“Urgent action” is needed to give pregnant women and new mothers more protection at work after a “shocking” increase in discrimination, MPs say. The Women and Equalities Committee is calling for a German-style system, where it is harder to make women redundant during and after pregnancy.
The German system has it that, from the beginning of pregnancy until four months after childbirth, employers can only dismiss an employee in very rare cases, for example if the employer is going bust, and also needs government approval to do so.
The calls to change the current system come after research showed the number of expectant and new mothers forced to leave their jobs has almost doubled to 54,000 since 2005.
Comment
We believe part of the reason for there being many more dismissals of new and expectant mothers is down to the changes in the law that the government has made over the last few years. Some employers are now more confident that the dismissed mothers will not do anything about the situation, due to the high level of tribunal fees and the cap on unfair dismissal compensation (if discrimination cannot be proved). Also, the flexible working request procedure has been made more flexible, making it even easier for employers to abide by the rules, while rejecting mothers’ requests to work part-time.
However, we would be surprised if, in the current climate, the government were to follow the committee’s recommendation. Employers would undoubtedly cry ‘foul’ and it comes at a time when the government is trying to boost business, not put more hurdles in the way.
At Frettens, all of our solicitors offer a free initial meeting or chat on the phone to answer your questions. If this article raises issues for you or your business, please call us on 01202 499255 and Kate or Paul will be happy to discuss it with you.
Comments