Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Employment Tribunal Claim (2026 Guide)

When Do You Need to File a Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Claim?

You should consider filing an ET1 when your employer has treated you unfavourably because of your pregnancy, a pregnancy-related illness, or your exercise of maternity leave rights, and you have been unable to resolve the issue through internal processes or ACAS early conciliation.

Common situations that lead to pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims include:

• Dismissal — being sacked because you are pregnant, because of pregnancy-related sickness, or during or after maternity leave
• Redundancy during pregnancy or maternity leave — being selected for redundancy while pregnant or on maternity leave, particularly where you were not offered suitable alternative employment
• Refusal to allow you to return to your role — being told your job no longer exists or being offered a lesser role on return from maternity leave
• Demotion or reduced responsibilities — having your role stripped down, your team reassigned, or your projects given to others while you were pregnant or on leave
• Negative performance reviews — receiving a poor appraisal linked to pregnancy-related absence or reduced output during pregnancy
• Failure to carry out a risk assessment — your employer not assessing workplace risks to your pregnancy and not taking steps to protect you
• Denial of pay or benefits — being excluded from a pay rise, bonus, or benefit because of pregnancy or maternity leave
• Harassment — offensive comments about your pregnancy, your appearance, your ability to do your job while pregnant, or your plans for returning to work
• Victimisation — being subjected to a detriment after raising a complaint about pregnancy or maternity discrimination

No qualifying service period is required. You can bring a pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim from the first day of employment. You can also bring a claim if you were refused a job because you are pregnant.

Before filing your ET1, you must complete ACAS early conciliation. This has been a legal requirement since 2014. Since December 2025, the ACAS conciliation period has been extended to 12 weeks. You will need your ACAS certificate number before submitting your claim.

What a Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Claim Involves

Section 18 of the Equality Act 2010 provides standalone protection for pregnancy and maternity. It is structured differently from other discrimination protections and offers some important advantages for claimants.

Unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy (section 18(2)): A person discriminates against a woman if, during the protected period, they treat her unfavourably because of her pregnancy or because of an illness suffered by her as a result of her pregnancy. The protected period begins when the pregnancy begins and ends at the end of the additional maternity leave period, or — if the woman does not have the right to ordinary and additional maternity leave — at the end of two weeks after the pregnancy ends.

Unfavourable treatment because of maternity leave (section 18(3) and 18(4)): A person discriminates against a woman if they treat her unfavourably because she is on compulsory maternity leave or because she is exercising, or seeking to exercise, or has exercised the right to ordinary or additional maternity leave.

No comparator is needed. This is one of the most important features of section 18. Unlike direct discrimination under section 13, you do not need to show that someone else in the same circumstances was treated more favourably. You only need to show that you were treated unfavourably and that the reason was your pregnancy or maternity leave. This makes pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims simpler to establish than many other types of discrimination.

No justification defence. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination under section 18 cannot be justified. If the unfavourable treatment was because of pregnancy or maternity leave, it is unlawful — full stop.

Outside the protected period: If the unfavourable treatment occurs after the protected period has ended — for example, several months after you return from maternity leave — section 18 may not apply. However, you may still have a claim for direct sex discrimination under section 13, using pregnancy or maternity as the ground. In that situation, you would need a comparator (real or hypothetical).

The Protected Period Explained

The “protected period” is central to a section 18 claim. It defines the window during which the special pregnancy and maternity protections apply.

The protected period runs from the beginning of your pregnancy to the end of your additional maternity leave period (which is 52 weeks after the start of maternity leave). If you are not entitled to maternity leave — for example, because you are a worker rather than an employee — the protected period ends two weeks after the end of your pregnancy.

During this period:

• Any unfavourable treatment because of your pregnancy is automatically discriminatory
• Any unfavourable treatment because of a pregnancy-related illness is automatically discriminatory
• You do not need to show a comparator
• The employer cannot justify the treatment

After the protected period ends, the specific section 18 protection no longer applies. But if your employer treats you less favourably because of your pregnancy or the fact that you took maternity leave, you may still have a claim for direct sex discrimination under section 13 — which does require a comparator but which remains a strong legal route.

