'Overt discrimination' | By refusing pregnant HR worker a pay rise, bosses made a costly error

An HR worker has won £9,000 after she was refused a pay rise because she was due to go on maternity leave.

An employment tribunal in London has ordered construction firm Breyer Group to compensate Laura Musguin, after she was told her request for a salary bump was “not feasible” because she was shortly due to have her second child.

An employment judge ruled that Musguin, an HR advisor for the Romford-based business, was the victim of an 'act of overt discrimination’, awarding her a four-figure sum and spotlighting the issue of pregnancy in the workplace.

The tribunal was told that Musguin, who joined Breyer Group in 2017, went on maternity leave with her first child from June 2019 to August 2020.