Advice and representation for individuals
Family Friendly Rights
Pregnancy and Maternity
Although employers present a public face which seemingly champions gender equality, the reality can be very different. We frequently hear stories in which women have experienced unfair treatment, either after announcing their pregnancy, or during or on their return from maternity leave. Balancing childcare arrangements with working life and career development is challenging enough without having to cope with discrimination at work. By engaging our team we will help you shoulder the burden. Our lawyers are experts in pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims, including in cases involving promotion and pay; we will do everything we can to help you achieve the equitable outcome you deserve.
Shared Parental Leave
The rules on Shared Parental Leave are complex, and parents-to-be may find trying to use them in practice more stressful than helpful.
By engaging the services of our team, we will help you navigate the more difficult areas of the Shared Parental Leave scheme, allowing you to share leave in a way that works best for you and your family. We can help you to ensure that your employer complies with its obligations and does not discriminate against you as a result of your parental leave.
Flexible Working requests
Flexible working requests are increasingly common, and can be particularly useful if traditional working arrangements do not suit your situation – it is no longer the case that you need to be a parent to take advantage of them.
While an employer cannot turn down a reasonable request for flexible working without a solid business reason, it is not unheard of for employers to add unnecessary pressure to the employee, e.g. by unfairly questioning their commitment to work. Sometimes, employees are even deprived of promotion and their career development curtailed simply because they asked to work flexibly.
Our expert team of employment lawyers are highly skilled at negotiating flexible working arrangements that really work for our clients. If things do not work out, we then aim to obtain a fair exit package from employers, who ultimately have failed to reconcile their aspirational policies with the reality of treating maternity returners, requests for flexible working, and shared parental leave with the fairness they are due.
