UP to 21,000 pregnant women and mothers each year leave their jobs because of a failure to tackle health and safety risks, a committee of MPs has revealed.
In the second session of its inquiry into pregnancy and maternity discrimination today, the Women and Equalities Committee at Westminster will hear evidence from two panels, focusing on the UK Government’s plan for action in this area of concern.
The inquiry follows a report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Department for Business Enterprise and Skills (BIS), which found that while 84 per cent of employers believed that supporting women during pregnancy and maternity was in the interests of their organisation, 77 per cent of mothers reported they had negative and possible discriminatory experiences.
Committee chair Maria Miller said: “There is a worrying mismatch between good employer intentions and poor experiences for women. Our inquiry is looking at what needs to be done to close that gap.” This session will examine the EHRC’s recommendations to Government and will ask witnesses how practical and hard- hitting are the recommendations, whether the Government does enough, and whether it should be providing more support to businesses or taking a harder line on illegal practices.
Trade unions representatives giving evidence are Samantha Rye, national women’s committee secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Scarlet Harris, women’s equality officer at the TUC, and Siobhan Endean, Unite national officer for equalities and secretary to the national women’s committee, Unite.
The BIS/EHRC research found that four per cent of mothers they questioned left their job because of a failure to tackle health and safety risks, which could equate to up to 21,000 women a year.
These women were more likely to work in hotels, restaurants and social work.
The report found health and safety assessments are particularly important in higher-risk roles as changes to duties are more likely to be needed.
Pregnant firefighters have to be removed from attending incidents because of the risk of toxin inhalation and other health and safety issues, but this does not have to mean removal from their normal place of work.
The FBU has raised concerns about women being moved to desk jobs of little value, disrupting their usual shift pattern.
The Health and Safety Executive has agreed to take forward the EHRC’s recommendations on health and safety to review current guidance. The committee will look at whether this is enough to deal with health and safety concerns.
The panel will also consider the protection of women’s legal rights to paid time off for antenatal care, maternity leave, maternity pay or allowance, and protection against unfair treatment, discrimination or dismissal.
The second panel will focus on employers’ views and experiences, with a particular focus on best practice and proposals to tackle the issues raised in the report.
Witnesses include Sarah-Jane Butler, director of Parental Choice, Louise Handley, head of employee relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Mark McLane, diversity and inclusion MD at Barclays.
Discussion will focus on a range of issues, including the benefits which businesses have seen as a result of providing good support for women during pregnancy, maternity leave and return to work, as well as different perspectives on the difficulties and barriers to supporting employees during pregnancy and as parents.
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