Pregnancy and maternity discrimination

Despite the law and official guidance, a 2016 parliamentary inquiry into pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work found that as many as 21,000 women leave their jobs each year because employers are failing to tackle the pregnancy and maternity risks they face at work. The Women and Equalities Committee also reported a “shocking” increase in workplace pregnancy discrimination, with pregnant women and mothers reporting more discrimination and poor treatment at work than they did a decade ago.

The TUC says most employers do not conduct a proper risk assessment and even among those who do, according to a survey of 3,000 mothers by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), 20% of those who identified risks took no action. As a result, one in five mothers left their employment because of the risks. In the EHRC survey, 41% of respondents felt there was a risk to or impact on their health or welfare at work. However, 38% of these women said their employer did not initiate a conversation about risks when they informed them of their pregnancy; almost one in five said they had identified risks that their employer had not; and 10% said that their employer had identified risks and had not tackled them.