More protection for pregnant women during probation

Protection afforded to pregnant women, who cannot be sacked during their maternity leave, has been extended to cover also the probation period, bringing the Maltese labour laws in conformity with EU directives.

According to an EU directive, pregnant employees cannot be dismissed even if they are still in their probation period, which normally lasts six months. However, this was not the case in Malta which, before the legal notice that was published last week, allowed the termination of employment of any worker during the probation period, even if she was pregnant.

The lack of such protection to pregnant women during their probation had been brought to the attention of the European Commission two years ago by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil, who had been following the case of a pregnant private school teacher who was dismissed while on probation.

The teacher had not been told why her employment was being terminated because, according to Maltese law, an employer can dismiss a worker during the probation period without giving any reason.

However, a European directive provides for “the general prohibition of dismissal of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding during the period from the beginning of their pregnancy to the end of the maternity leave, irrespective of the duration of the employment contract or relationship”.

The legal notice transposes this directive into Maltese labour laws and now makes dismissal in such circumstances illegal unless there are “substantiated grounds” justified in writing.

The legal notice also introduced a number of other changes, such as the suspension of the probationary period for pregnant women. If a pregnant employee starts her maternity leave during her probation, the probationary period is considered to be automatically suspended and resumes when she returns to work.

Moreover, if a risk assessment carried out by the employer shows that the work performed by a pregnant employee poses a risk to her health and mitigating measures are not enough to reduce the risk, employers have to grant the employee special maternity leave. Prior to the latest changes made, such special maternity leave was limited to a maximum period of eight weeks. Now it has been extended to “the whole of the period necessary to protect her safety or health”.