A pregnant worker must be given a reasonable time limit in order to be able to bring an action against her dismissal, ruled the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in a judgment handed down on Thursday 27 June (case C-284/23).
In Germany, a care-home employee challenged her dismissal, citing the prohibition of dismissal for pregnant women. However, when the employee became aware of her pregnancy and lodged an appeal, the ordinary statutory period (two weeks in normal circumstances, three weeks in the event of pregnancy) for lodging such an appeal following written notification of dismissal had expired. In addition, the employee had failed to submit a request for the late appeal to be admitted within the additional two-week period set by German law.
According to the Court, this two-week time limit for a late appeal appears incompatible with the Pregnant Workers Directive (92/85). It states that, in view of the situation of a woman at the start of pregnancy, it seems likely to make it very difficult for a pregnant worker to obtain effective advice and, as the case may be, to prepare and submit a request for leave to bring an action out of time and to bring the action itself.
It is up to the German courts to check whether this is actually the case.
To see the judgment of the Court of Justice: https://aeur.eu/f/cuw (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)