Share

DIRECT & INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION!

accreditation
Scorpion Legal Protection
Scorpion Legal Protection

Can I be discriminated against at work because I’m pregnant? 

Working as a receptionist at a small company, Tshidi is a very loyal and diligent worker. When she fell pregnant, she thought her boss and colleagues would be happy for her. But when she told her boss the news, he became upset, saying she could not receive customers while pregnant.

He asked her to hand in her resignation, or else he would be forced to fire her. 

Azikhiphi! That’s not on! Tshidi decided that she needed to get legal advice from a tough lawyer.

When is it discrimination? 

A Scorpion lawyer told Tshidi that this was discrimination, and explained two types of discrimination: 

Direct discrimination, which is intentional discrimination, meaning that harmful action is taken against a person because they have a certain characteristic (i.e. Tshidi is pregnant and is being forced to resign because of this). 

Indirect discrimination is when certain things are done seemingly to exclude certain groups of people. For example, only hiring people that don’t have children and have no intention of having children. This may be intentional or unintentional, but there must be proof that this is causing suffering or loss to a certain person(s). 

WHAT does the law say? 

A person may, under no circumstances, be discriminated against or dismissed when they are pregnant. The Code of Good Practice on the

Protection of Employees during Pregnancy and After the Birth of Her Child, as well as the Constitution, the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 and the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, prohibit such discrimination.

What can Tshidi do? 

If Tshidi cannot resolve this issue through the company’s internal procedures, she can refer her dispute about unfair discrimination to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) or the Labour Court. This process can be lengthy and costly.

What Scorpion can do for Tshidi 

Contact her employer to mediate a possible resolution.

Refer her dispute to the CCMA in writing within six months of the discrimination.

Follow up with the CCMA on the status of the case.

Help with possible Labour Court proceedings.

How to strike back 

Tshidi got the necessary information she needed to handle the situation. She followed the necessary internal company procedures to resolve the problem and her boss complied.

Scorpion Legal Protection can help policyholders with labour-related queries.

You can strike back legally too!

to fill in your details for Scorpion to call you back.

Click here

Terms and conditions apply.

Get the best in Soccer, News and Lifestyle content with SNL24 PLUS
For 14 free days, you can have access to the best from Soccer Laduma, KickOff, Daily Sun, TrueLove and Drum. Thereafter you will be billed R29 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
Subscribe to SNL24 PLUS
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
SunFam, How do you normally spend Easter holidays?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Going to church
30% - 59 votes
Hosting or attending a family gathering
11% - 22 votes
Chilling at home
54% - 107 votes
Working
6% - 12 votes
Vote
Let us know what you think

Contact the People’s Paper with feedback on stories and how we could make dailysun.co.za even better!

Learn more
Do you have a story for the People’s Paper?

Click below to contact our news desk and share your story with SunLand!

Let's do it!