Special Protections During Redundancy

If you are made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave, special rules apply. Under regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, where a redundancy situation arises during your maternity leave, you are entitled to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy that exists — ahead of other employees. This is a priority right. Your employer must offer you the alternative role; you do not have to compete for it.

If your employer fails to offer you a suitable alternative vacancy that exists, or if it selects you for redundancy in circumstances where your pregnancy or maternity leave was a factor in the selection, this is likely both unfair dismissal and pregnancy discrimination.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 extended this priority right. From April 2024, the redundancy protection period begins when you tell your employer you are pregnant (not just during maternity leave) and continues until 18 months after the expected date of childbirth. This significantly widens the protection available to pregnant workers and new mothers.

How to Complete Your ET1 for Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination: Step by Step

Step 1 — Confirm Your Personal and Respondent Details

In section 1, enter your full name, date of birth, address, and contact details. In section 2, enter the respondent’s details. Use the exact registered company name — check Companies House — and the correct address. If an individual manager was responsible for the discriminatory treatment, they may be named as an additional respondent.

Step 2 — Confirm Your Employment Details

State whether you are currently employed or formerly employed, your start date, end date (if applicable), job title, and pay details. You can bring a pregnancy discrimination claim as an employee, a worker, or a job applicant.

Step 3 — Select the Correct Type of Claim

In the “Type of Claim” section, tick “Equality Act (including equal pay).” If you are also bringing an unfair dismissal claim (for example, because you were dismissed while pregnant), tick that as well. You can bring multiple claims on a single ET1.

Step 4 — Write Your Particulars of Claim

The particulars of claim are the core of your case. They must be clear, specific, and chronological.

• State that you are, or were, pregnant and provide the approximate dates. If relevant, state when your employer knew or should have known about your pregnancy.
• Identify the protected period. State when the protected period began (the start of your pregnancy) and when it ended (the end of your additional maternity leave, or two weeks after the pregnancy ended).
• Describe each act of unfavourable treatment. Be specific — date, what happened, who was involved, what was said. For example: “On 15 January 2026, [name] told me that my role would be restructured because the company needed someone who would be present full-time.”
• Explain the link to pregnancy or maternity leave. State why you say the treatment was because of your pregnancy or maternity leave. This might be because of what was said, the timing (treatment coinciding with the announcement of pregnancy), or the contrast between how you were treated before and after your pregnancy became known.
• You do not need to identify a comparator for a section 18 claim. Simply state that you were treated unfavourably because of pregnancy or maternity leave.
• If your claim involves redundancy, state that you were not offered a suitable alternative vacancy, or that your selection for redundancy was influenced by your pregnancy or maternity leave.

Step 5 — State the Remedy You Are Seeking

The tribunal can award:

• Compensation — for financial losses (lost earnings, pension loss, benefits) and injury to feelings (the Vento bands — for claims presented on or after 6 April 2026, a lower band of £1,300 to £12,600, a middle band of £12,600 to £37,700 and an upper band of £37,700 to £62,900, with the most exceptional cases capable of exceeding £62,900 (Ninth Addendum to the Presidential Guidance, 30 March 2026))
• A declaration — confirming that discrimination occurred
• A recommendation — that the employer take steps to address the discrimination

There is no statutory cap on discrimination compensation. Pregnancy discrimination cases frequently result in significant awards, particularly where the claimant lost her job.

Step 6 — Submit Your ET1

Review all sections. Submit online through the Employment Tribunal Service. Keep your acknowledgment and case number safe.

Key Deadlines

Do not rely on the extended ERA 2025 time limits unless your claim clearly falls after October 2026. If in doubt, file within the current 3-month period.

What Happens After You File

After your ET1 is accepted, the respondent has 28 days to file an ET3. The tribunal will issue case management orders setting out the timetable — disclosure of documents, exchange of witness statements, and preliminary and final hearing dates.

At the preliminary hearing, the tribunal will define the issues. In a pregnancy discrimination case, the key question is whether the unfavourable treatment was because of pregnancy or maternity leave. The burden of proof initially rests on you to establish facts from which the tribunal could conclude that discrimination occurred. If you do this, the burden shifts to the employer to prove a non-discriminatory reason. This “shifting burden of proof” under section 136 of the Equality Act 2010 is an important procedural advantage.

