The WRC rejected an executive assistant’s discrimination and maternity-protection complaints over changes to her home-working arrangements after maternity leave. The decision, dated 24 May 2017, also considered her claim that she was discriminated against when she was not promoted to a research administrator role.
Before her leave, she worked from home two days a week. The education provider introduced a one-day standard policy while she was away, then offered her a bespoke arrangement preserving two days for a year before the policy would apply. She argued that reducing her home-working days breached her maternity rights and that the policy and promotion decision discriminated on gender or family-status grounds. The employer said home working was not a contractual entitlement and the policy aimed to apply consistently.
The officer found there was no contractual or implied right to a particular amount of home working and considered the policy reasonable. The officer found the employee had not established discrimination over the policy and found no evidence that family status affected the promotion decision. The maternity-protection complaint also failed because the employer had no contractual obligation to guarantee two home-working days.