The problem

Nearly 400,000 women experience pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work each year, with just 1% filling a complaint with the Employment Tribunal. For those that do, the process can be extremely stressful and intimidating, as they face a battle against organisations who often have the resources to afford the very best solicitors. We’ve heard from many women and parents who have shared the impact Tribunal claims have had on their mental health, with the process leaving them feeling burdened, alone and frightened. 

The programme 

Pregnant Then Screwed’s Tribunal Mentor Programme is a peer to peer support service for women and parents taking legal action against an employer for pregnancy and maternity discrimination, this includes adoption. We match mentees with volunteer mentors who have been through the Employment Tribunal process themselves for 12 weeks of support through weekly calls. Our mentors are not legally trained, they simply want to offer emotional support, signposting and encouragement to others experiencing the same form of discrimination that they faced.

The purpose of the Tribunal Mentor Programme is to help women and parents feel more confident to speak up against discrimination, more capable of seeing their cases through and more connected to others who have had similar experiences. People who have used our Tribunal Mentor Programme say that it helped them deal with the stress of the situation, which prevented them from giving up and helped them to pursue their cases to the point of financial settlement or tribunal. 

The Tribunal Mentor Programme has been a part of Pregnant Then Screwed since 2019 and grew rapidly. We paused the programme in 2024 to evaluate its impact and learn from previous mentees and mentors, with the aim of relaunching with improved processes and better on-going support for all participants.

The team have been working hard behind the scenes to put these things in place and we’re now very excited to reopen applications for new mentor requests and volunteers.

Who can request a mentor?

Anyone who is taking legal action against their employer for pregnancy or maternity discrimination (including those who have adopted) can request a mentor at any stage of the Employment Tribunal process after they have completed (or are close to completing) the ACAS Early Conciliation process. It does not matter if you have a lawyer representing you or if you are self-representing, however where we have a waiting list for mentors we may prioritise matching people who are self-representing. Please note that we currently have more mentee applications than mentors. If your Hearing date is due within the next 12 weeks, it is unlikely that we will be able to find a mentor for you in that time.  

What does the programme offer

We can offer up to 12 weeks of one-to-one support from a volunteer mentor, usually in the form of a weekly one-hour phone call or video call. In some cases and depending on where a mentee and mentor are based, they may be able to meet in person. Mentees and mentors will also have access to a WhatsApp community group where they can connect with others who are part of the programme.

The support a mentee will receive from a mentor can include:

• Listening to what they’re going through and how they’re feeling
• Reading through and making sense of case information together
• Signposting to useful information or additional support
• Sharing their own employment tribunal experience

Our mentors are part of the programme because they have been through the Employment Tribunal process themselves; some may have reached a settlement, some may have withdrawn their claim, while others may have gone to a tribunal hearing. We can’t always match mentees up with mentors who have reached the same stage in the process, however all of our mentors offer peer support, encouragement and can share their own experiences where useful. 

Please note that we can only offer up to 12 weeks of support from a mentor, while Employment Tribunal cases can take up to three years to see through. The team can discuss this with you if you’re not sure when peer support from a mentor might be most helpful. 

What mentors can’t do

Our volunteer mentors have diverse backgrounds and experiences, however their main role is to provide emotional and peer support for mentees who are feeling overwhelmed by their experience of discrimination. Mentors are not able to:

• Offer HR or legal advice
• Provide advice on a claim or the Employment Tribunal process – they can only share their experience
• Prepare paperwork for cases, but they may share tips on how they prepared theirs
• Attend appointments or hearings with a mentee or on their behalf
• Communicate with solicitors or legal professionals on a mentee’s behalf

If you’d like to join the programme, whether that’s as a mentee or volunteering as a mentor, or if you’d like to ask a question, follow the links below to get in touch.

The Tribunal Mentor Programme is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.