The treatment of pregnant women should shame us
Maria Miller MP, former equalities minister, on the continuing inequality faced by women at work
It is difficult to believe that just 50 years ago the Equal Pay Act made its way on to the English statute books. It was a totemic piece of legislation, giving women at work a legal right to the same pay for the same work as men.
Its influence was profound, and in 2010 it was replaced with the Equality Act, which brought together all of the laws that prohibited any form of discrimination at work, allowing women to be treated fairly and equally, judged on their own merit, not on any prejudice of those for or with whom they worked.
So much has changed for the good in the intervening five decades, and we now have record numbers of women in work across a broader cross section of jobs.
But when it comes to pregnant women and new mums, fair and equal treatment appears to be still well out of reach for many. And things have been no different during this pandemic.
Since the coronavirus crisis began, a quarter of pregnant women or new mothers have experienced unfair treatment at work, including being singled out for redundancy or furlough, according to a study of 3,400 women by the TUC.
Research conducted by the charity and campaigning group Pregnant Then Screwed also found the treatment of pregnant women to be far from fair.
Despite existing employment law providing clear protection to pregnant women, one in four pregnant NHS workers have still been required to work with patients who could have Covid-19.
The deaths of pregnant front-line workers is one of Covid-19’s many tragedies. And some employers have disregarded the existing law, instead sending pregnant women on sick leave because they were unable to continue their customer-facing roles, rather than suspending them on full pay if alternative roles could not be found
as the law already sets out. Back in 2016 the Women and Equalities Select Committee Inquiry into pregnancy and maternity concluded that breaches of the law by employers routinely went unchallenged or, even more concerning, were covered up through the use of non-disclosure agreements and redundancy.
And the three-month period in which to bring a claim left very little effective access to justice. Little wonder that in 2016 the Government estimated 54,000 expectant and new mothers felt they had no choice but to leave their work because of concern about safety or pregnancy discrimination. Shockingly this figure had doubled over the previous decade.
As a result, even after 50 years of equal pay law and a decade of the Equality Act, attitudes by employers towards pregnant women remain grim.
Yougov research published two years ago by the Equality and Human Rights Commission showed four in 10 said pregnant women put an “unnecessary cost burden” on the workplace, and one in three employers thought pregnant and new mums were “less interested in career progression”.
We should celebrate 50 years of the Equal Pay Act, but we should hang our heads in shame at the way in which pregnant women and new mums are still treated at work.
Fair and equal treatment appears to be well out of reach for many
The pandemic has shown too many employers fail to provide the basic protection pregnant women and new mums are entitled to in law. Now more than ever we need protections for pregnant women and new mums with real teeth that will also change employers ingrained attitudes. That is why I am reintroducing my Bill in the House of Commons tomorrow calling again for German-style protection for pregnant women and new mums, giving them automatic protection from redundancy during pregnancy and for six months after.
We have record numbers of women in work in the UK. Women are integral to the future success of the UK economy.
We need all employees to be treated fairly, on their merit, not discriminated against simply because they are pregnant or new mums.