Investigation into pregnancy clause

AUSTRALIA’S Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating the national cricket board’s controversial pregnancy clause in contracts offered to elite women players.

Cricket Australia has been under fire over the clause which required women to declare whether they were pregnant before signing contracts.

The clause has been slammed by women’s groups as discriminatory after being brought to light during pay negotiations between the board and the players’ association.

CA initially defended the clause as being out of concern for women’s and safety.

“Our only interest in whether one of our women players is pregnant is to ensure the health of her and her baby, and we have strict rules around medical confidentiality,” CA high-performance chief Pat Howard said last week.

But CA changed its position on Saturday, announcing it would review its policies and contracts that applied to “pregnancy, maternity leave and carer support” after it was contacted by the labour watchdog on Friday. health

“We will cooperate fully with the Ombudsman, and welcome their inquiries because it is always our intention to provide the best support for all our players,” CA chief executive James Sutherland said.

Despite the probe, Sutherland blamed the players’ association for raising the issue.

“We are extremely disappointed that this issue has been raised by the ACA [Australian Cricketers Association],” he said.

“Their senior executives were involved in negotiating and amending the contract for women players in the first half of 2015. — Reuters