How much compensation for pregnancy or maternity discrimination?
"Compensation for pregnancy and maternity discrimination is uncapped. A payout is usually made up of injury to feelings, assessed using the Vento bands (£1,300 to £62,900, with exceptional cases above that), plus your financial losses such as lost earnings and maternity pay, so it depends heavily on the facts. You do not need two years of service, no comparator is required during the protected period, and the Equality Act sits alongside automatic unfair dismissal protection."
How much pregnancy compensation can I get?
It depends on what happened to you and what it cost you. Compensation for pregnancy and maternity discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 has no upper limit. Most awards are built from two parts. The first is injury to feelings, assessed using the Vento bands: £1,300 to £12,600 for less serious cases, £12,600 to £37,700 for serious cases, and £37,700 to £62,900 for the most serious, with exceptional cases going higher. The second is financial loss, such as lost earnings, lost maternity pay and pension contributions, which is often the larger figure if you lost your job. Interest can be added, and in some cases aggravated damages, or an uplift of up to 25% if your employer unreasonably failed to follow the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.
How much compensation can I get for pregnancy or maternity discrimination?
Pregnancy and maternity discrimination compensation in the UK is uncapped. The amount depends on the facts: how serious and how long the treatment was, which sets the Vento band for injury to feelings, and what it cost you in lost earnings, maternity pay and pension. Awards are usually much higher where the claimant was dismissed and struggled to return to comparable work than where the treatment was a single act that was put right.
What is the average settlement for pregnancy discrimination?
There is no reliable official average payout or settlement for pregnancy or maternity discrimination in the UK. Many claims settle privately, and settlement amounts are usually not published. What matters is your own case: whether you lost your job, how long it takes you to find comparable work, your earnings, how serious the treatment was, any medical evidence of harm, and how your employer behaved.
How do I make a maternity discrimination compensation claim?
Raise the issue with your employer in writing if you can, then contact Acas to start early conciliation, which you must do before making a claim and which pauses the time limit. If the dispute does not settle, submit your claim form (ET1) to the employment tribunal within three months less one day of the act complained of, or six months less one day where the act (or the last act in a series) is on or after 1 October 2026. Keep a timeline and copies of emails and letters.
Is pregnancy discrimination automatically unfair dismissal?
Yes. Dismissal because of pregnancy, maternity leave, or a reason connected to it is automatically unfair under s99 Employment Rights Act 1996 — you do not need two years' service to claim. The same dismissal is also pregnancy discrimination under s18 Equality Act 2010, which is uncapped. In practice most claimants bring both claims together, because the Equality Act side removes the statutory cap on financial loss.
What is the "protected period" for pregnancy discrimination?
The protected period runs from the start of pregnancy to the end of maternity leave (or two weeks after return if you are not entitled to statutory maternity leave). During this period, any unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy, pregnancy-related illness, or the fact of taking maternity leave is direct discrimination and does not require a comparator. This is a significantly stronger legal position than most other discrimination claims.
Can I claim if I was made redundant during maternity leave?
Yes. Employees on maternity leave are entitled under Regulation 10 of MAPLE 1999 to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy in a redundancy situation — a "first refusal" right that goes beyond the normal redundancy rules. Failure to offer a suitable alternative vacancy is automatically unfair and pregnancy discrimination. From April 2024 this protection was extended to pregnant employees and those who have recently returned from maternity leave.
What counts as pregnancy discrimination?
Common examples from successful tribunal claims: demotion after announcing pregnancy, removal from a project on "safety" grounds without consulting you, negative performance reviews triggered by pregnancy-related absence, not being considered for promotion on return, reduced hours without consent, being excluded from meetings, pressure to resign, and hostile treatment by colleagues that management failed to address.
Do I have to return to work to bring a claim?
No. You can bring a claim while still on maternity leave, after returning, or instead of returning. If the discrimination means a reasonable person would not return, you can resign and claim constructive dismissal alongside pregnancy discrimination. Time limits run from the date of the discriminatory act (usually three months, or six months for acts on or after 1 October 2026, plus ACAS early conciliation), not from the end of maternity leave, so do not wait.
How long do I have to bring a pregnancy discrimination claim?
Three months less one day (six months less one day for dismissals and acts on or after 1 October 2026) from the last act of discrimination, extended by the period of ACAS early conciliation. Where the discrimination was a series of connected acts rather than a one-off, time runs from the last in the series. If you miss the deadline the tribunal can still extend time on a "just and equitable" basis in discrimination cases, but this is discretionary and not guaranteed.
