Under German law, an employer can only suspend an employee in certain cases. One of the core obligations of the employment relationship is an obligation on the employer to provide the employee with relevant work to be performed. If it fails to do so without justification, it must nevertheless continue to pay the employee. Notwithstanding
This post was also contributed by Tony Rau, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich).
German law provides for extensive protection of pregnant employees and employees on leave in connection with pregnancy. Regarding the latter, German law distinguishes between maternity leave (i.e. 6 weeks before until 8 weeks after childbirth – or 6 weeks before until
Under South African Labour Law, employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave enjoy extensive protection from discriminatory conduct and dismissal if such discrimination or dismissal is directly or indirectly based on their pregnancy. In terms of section 187(1)(e) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA), any dismissal based on pregnancy is an
Pregnant employees benefit from specific and extensive guarantees against termination of their employment under French law. In particular, employers are not allowed to dismiss an employee from the moment she is medically certified as being pregnant, excepted in two limited cases: where the employee has committed an act of gross misconduct or if it is
In the U
nited States, the Federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) has long forbidden an employer with fifteen or more employees from pregnancy-related discrimination. 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e) et seq. Similar laws have likewise long existed in many states and cities. See, e.g., Minn. Stat. Ch. 363A (sex includes pregnancy).
But 2014 developments raised the
The legal background
Under French employment law, pregnant employees enjoy particularly strong protection from dismissal — dismissal of pregnant employees is prohibited from the moment the employee is medically certified as being pregnant, except in the two following circumstances: gross misconduct on the part of the employee or impossibility to maintain the employment contract for