Pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace

Since 2004, our Employment Team have run a yearly campaign to stamp out pregnancy and maternity discrimination called ‘Mind the Bump. This always coincides with International Women’s Day (8th March), whose theme this year is “An equal world is an enabled world”.

The Equality Act sets out the legal obligations that employers must follow when dealing with staff who are pregnant or on maternity leave. This covers all areas of employment, including recruitment, promotion, training and redundancy selection.

It is surprising that despite pregnant women and women on maternity leave having a large amount of legal protection, pregnancy and maternity discrimination is still rife.

Many women find that on informing their employer that they are pregnant, they are dismissed due to employers’ common misconception that their staff must have two years’ service before having the right to bring an Employment Tribunal claim against them.

Another common discrimination scenario is where a woman is told that her job is no longer needed when she is due to return from maternity leave. If there is a reduction in the number of people undertaking a role, employers fail to appreciate that in these circumstances the woman on maternity leave should be given priority for one of the remaining roles.

In many cases, we find that women on maternity leave have not been informed or consulted about a redundancy situation, or a promotion, despite being the best qualified.

The reason we have such protective laws around pregnancy and maternity leave is because this is a very vulnerable time for women. Unfortunately, many employers do not understand the law or comply with it.

Our Employment Law team acts for women across the country in bringing these types of sex discrimination claims. We also train employers by providing free workshops which raise awareness of important facts such as the employer’s right to claim back from the Government at least 92% of the Statutory Maternity Pay they have paid out.

We believe that employers should view maternity leave as an opportunity rather than a nuisance. Recruiting temporary cover can be an excellent way of trying out new staff, upskilling teams, and a chance to grow their business by retaining these temporary workers when the maternity leaver returns.

Throughout March, between 4pm and 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will be offering a free 30-minute telephone advice service for employers and employees concerned about the workplace rights of pregnant women and women on maternity leave. We have also produced a series of factsheets, case studies and FAQs for employers and employees covering basic pregnancy and maternity rights in the workplace, returning to work after maternity, as well as avoiding pregnancy discrimination in a redundancy process.

On Thursday 19 March, we will be running a free training course at our office on ‘Pregnancy and Maternity Leave - Best Practice for Employers’ starting at 9.15am. To book, click here.

Stamping out pregnancy and maternity discrimination requires a huge cultural shift. Recent statistics show that the uptake in men applying for Shared Parental Leave in order to share their partner’s maternity leave is very small. Not surprisingly, men are reluctant to face the same barriers to career progression that they see their women colleagues experiencing.

If you want to know more about workplace pregnancy and maternity rights so you are a best practice employer, or you or a friend are experiencing pregnancy or maternity discrimination, contact Martin Searle Solicitors on:

01273 609911
info@ms-solicitors.co.uk
www.ms-solicitors.co.uk

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