Veitch Penny LLP - Exeter | Crediton, Devon

Case

Athis v Blue Coat School
Employment Appeal Tribunal - (11 August 2005)

Issues

(1) Sex discrimination
(2) Maternity leave
(3) Pay reviews

Facts

Mrs Athis was a teacher employed at the Blue Coat School. A new performance related pay system was introduced in 2000. In order to progress a teacher’s achievement and contribution to the school had to be found to be “substantial and sustained” over the previous two years. This was judged by whether the teacher had maintained standards, addressed further development and progressed well towards targets.

In June 2002 Mrs Athis went on maternity leave, returning to work in January 2003. A pay review took place while she was on maternity leave and the headmaster recommended 16 teachers for progression. The Claimant was not one of them. The decision not to increase her pay was based upon poor exam results of her A-level students that year.

Mrs Athis brought a sex discrimination complaint at the Employment Tribunal. At first instance it was found that the decision not to progress her on the pay scale had nothing to do with her sex or the fact that she had been on maternity leave but was due to the poor exam results of her students. The Tribunal found that the head-teacher had not routinely consulted with the other teachers and therefore there was no discrimination against her.

Mrs Athis appealed and argued that the other teachers had been told that they could make representations in connection with the pay review process and, because she had not been told this because she had been on maternity leave, she did not have the opportunity to make representations in relation to her pay review.

Decision

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the Tribunal had not adequately dealt with the school’s failure to tell Mrs Athis about the right to make representations during the pay review. This information was available to the other teachers who had progressed on the pay scale and the reason why Mrs Athis did not receive the information about the representations was because she was on maternity leave. This was sufficient to constitute sex discrimination. The case was remitted for re-hearing.

Comments

This case highlights the importance of employers maintaining contact with staff whilst on maternity leave and keeping them informed of issues arising relating to their employment. However, many employees are uncertain about what is deemed to be acceptable contact. The Government recently announced plans to clarify this area through detailed guidance confirming what is reasonable contact during maternity leave.

Rachel Billen – Associate Solicitor, Commercial Department at Veitch Penny.
Tel: 01392 278381, Fax: 01392 410247, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it