A ruling by the Employment Tribunal, following a case brought by a female officer against the RAF, will result in much better protection for pregnant women in the armed forces according the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The officer, who was posted in the Falkland Islands, claimed she was removed from her desk-based job and told to return to the UK when she informed her superiors that she was 12 weeks into her pregnancy. She also claims her promotion prospects were delayed as she missed a vital performance review.

The Tribunal found that the officer had been discriminated against because of her pregnancy and awarded her over £16,000. The Tribunal also recommended that the Ministry of Defence:

• carry out an individual risk assessment for each pregnant woman and consider adjusting her role to enable her to remain in her post,
• establish a monitoring process in respect of any removal of a pregnant woman from her post; and