Pregnant women are particularly protected by legislation. Many of the usual grounds for dismissal do not apply to this category of citizens. Such measures often confuse employers and cause their persistent reluctance to engage in labor relations with unmarried girls, who can later create a family, thereby disrupting the work process.
State protection of expectant mothers
The Labor Code contains provisions on the termination of an employment contract, which are not the same for everyone. In general, these reasons can be divided into four groups: at the initiative of the employer; at the request of the employee or by agreement of the parties; due to a misdemeanor or crime committed by subordinates and for other circumstances beyond the control of the parties.
The law protects women preparing to become mothers from employers' attempts to remove them from work of their own free will. Article 261 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation clearly indicates a list of circumstances that entail the dismissal of any employee. These reasons are the liquidation of an organization or a branch located in another area and the termination of the activities of an individual entrepreneur.
What does this mean in practice? A pregnant employee can be fired when the organization ceases to exist. If we are talking only about changing the name or merging several enterprises, then the suspension from official duties on the indicated grounds cannot be considered lawful. As for an individual entrepreneur, it should be borne in mind that not every employer is officially endowed with such a status. An individual does not have the right to use this to terminate an employment contract.
Grounds for dismissal arising from the law
All other groups of reasons for termination of employment involve options for parting, even with a pregnant employee. A woman can submit an application of her own free will or leave her job by agreement of the parties. The same consequences occur as a result of her voluntary refusal to fulfill her duties in connection with legitimate changes in working conditions; due to the impossibility of transferring to an easier job; if you do not want to work after a change in the owner of the organization, as well as when an employee is transferred to another employer.
Dismissal of a pregnant woman is not excluded in the event of her guilty acts established in the appropriate manner. This also applies to violation of the terms of the employment contract, and absence from the workplace without good reason, and disclosure of information secrets, and various disciplinary offenses.
Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation lists events that, regardless of the will of the parties, involve the dismissal of even pregnant women. Among them there is an indication of the onset of legal liability, providing for imprisonment, which automatically gives the employer the right to terminate the employment contract with the convicted person, since she will not be able to fulfill her duties. This category also includes cases when a pregnant employee replaced a temporarily absent colleague or a previously dismissed employee reinstated by a court decision. If the employer does not fire the expectant mother, he thereby violates the court order or the legal rights of another employee. The management is endowed with the obligation to select for a woman other positions available at the enterprise with a similar or easier job, if any.
A fixed-term employment contract is concluded for a certain period of time and can be terminated after its completion, but with a reservation. A woman in a position is empowered to write an application for the extension of such a contract until the end of the pregnancy. Only after the expiration of this period, the employment relationship can be terminated with her. In case of illegal suspension from work and other actions of the authorities that contradict the law, the proceedings are entrusted to the labor dispute commission and the judicial authorities.
