Wirral midwife wins compensation for job loss on maternity leave
By RCM on 14 August 2018 RCM Member Maternity Discrimination Midwives RCM Legal Service
A midwife member of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has won compensation of almost £5000 at a tribunal over indirect sex discrimination by One-to-One Midwives (North West), her former employer.
Naomi Leigh-Poole took One-to-One to a tribunal because they failed to inform her of potential jobs she could apply for at the organisation, at time when she faced possible redundancy. This was despite her making a written request for them to keep her informed of potential jobs while she was on maternity leave.
Naomi said: “I am delighted that the RCM was able to support me in this way and to get this result. This victory is not about the money, it is about the principle and it is about fairness. I don’t want other women to have to face this situation. I hope this will help to raise awareness about this and perhaps stop other employers from doing the same.”
Lesley Wood, Regional Officer for the Royal College of Midwives who supported Naomi, said: "It is important that employers know they cannot treat women on maternity leave in this way. Naomi put her faith in her employer and they let her down. I am delighted we were able to represent her through this employment tribunal to obtain our members maternity and employment rights.”
Jamie Humphries, employment rights lawyer at Thompsons Solicitors, who represented Naomi, said: “An organisation that delivers midwifery services should know better than any the importance of treating pregnant workers fairly. For their poor treatment to amount to indirect sex discrimination is an indictment of Naomi’s employer. It was important to us that our client was vindicated and as a firm we are proud act for any RCM member subject to unfair treatment or injury while at work.”
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Note to editors
The RCM is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences and online resources. For more information visit the RCM website at https://www.rcm.org.uk/.
Thompsons
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