Mum denied parttime work after birth of Down’s syndrome child wins her tribunal
AMY SAYS LACK OF FLEXIBILITY FOR OTHER PARENTS IN SAME BOAT MUST BE REVIEWED
A MOTHER of a Down’s syndrome child has won more than £22,000 after her bosses refused to let her work flexible hours to help care for her daughter.
Amy Pullin had been working part-time due to her childcare responsibilities but her superiors then forced her to quit by increasing her hours to a point where she could no longer cope.
An employment tribunal in Nottingham ruled that her employer, Neovia Logistics Services, in Desford, failed to accommodate her need for part-time working, which left her with no option but to give up her job.
Amy, 42, was awarded more than £22,000 after her claim of constructive unfair dismissal succeeded.
She welcomed the ruling and said the lack of flexibility offered to working parents of children with special needs is in desperate need of change as many are forced to leave the workforce.
The hearing was told Amy worked for warehouse management company Neovia from 2012 to 2019. In 2015 she gave birth to daughter Lilyan, who has Down’s syndrome.
On her return from maternity leave Mrs Pullin worked as project lead part-time, four days per week.
In August 2016 her hours were increased to 37.5 as she was to “revert to the original contracted terms and conditions of employment”.
Amy then made two separate flexible working requests which led to her hours being reduced to 29 per week and then to 27.75 hours, with a different work pattern depending on school term and holiday times.
Her husband Mark works as an HGV driver, making after-school childcare a challenge.
In September and October 2018, as Lily-an was not settling at breakfast club at school, she made another request not to work on Fridays and this was accommodated by her taking various types of unpaid leave.
The East Midlands employment tribunal heard: “All of the flexible working requests post the birth of
Mrs Pullin’s daughter were predominantly made to accommodate changes in childcare needs and with no other motive or reason.”
In May 2019 Mrs Pullin met her boss to discuss the latest flexible working request.
The tribunal heard she was told her hours were to be increased to 32.5 hours per week and that she would be required to work from 9.30am to 4.30pm.
Amy made it clear that her child care responsibilities made it impossible for her to work until 4.30pm.
The tribunal heard: “Mrs Pullin had no notice of the proposed increase in hours and we accept that she was taken by surprise and was shocked at the news.”
After being given no alternative she resigned in a letter which read: “I feel that I am left with no choice but to resign in light of the flexible working request outcome meeting held May 22, where you are enforcing my contractual hours to be increased in four weeks’ time.
“I consider this to be a fundamental and unreasonable breach of the contract on your part. I cannot carry out these hours due to my childcare commitment. I am therefore left with no option but to leave.”
WHAT JUDGE SAID
Employment Judge John Blackwell said: “Neovia were fully aware of the fact that Mrs Pullin’s daughter was disabled with Down’s syndrome... the evidence shows an overwhelming failure to support Mrs Pullin or attempt to accommodate her flexible working request.
“There was no evidence whatsoever which showed Neovia seeking to support Mrs Pullin.
“Neovia... had closed its mind to any alternative other than Mrs Pullin accepting an increase in hours or her dismissal.
“We accept that there was going to be an increase in workload because of the bringing on line of the three US facilities. We also accept that there is a time difference.
“However, there is no objective evidence of potential difficulties in meeting customer demands, no evidence as to concerns regarding the wellbeing or workloads of other employees in Mrs Pullin’s team, no evidence that (her) colleagues could not assist in carrying the increased workload nor any evidence as to whether there was assistance available from outside (her) team.
“We therefore conclude that Mrs Pullin’s dismissal was unfair.”
She was awarded a total of £22,319.09.
A NEW START
Amy now works for charity Menphys, which supported her during her case and provides services to young disabled people and their families.
Speaking following the judgement, she said the lack of flexibility offered to working parents with disabled children and children with special needs is something in desperate need of change.
Amy said: “I was really shocked by the lack of empathy I received from Neovia... there was no flexibility whatsoever. I hope my case can help other families fight for the rights of their children.”