This appeared very recently:
New hire allegedly sacked one hour after advising of pregnancy
David Marin-Guzman Workplace correspondent
Jul 13, 2025 – 11.48am
A major childcare company has been accused of sacking a new hire just one hour after she advised the business she was pregnant, setting in train a damages claim over unlawful discrimination.
Multinational group Busy Bees, which operates 144 centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, allegedly informed the senior human resources officer “it’s not going to work out” when the woman discovered she was pregnant just days after signing a contract with the company.
The Brisbane woman, who is in her late 30s and is referred to under the pseudonym “Sarah” due to sensitive medical information, says she was forced to plead with her old employer for her job back.
But the Busy Bees manager allegedly gave her a piece of advice: don’t tell your old employer about the pregnancy when asking to return.
Three weeks later, Sarah lost the baby.
She is now preparing to launch a pregnancy discrimination case and breach of contract claim in the Australian Human Rights Commission by the end of this week.
“To have a job offer withdrawn simply because I told them I was pregnant was devastating,” she told The Australian Financial Review.
“What sort of message does this send to the thousands of mothers who place their children in the care of this company because they have to work?
“This is 2025. No professional, or any other female employee, should put up with this. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t push back against them.”
Her lawyer, Maurice Blackburn principal Patrick Turner, said the case was particularly striking.
“A company that profits from parenthood shouldn’t be tearing up employment contracts with pregnant employees,” he said.
“Too many women who are the best candidates for the role or for a promotion or for a leadership position are thrown onto the scrap heap once they announce a pregnancy.”
A Busy Bee spokeswoman said “we strongly refute the allegations made and will be defending our position through the legal process in everyway possible”.
“Unfortunately, due to legal proceedings we can’t comment on specifics, but our records present a very different version of events,” she said.
“Our business exists to support families by caring for their children, and we are proud of our record of supporting working parents.”
“While we are unable to comment on the specifics of individual matters, we take all allegations seriously.”
The allegations come as employers now have a positive duty to take reasonable steps to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination in the workplace as part of the government’s Respect@Work reforms.
However, only the Australian Human Rights Commission, not individuals or organisations such as unions, can bring proceedings under the duty and there are no penalties for breaches.
Turner said “employers are clearly not getting the message”.
He said the alleged termination had had a “profound effect” on Sarah’s mental health and they would be seeking significant compensation for distress and humiliation under the Sex Discrimination Act.
According to Sarah, she signed a contract to be Busy Bees’ senior HR business partner in April, just 10 days after responding to a job advertisement and completing successful interviews.
So eager was the company to secure her it urged her to reduce her three-month notice period with her old employer to just one month.
Sarah succeeded in doing so but at the same time realised, to her surprise, that she was pregnant.
When she called to inform Busy Bees that same day, flagging she would need to take six months’ parental leave at the end of the year, she alleges its manager replied the timing was “not ideal” and she would need 24 hours to “mull it over”.
The manager called back an hour later and confirmed she had got advice from “mentors”. She allegedly told Sarah “sorry mate, it’s not going to work out” due to Busy Bees’ acquisition of new childcare sites at the same time as the proposed parental leave.
“I really tried to see how I could make it work, but it just won’t,” the manager allegedly replied, saying that the company would have to readvertise the job.
Sarah’s offers to work hard before her leave to ensure a smooth transition period, take a more junior position in the interim, or recruit a qualified friend to cover for her allegedly went nowhere.
When Sarah said she would have to see if she could get her old job back, the manager replied that she “wouldn’t suggest telling [the employer] about [her] pregnancy but that she had a change of heart”.
Sarah managed to get her old job back. But she says she emailed Busy Bees’ general counsel a couple of days after, outlining what happened and seeking to ensure the company did not discriminate against other women. She says she got no response.
Busy Bees’ spokeswoman said the company had “inclusive recruitment policies and practices that adhere to anti-discrimination laws – including on the basis of pregnancy”.
“We are proud to employ many parents and expecting parents, and we are committed to supporting them at every stage of their journey.”
Here is the link:
I suspect there is a HR manager who is going to regret such blatant actions! Really very “naughty” and totally illegal I believe!
David.
1 comment:
Just shows when it comes to insensitivity and poor judgement there is equality in the workforce. The fact it is a childcare organisation is even more bemusing. Sadly without a male to bash this story will fade quickly.
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