‘Maternity paranoia’ in the workplace studied

LONDON Almost every woman who has been on maternity leave will recognize the uneasy feeling: a creeping suspicion that while you’ve been away giving birth, the office has moved on and forgotten about you. You’re left wondering why, when you return from having your baby, your opinion doesn’t seem to carry as much weight as it used to. And you have an unnerving sense you’re being quietly sidelined — coupled with the worry you will be penalized for saying so.

These misgivings were recently given a label: “maternity paranoia.”

Ironically, it was one coined by the male boss who accused Julie Humphryes, an architect, of having an overactive imagination when she complained a male colleague was getting credit for her design work.

Far from being fantasy, last month a U.K. employment tribunal found her fears were well-founded: awarding her nearly $500,000 for being edged out of her $200,000 job.

A report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), posits that women returning from maternity leave are more likely to face discrimination in the workplace than they were a decade ago — estimating that around 54,000 British mothers may be forced out of their jobs each year.

Of the 3,200 women surveyed in conjunction with the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, 11 per cent reported being dismissed, made redundant or treated so poorly they felt forced to leave their jobs.

While there’s no doubt that many of the 340,000 women who take maternity leave each year are well supported as they get back into their stride, the EHRC figures highlight the plight of a significant minority.

These are the returners who find their jobs have been conveniently axed as part of “restructuring” while they have been away, who are turned down for flexible working, passed over for promotion or find they no longer have the responsibilities they once did.

Sarah Jackson, the CEO of Working Families, believes this may be due to a “reality gap,” rather than wilful discrimination: “Organizations often have good intentions and the right policies but unless line managers are properly trained in maternity rights and are supported in their management of pregnant women and new mothers this is where it can, and often does, go wrong.”