Discrimination Decision – A Cautionary Tale When Managing Pregnancy in the Workplace

A recent decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal serves as a reminder about managing redundancy issues involving pregnant employees.

In Stern v Depilation & Skincare Pty Ltd (Anti-Discrimination) [2009] VCAT 2725 (22 December 2009), a pregnant employee's request to reduce her hours to part-time, due to morning sickness, was treated by her employer as a request to permanently change her employment status from full-time to part-time.

After asking the employee to make her request in writing, the employer refused it because there were no part-time positions available. The employer asked other employees if they would change their own working arrangements to accommodate the pregnant employee, but they refused.