In order to protect the rights and interests of expectant mothers, my country\’s Labor Law has many protection provisions for female employees during pregnancy, but there are exceptions to these provisions. The Fangshan Court recently reported several cases of employers “terminating labor contracts” during pregnancy. This reminds expectant mothers that pregnancy protection clauses are sometimes not \”talismans.\”
Case number one:
Pregnant white-collar worker who failed probation period was fired
Shortly after getting married, Xiao Li applied for a job as a warehouse supervisor in a logistics company. When he joined the company, the two parties agreed that the probation period would be one month. Less than half a month later, because she was dissatisfied with Xiaoli\’s work, the company\’s human resources department informed her that she did not meet the job requirements and gave her two weeks to find a new job. After that, the company terminated her employment relationship. However, just one week after the interview with the Human Resources Department, Xiaoli found out that she was pregnant, but the employer still insisted on terminating the labor relationship. Xiao Li then filed for arbitration. In the end, the arbitration institution ruled to terminate Xiao Li\’s labor contract with the logistics company. Xiao Li was dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit in court, but ultimately lost the case.
[Judge’s statement]
If the employer has relatively sufficient evidence to prove that the employee does not meet the employment conditions during the probation period, even if the employee is pregnant, the employer can terminate the labor contract in accordance with the law without paying financial compensation.
Case 2:
Mother fired for being pregnant with unplanned second child
Li Mei, who is almost 40 years old this year, is the financial director of a private enterprise. In early 2014, Li Mei unexpectedly discovered that she was pregnant. Although there was no contract, she decided to have a child. After that, she kept finding other excuses to have the baby at home. However, Li Mei soon received a notice from the company to terminate the labor contract. After the arbitration failed, Li Mei took the company to court, demanding confirmation that the company\’s termination of the labor contract with her was illegal and compensation of more than 300,000 yuan. However, the court did not support Li Mei\’s claim after trial.
[Judge’s statement]
Li Mei gave birth to a second child, which violated the country\’s family planning policy and the employer\’s rules and regulations. Accordingly, the employer\’s termination of the labor contract with Li Mei is legal and reasonable.
Case three:
Terminate the contract early and regret it after getting pregnant
After graduating from university, Wang Jing joined a pharmaceutical company as a medical representative and signed a two-year labor contract with the pharmaceutical company. During this period, Wang Jing negotiated with her original employer to terminate her labor contract because of the superior conditions of another company. Unexpectedly, not long after the contract was terminated, Wang Jing found out that she was one month pregnant and could not join the new company. Wang Jing immediately requested to resume labor relations with her original employer on the grounds of pregnancy protection clause. After being rejected, Wang Jing filed for labor arbitration, but was not supported. Wang Jing filed another lawsuit, and the court dismissed Wang Jing\’s case after trial. Various litigation claims.
[Judge’s Statement]
If Wang JingWhen negotiating with the employer to terminate the labor contract, the employer informs the employer of his or her situation, but the employer still insists on terminating the labor contract, then the employer violates the law. However, in this case, Wang Jing only discovered that she was pregnant after negotiating with the employer to terminate the labor relationship, and she had no time to make a request.
Beijing Morning News reporter He Xin