Blundell v Governing Body of St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School [2007] IRLR 652
Maternity leave – right to return to work – ‘same job’
The claimant teacher had taught a reception class before taking maternity leave. Upon her return, she was offered a role either as a floating teacher or taking a class of older children. The claimant took the role of teaching older children, but considered it to be a particularly onerous duty, as she had not previously taught that age-group, who were subject to national assessment tests. The claimant argued that the employer had committed acts of less favourable treatment towards her due to her pregnancy, and that the employer had failed to return her to the same job.
The tribunal dismissed the claim, finding no detriment, as the claimant was contractually required to teach whatever class she was allocated. The job in which she had previously been employed was that of teacher, not of reception class teacher.
The EAT held that the right to return to ‘the job in which she was employed before her absence’ provided by Reg 18 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 meant that the employee should be able to return to a work situation as near as possible to that which she left. In this case the return post was within the normal range of variability which the claimant could reasonably have expected.
Updated 19 March 2026
This case note accurately summarises the EAT’s decision in Blundell v Governing Body of St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School [2007] IRLR 652. The core legal principle — that the right to return to the ‘same job’ under regulation 18 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3312) means a return to a work situation as near as possible to that which the employee left, assessed by reference to the contractual scope of the role — remains good law and the case continues to be cited in employment tribunal and EAT proceedings.
Readers should note that the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 have been amended on several occasions since 2007, including provisions relating to additional maternity leave and shared parental leave introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3050). These amendments extended and modified the broader framework of family leave rights but did not alter the fundamental right to return to the same job as interpreted in this case. Regulation 18 remains in force in its relevant form. The article remains broadly accurate for the legal principle it addresses.
