fee it is not a suitable alternative. She disagreed and said if I don’t take it or return to the ward I must be unpaid, and they have even stopped my sick pay now because they believe I am not high risk. The gov website and NHS website still categorise me as clinically vulnerable and tell me to follow the guidelines which she also refused to acknowledge.*

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