Umbrella company ended contract to avoid Maternity payments :(

[Michigan13]

Hi all..
Am wondering whether anyone has any advice, I'm currently 18+ weeks pregnant and employed through an agency but paid via an umbrella company. I have been with my agency for the last 3 years on a long term contract within the same establishment. Recently I let my Agency Rep know I was pregnant, she didn't sound too happy despite saying the obligatory congratulations and said something about speaking to head office. Every time I've called her since she's apologised and said she would get back to me to no avail. (I first informed her on the 13th May!)

Yesterday I received a letter from the umbrella company I am paid by, stating that they have ended my employment with them because: 'We recently reviewed your account and found that you aren’t getting the most out of [said company].

Having discussed this with [employment agency], neither of us feel that an Umbrella service is best suited to you at this stage. We have ended your employment with us to allow you to transfer to [employment agency's] PAYE payroll.'

As far as I'm aware this suggests that both parties have just loopholed their way out of having to pay me SMP due to ending my contract before the 15th week prior to my due date (the 28th October) Meaning in line with agency workers rights I would no longer be eligible!

I have yet to begin the proceedings required to transfer to my agency's PAYE in the off chance that something can be done about this, because as far as am aware doing so would mean I willingly transferred to another employer? I'm due back at work on Tuesday but am thinking of postponing until I know where I stand.

I am actually so angry I'm thinking of quitting the agency - and ultimately my job- altogether.. Why should they be making money out of me only to fob me off onto the benefits system once I go on maternity leave! I might as well take myself off to the job centre sooner rather then later! Lol :S

Any suggestions? ..is there anything I can do!?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Quite simply your umbrella company has broken the law - they have exactly the same statutory obligations as any other employer - provided that you meet the criteria https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/overview you are entitled to maternity leave and pay. You could also have a case for unfair dismissal - I believe that termination of an employment contract due to pregnancy is automatic unfair dismissal.

[TheFaQQer]

Quite simply your umbrella company has broken the law - they have exactly the same statutory obligations as any other employer - provided that you meet the criteria https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/overview you are entitled to maternity leave and pay. You could also have a case for unfair dismissal - I believe that termination of an employment contract due to pregnancy is automatic unfair dismissal.

This.

Take professional advice as soon as possible, rather than relying on CUK.

[GazCol]

This is going to make the news...

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

This is going to make the news...

Yep and not in a good way! Be interested to know which umbrella company it was

[TheFaQQer]

This is going to make the news...

Some years back, when I was permie, we had a(nother) round of redundancies and a friend of mine was due for redundancy (with a reasonable pay off). The day that she had the meeting to be made redundant, she had a meeting with her manager booked for the afternoon to tell him that she was pregnant. The pregnancy and redundancy were absolutely NOT connected.

It took some legal wrangling, but her pay off for leaving was significantly higher than it would have been, just because there might have been a perception that she was being laid off because she was pregnant.

If this company have genuinely canned the OP because they were pregnant, I hope she takes them to the ****ing cleaners.

[NickNick]

Some years back, when I was permie, we had a(nother) round of redundancies and a friend of mine was due for redundancy (with a reasonable pay off). The day that she had the meeting to be made redundant, she had a meeting with her manager booked for the afternoon to tell him that she was pregnant. The pregnancy and redundancy were absolutely NOT connected.

It took some legal wrangling, but her pay off for leaving was significantly higher than it would have been, just because there might have been a perception that she was being laid off because she was pregnant.

If this company have genuinely canned the OP because they were pregnant, I hope she takes them to the ****ing cleaners.

Hmm, sounds remarkably like my wife that does.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Some more info for the OP here: http://www.maternityaction.org.uk/si...rimination.pdf

[Michigan13]

Thank you all for your responses
I'm under the impression that my agency and/or the umbrella company are hoping I was unaware of the Agency Workers Regulations ...which funnily enough the guy that I spoke to at ACAS this morning had no idea it existed until I directed him to it (prior to that he actually tried to inform me that I had no rights to SMP!?)

Am not sure if the Umbrella company are going to play dumb and claim that terminating my employment with them has nothing to do with my pregnancy seeing as I hadn't physically informed them yet nor provided a written statement. Yet seeing as I had informed my Rep and the letter I received states that the Umbrella companies decision had been made in conjunction with my agency surely it would have been in my best interests for the pregnancy to be mentioned prior to any decisions being made!

LisaContractorUmbrella: I didn't think agency workers were able to claim unfair dismissal ..had a look into that route this morning. Or is it applicable due to my employment status with the Umbrella company?

Anyway regardless of whether the dismissal can be flagged as discriminatory they have breached their terms and conditions regarding how much notice I should have been given anyway.

In regards to seeking professional advice I was informed by ACAS to request a grievance meeting and contact the umbrella company and/or agency to inform them of my suspicions and state that a movement over to my agency's PAYE will be done unwillingly (Not sure whether that's professional enough) ..I will be returning to work tomorrow and intend to inform the school of this issue but don't intend to sign up to my agency's PAYE as of yet .


I finally received a response from my rep today - stating nothing more aside from the fact that I need to carry out a risk assessment; In response I emailed my agency, mentioned the date in which I originally informed the rep of my pregnancy and requested a copy of my rights and entitlements to antenatal leave/pay and maternity pay. I am waiting to hear back from her before doing anything more or confronting anybody.

I have also drafted an email to the umbrella company (on hold till my rep responds) outlining their notice breach but haven't mentioned what I think their reasons for terminating my employment are.. I intend to do that after their initial response as I don't want them to be able to claim that I've made unjust accusations until I'm definitely sure that their actions have affected my eligibility.

Sorry for the really lengthy messages! Just never had to deal with something like this before and nobody else to seek advice from...

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

The umbrella company is your employer and ALL the rules which apply to any other employer apply to them. If you move to the agency via PAYE you will probably not have any entitlement to Maternity pay as you will be unlikely to have been in their employment long enough at the time of the birth. I would suggest that you contact ACAS again and explain that you are an employee of the umbrella company, having signed a contract of employment, and get them to fully explain your rights and what your options are.