No qualifying service period
No statutory ceiling on compensation
Within the protected period
A pregnancy discrimination claim typically combines injury to feelings under the Vento bands with past and future loss of earnings, loss of maternity pay where applicable, aggravated damages where the employer acted in bad faith, and an ACAS uplift. The combination is usually worth more than a pure unfair dismissal claim because the Equality Act route removes the statutory cap.
The legal framework is strong, the protected period is clear, and the evidence is often a simple timeline of when you announced your pregnancy and when the adverse treatment began. The biggest variable is whether the discrimination ended your career with that employer, in which case future loss dominates the calculation.
There is no reliable official average payout for pregnancy or maternity discrimination. Many claims settle privately, and settlement amounts are usually not published, so any single "average" figure should be treated with caution.
What drives the amount is your own situation: whether you lost your job, how long it takes you to find comparable work, what you earned, how serious and how long the treatment was, whether there is medical evidence of harm, and how your employer behaved. An award can be adjusted by up to 25% where the Acas Code on grievances or discipline was unreasonably ignored.
Dismissal because of pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically unfair, and you do not need two years of service to claim. The same dismissal is also pregnancy discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The unfair dismissal compensatory award is normally capped, but discrimination compensation is uncapped, which is why most claimants bring both claims together. The tribunal will not pay you twice for the same loss.
Single act of unfavourable treatment quickly reversed, a thoughtless comment addressed promptly, minor change to duties that was corrected.
Demotion or sidelining following pregnancy announcement, failure to consult in redundancy, loss of project work, pressured or forced resignation.
Dismissal during pregnancy or maternity leave, deliberate failure to offer a suitable alternative vacancy, sustained hostile treatment across the whole protected period.
Particularly egregious conduct — dismissal shortly after announcing a miscarriage, bullying that caused psychiatric injury, senior management orchestrating the process.
Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 gives employees on maternity leave a priority right to any suitable alternative vacancy in a redundancy situation. If a suitable role exists anywhere in the employer or an associated employer, the employee on maternity leave must be offered it without having to apply or compete. Failure to comply is automatically unfair dismissal and pregnancy discrimination.
From April 2024 the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 extended this priority right: it now also applies during pregnancy and for a period after return from maternity leave (typically 18 months from the expected week of childbirth). This is a significant strengthening of protection and has immediately been reflected in new tribunal claims.
In practice, if a business restructures and offers roles to other affected employees on a competitive basis while leaving the pregnant or maternity-leave employee to compete on equal terms, the employer has already breached the regulation. The correct sequence is: identify suitable alternatives, offer them to the protected employee first, then run the normal redundancy process for everyone else.
Injury to feelings (Vento)
Compensation for the distress, anxiety and loss of dignity. Pregnancy and maternity cases often sit in the middle or upper band because of the timing — a pregnant claimant treated unfavourably is experiencing it at a particularly vulnerable moment.
Past loss of earnings
Lost wages from the effective date of termination to the remedy hearing, offset by any replacement income. In pregnancy cases this often includes the difference between what you actually received on maternity leave and what you would have received but for the discrimination.
Future loss of earnings
Earnings shortfall going forward. Tribunals recognise that re-entering the job market on return from maternity leave is harder, and future loss projections of six to eighteen months are routine. Longer projections apply where the discrimination caused lasting harm.
Lost maternity pay and benefits
Where the employer offered enhanced maternity pay, any shortfall you suffered because of the discrimination is recoverable. This can include lost bonus accrual while on maternity leave, and pension contributions that should have continued.
Personal injury damages
Where the discrimination caused or materially worsened a psychiatric condition such as post-natal depression or an anxiety disorder, personal injury damages are awarded on top of the Vento band, following the Judicial College Guidelines.
Where the employer's conduct was high-handed or oppressive — for example running a sham grievance process, fabricating performance issues, or refusing to accept the timing of events.
Up to 25% uplift on compensatory elements where the employer unreasonably failed to follow the ACAS Code on grievances or disciplinary procedures. Applies frequently in pregnancy cases where grievances about maternity treatment are dismissed without investigation.
Pregnancy and maternity — full guide
Maternity leave rights
How much for disability discrimination
How much for sexual harassment
Constructive dismissal
Building a schedule of loss
Sources: Equality Act 2010 s.18 (pregnancy) · Employment Tribunal Presidents' Guidance — Vento Bands · Employment Rights Act 1996