Before the final hearing, prepare a trial bundle containing all relevant documents and exchange witness statements. At the hearing, both sides present their case, witnesses give evidence and are cross-examined, and the tribunal decides.

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases often settle before final hearing because the law is clear, comparators are not required, and justification is not available as a defence. However, if your employer defends the claim, a well-prepared case has strong prospects.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Missing the time limit. The 3-month deadline runs from the act complained of — not from the end of your maternity leave or from when you decided to bring a claim. If there is a series of connected acts, time runs from the last act, but you must argue that clearly.
2. Not identifying whether your claim falls within the protected period. If the treatment occurred after the protected period ended, section 18 may not apply — but section 13 (direct sex discrimination) may. Get the dates right and frame your claim accordingly.
3. Treating the claim as sex discrimination when section 18 applies. During the protected period, use section 18. It is more favourable to you because no comparator is needed and no justification defence exists. Only rely on section 13 for treatment that falls outside the protected period.
4. Failing to mention the redundancy priority right. If you were made redundant while pregnant or on maternity leave, and a suitable alternative vacancy existed, your employer was obliged to offer it to you. If it did not, say so explicitly in your particulars.
5. Vague particulars of claim. “I was treated badly because I was pregnant” is not enough. The tribunal needs dates, names, specific incidents, and a clear account of what the unfavourable treatment was.
6. Not completing ACAS early conciliation. Your claim will be rejected without a valid ACAS certificate number. Start the process as early as you can.
7. Forgetting injury to feelings. Pregnancy discrimination cases routinely attract injury to feelings awards. Include this in the remedy section of your ET1.
8. Not claiming unfair dismissal alongside discrimination. If you were dismissed, consider whether you also have an unfair dismissal claim. You can bring both on the same ET1, and the combined awards can be higher.

The Rules That Apply

The primary legislation governing pregnancy and maternity discrimination is:

• Equality Act 2010, section 4 — lists pregnancy and maternity as a protected characteristic
• Equality Act 2010, section 18 — pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace
• Equality Act 2010, section 13 — direct sex discrimination (for treatment outside the protected period)
• Equality Act 2010, section 136 — burden of proof (shifting)
• Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, regulation 10 — redundancy priority right during maternity leave
• Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 — extends priority right from April 2024
• Employment Rights Act 1996, section 99 — automatic unfair dismissal connected to pregnancy or maternity
• Employment Tribunals Act 1996, section 18A — ACAS early conciliation requirement
• Employment Rights Act 2025 — from October 2026, extends time limits from 3 months to 6 months

Key case law includes Webb v EMO Air Cargo (UK) Ltd (No 2) [1995] ICR 1021 (dismissal of a pregnant worker is sex discrimination), Dekker v Stichting Vormingscentrum voor Jong Volwassenen (Case C-177/88) [1990] ECR I-3941 (pregnancy discrimination is automatically sex discrimination — no comparator needed).

Related Court Forms & Guides

• Form N260: Statement of Costs — the costs schedule used at summary assessment.
• Form N244: Application Notice — the form for interim applications.
• Start a Money Claim Online (OCMC) — where most civil money claims begin.
• Particulars of Claim — setting out the basis of your claim.
• Civil Court Forms Index — every civil court form guide in one place.

How Chris Can Help

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims require precision. You need to identify the correct protected period, describe the unfavourable treatment accurately, establish the causal link to pregnancy or maternity leave, and present the facts in a way that satisfies the statutory test.

Chris can draft your ET1 particulars of claim to a professional standard. Chris ensures the protected period is correctly identified, the unfavourable treatment is clearly described, the legal basis is properly framed (section 18, or section 13 where appropriate), and the redundancy priority right is raised if applicable. Chris also prepares your Schedule of Loss and ensures your claim addresses both financial losses and injury to feelings.

You do not need a solicitor to bring a pregnancy discrimination claim. The law is clear and strongly favourable to claimants. With the right preparation, self-represented litigants achieve excellent results.