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The Court of Justice of the European Union has given its judgment in a case involving the selection of pregnant workers for redundancy.
The case in question concerned a Spanish company, Bankia, which opened a period of consultation with its workers’ representatives with a view to carrying out a collective redundancy in January 2013.
The following month the special negotiating body reached an agreement establishing the criteria to be applied in selecting the workers to be made redundant as well as the criteria for establishing priority status for retention in the company.
In November 2013, Bankia notified a worker, who was pregnant at the time, of her dismissal by letter, in accordance with the agreement drawn up by the special negotiating body. That letter stated, among other things, that in the specific case of the province where she worked it was necessary to significantly reduce the number of staff and that, as a result of the assessment process carried out in the undertaking during the consultation period, she had obtained a score that was among the lowest in the area.
The worker challenged her dismissal in the Spanish courts, which referred the case to the Court of Justice for an interpretation of the prohibition on dismissing pregnant workers under European law. The Directive in question prohibits the dismissal of workers during the period from the beginning of their pregnancy to the end of their maternity leave, save in exceptional cases not connected with their condition which are permitted under national legislation and/or practice.
The Court of Justice has ruled that the Directive does not preclude national legislation which allows an employer to dismiss a pregnant worker in the context of a collective redundancy. In such cases, however, the employer must provide the dismissed pregnant worker with the reasons justifying the redundancy as well as the objective criteria chosen to identify the workers to be dismissed.
For expert legal advice on pregnancy and maternity rights at work then contact our specialist employment lawyers today
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