Abuse of Maternity Protection Law

An employee’s pregnancy brings not only joy for managing directors and business leaders, but often also the problem of finding maternity leave cover, accepting work absences due to the pregnant employee’s health condition, and overcoming further bureaucratic hurdles. Of course, all of this is very worthwhile in relation to the unborn child and therefore justifies the additional work on the part of management. It may be annoying when a newly hired employee becomes pregnant, but from an employment law perspective this is entirely lawful and must not have any negative consequences for the employee from the point of view of worker protection. The situation is quite different, however, when a pregnancy is feigned in order to avoid dismissal – a current scenario from the investigative experience of our detective agency in Hamburg.

False Pregnant Woman in Her Own Company

Because a pregnancy may in some women of very different builds not become visibly apparent on the body until the end of the second trimester and can be concealed by skilful clothing, colleagues, superiors, and business partners often cannot tell whether a pregnancy is actually present or not. If a colleague announces her condition, joy in the company and among colleagues is often great, and nobody questions the happy news, even if no baby bump is visible.

Even in the most harmonious workplaces, it can happen that an employee at a dismissal meeting, or in response to a written dismissal notice, falsely claims to be pregnant in order to escape dismissal, at least for the time being. Under employment law, a pregnant woman may only be dismissed after the maternity protection period has expired. Such a feigned pregnancy was then, as happened in a large company for which our Hamburg corporate detectives investigated, officially “ended” shortly before the expected date of birth and after several months without any outward signs of pregnancy. The employees concerned usually claim to have suffered a miscarriage; employers and superiors naturally then hesitate to dismiss the women so soon after such terrible news. However, a feigned pregnancy is not a trivial matter that one can “afford to do”, but rather a misrepresentation of facts and thus fraud under Section 263 of the German Criminal Code. If false evidence such as forged medical certificates, maternity records, and ultrasound images is also used, this further worsens the evidentiary situation against the employee concerned.

Methodology of Pregnancy Fraud

There are no limits to imagination in this type of fraud: in addition to used positive pregnancy tests on eBay or Craigslist, there is even a website for the professional feigning of pregnancies – fakeababy.com – where fake silicone pregnancy bellies for single babies, twins, and triplets in various stages, ultrasound images, and maternity records can be custom-designed and purchased according to one’s wishes. The note that the products offered there are intended merely as joke items cannot conceal the fact that the buyers of these products often have intentions other than a “joke”.

Such pregnancy fraud not only brings emotional complications and serious financial consequences for any partner who may be deceived by it (more on that below), but also for the employer, who must accept absences, organise maternity cover, and take care of other organisational matters. Because of these time and revenue losses, and especially in the event of the planned dismissal of, for example, an unreliable employee, it is advisable, when pregnancy is suspected to be feigned, to engage Aaden Corporate Investigations Hamburg and have the employee concerned investigated: +49 40 4223 6960.

Behaviour Endangering Pregnancy as an Indication of Deception

If our detectives in Hamburg are engaged to verify a supposedly pregnant employee, regular surveillance of the “expectant mother” and documentation of her activities will show whether it is a real pregnancy or a feigned one. Does the employee really go to her gynaecologist at the stated times, or does she forge medical certificates? Does she meet friends in the evening for non-alcoholic cocktails or for a few glasses of wine? Does she take part in exercise classes recommended during pregnancy, such as water gymnastics, swimming, or yoga, or does she continue to lift heavy weights at the gym, which gynaecologists strongly advise against? All relevant activities during the surveillance period are documented photographically and in writing by our private investigators and, once the investigation is complete, submitted in a court-admissible report.

We are also in action for doubtful partners.

There is a psychotherapeutically treatable false pregnancy, in which women, for emotional reasons, often also because of a neurosis, unconsciously experience the physical symptoms of pregnancy without actually being pregnant – a special case, therefore, but a medical condition and not a feigning. There are many possible reasons for the latter: a woman’s social standing changes once her surroundings become aware of the pregnancy, which often brings many positive side effects such as increased attention from others, greater consideration towards her, and leniency regarding absences and small mistakes. Deliberately feigned pregnancies, intended to bring greater recognition and esteem from acquaintances, family, and strangers, do not of course fall under the definition of a medical condition. Such fraud offences are often not even aimed at the employment relationship, but rather represent desperate last attempts to bind the partner and save relationships, which has also occasionally led to deployments of our private detectives in Hamburg.

You have a suspicion, we take on the investigation:

Do you suspect in your company that one of your employees is not actually pregnant but is feigning her condition in order either to obtain advantages in the work process or even to escape dismissal? Would you like your initial suspicion about an employee to be professionally confirmed or disproven before confronting the employee personally or initiating legal steps? Then get in touch with our corporate and private detective agency in Hamburg and the surrounding area for a free, non-binding consultation, in which you will be informed about your options and those of our detectives. Our office hours are Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 19:00, and you can reach us at the following telephone number: +49 40 4223 6960.