Maternity rights must cover casual staff too say MPs

URGENT action is needed to give pregnant women and new mothers more protection at work, MPs said last night. Following a ‘shocking’ increase in discrimination over the past ten years, they called for firms to be banned from making women redundant when they are on maternity leave.

And they also said maternity leave rights should be extended to casual workers and those on zero-hour contracts – although a free-market think-tank said such a move could be counter- productive because many new mothers prefer such flexible contracts.

The Commons women and equalities committee, chaired by former Culture Secretary Maria Miller, called for a German- style system which would ban employers from making women redundant during and after pregnancy except in specific exceptional circumstances.

The MPs also demanded a ‘substantial’ cut in the £1,200 fee for women taking a pregnancy-related discrimination case to an employment tribunal.

Their report says the number of expectant and new mothers forced to leave their job because of concerns about the safety of their child or pregnancy discrimination has doubled over the past decade to 54,000.

And more than one in ten pregnant women and new mothers reported being dismissed, singled out for compulsory redundancy or forced out of their job by poor treatment, according to research by the former Department for Business, Innova- tion and Skills and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The cross-party committee said the Government’s approach had so far lacked ‘urgency and bite’.

It urged ministers to publish an ‘ambitious, detailed plan’ within two years to improve the working rights of pregnant women and new mothers, warning that without change more female workers will be forced out of their jobs. Mrs Miller said: ‘The economy will suffer unless employers modernise their workplace practices to ensure effective support and protection for expectant and new mums.’

In Germany, a ban prevents redundancies for pregnant employees except in rare cases, such as gross misconduct by the worker or the employer getting into financial difficulties resulting in multiple job losses.

As well as calling for a similar law in Britain, the committee said the three-month limit on taking pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases to an employment tribunal should be doubled to six months.

A spokesman for the Institute for Economic Affairs said: ‘This report is absolutely right to call for further protections against the sometimes blatant discrimination pregnant women can face in the workplace.

‘But we must be wary of the Government using this to crack down on zero-hours contracts altogether – especially when evidence shows employees on zero-hours contracts are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs than those in full-time work. Targeting flexible contracts that pregnant women and new mothers may prefer would be counter-productive.’

‘The economy will suffer’