MOSCOW, December 17 (RAPSI) - The Supreme Court of Russia has ruled that a pregnant woman’s lawsuit against her employer for terminating her during her pregnancy cannot be dismissed even if the employer was unaware of the pregnancy. This condition was included in a draft resolution of the Supreme Court’s plenary meeting that took place Tuesday.

“A female employee cannot be dismissed during her term of pregnancy; therefore, the fact that the pregnancy was not reported to the employer cannot be submitted as cause for dismissing her employment lawsuit, the draft states.

The Supreme Court of Russia added that according to the Russian Labor Code, a fixed-term employment contract cannot be terminated before the end of a pregnancy, and that the pregnancy must be confirmed every three months with a medical certificate. A fixed-term employment contract must be extended through the end of the pregnancy regardless of whether it results in a birth, a miscarriage, an abortion due to medical circumstances or is otherwise terminated.

After the birth, a female employee’s fixed-term contract can be terminated on the last day of her maternity leave. In all other cases, the woman can be dismissed within a week of the day the employer was notified or was required to be notified of the end of the pregnancy, the court notes.

However, termination of a fixed-term contract with a pregnant employee is possible if the employee was hired on a temporary basis and there is no opportunity to offer her another position before the end of the pregnancy.