In our practice we often hear women start their stories with
"when I announced my pregnancy I noticed..." or
"it all started when I returned from maternity
leave..." or (sometimes) worse "I am on
maternity leave and they've told me they're getting rid of
my job".
A recent report from the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills and the Equality and Human Rights Commission on pregnancy
and maternity discrimination certainly paints a bleak picture for
women in the workplace. One in nine mothers reported being
dismissed, singled out for redundancy where other colleagues were
not, or subjected to such poor treatment that they felt they had to
leave.
If you scale up these findings, it suggests that as many as
54,000 mothers in the UK are subjected to potentially
discriminatory treatment at work each year. What is even more
depressing is that only 1% of victims take legal action. Perhaps
the recent abolition of Tribunal fees will help but, although it is
a
