(Judgment) Social policy – Men and women – Access to employment and working conditions – Equal treatment – Dismissal of a woman on grounds of absence due to an illness attributable to pregnancy or confinement – Permissible – Account taken, when calculating the period providing grounds for dismissal, of absence outside periods of maternity leave – Permissible (Council Directive 76/207, Arts 2(1) and (3) and 5(1))
Without prejudice to provisions of national law for the protection of women, particularly with regard to pregnancy and maternity, adopted pursuant to Article 2(3) of Directive 76/207 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions, Article 5(1), in conjunction with Article 2(1), thereof does not preclude dismissals which are the result of absences due to an illness attributable to pregnancy or confinement, even where that illness arose during pregnancy and continued during and after maternity leave.
In particular, the principle of equal treatment enshrined in the Directive does not preclude account being taken of a woman’s absence from work between the beginning of her pregnancy and the beginning of her maternity leave when calculating the period providing grounds for her dismissal under national law.
During the maternity leave accorded to her pursuant to national law, a woman is protected against dismissal on grounds of absence. To take absence during such a period into account as grounds for a subsequent dismissal would thus be contrary to the objective pursued by Article 2(3) of the Directive, and would deprive that provision of its effectiveness. Outside periods of maternity leave, however, and in the absence of any national or, as the case may be, Community provisions affording women specific protection, a woman is not protected under the Directive against dismissal on grounds of periods of absence due to an illness attributable to pregnancy.
Citations:
[1997] EUECJ C-400/95
Links:
Jurisdiction:
European
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.161750