{"id":9652,"date":"2016-08-31T16:04:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T15:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=9652"},"modified":"2016-09-01T15:25:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-01T14:25:57","slug":"match-words-with-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=9652","title":{"rendered":"Match words with action"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Despite rights for pregnant women being enshrined in law, a shocking number of new and expecting mothers experience workplace discrimination, including being illegally sacked \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the problem is only getting exponentially worse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A new report<\/a> published by the women and equalities select committee today (August 31) highlighted that 54,000 women lose their jobs each and every year for being pregnant \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a number that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doubled over the last decade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) showed that an astounding 77 per cent of new or pregnant mothers had experienced some form of workplace discrimination, compared to only 45 per cent 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Action call<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The committee slammed the government for not taking robust action to tackle the problem and demanded a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdetailed plan outlining the specific actions it will take to tackle this unacceptable level of discrimination\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis work must be underpinned by concrete targets and changes to laws and protections to increase compliance by employers to improve women’s lives,” noted committee chair Maria Miller.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pointing to the fact that there are now record numbers of women in work in the UK, Miller argued that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe economy will suffer unless employers modernise their workplace practices to ensure effective support and protection for expectant and new mums.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer for equalities Siobhan Endean gave evidence to the committee and noted that a change in legislation is urgently needed to ensure more women aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t illegally sacked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00c2\u00a0 find\u00c2\u00a0 it\u00c2\u00a0 is\u00c2\u00a0 very\u00c2\u00a0 rare\u00c2\u00a0 that\u00c2\u00a0 people\u00c2\u00a0 say,\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I\u00c2\u00a0 am\u00c2\u00a0 sacking\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 because\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 are\u00c2\u00a0 pregnant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, because obviously people know that is unlawful,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Endean noted as part of her evidence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat will happen is\u00c2\u00a0 that\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 will\u00c2\u00a0 be\u00c2\u00a0 made\u00c2\u00a0 redundant\u00c2\u00a0 while\u00c2\u00a0 you\u00c2\u00a0 are\u00c2\u00a0 pregnant\u00c2\u00a0 or\u00c2\u00a0 on\u00c2\u00a0 maternity\u00c2\u00a0 leave. If you strengthened the framework of legislation around redundancies, fewer women would fall through that net.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Endean suggested that the law can be strengthened in various ways, including by reintroducing the questionnaire procedure, which previously allowed workers who had been discriminated against to gather information from their employer before a tribunal hearing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claimants could ask questions of their employer to help prove their claim \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and bosses could be penalised for failing to answer or for being evasive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She also argued that extending equality auditing and equality impact assessments — which are required in the public sector \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to the private sector would \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhelp employers to uncover and tackle unconscious bias and discrimination.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The committee issued a series of recommendations in their report including extending the rights to paid time off for antenatal care to casual, agency and zero hours workers; allowing those who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been discriminated against six months, instead of three, to launch a discrimination case against their bosses; and cutting the cost of employment tribunal fees, among other recommendations.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Barriers to justice<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite has argued that the government must go further, and should put an end to employment tribunal fees altogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maternity Action, a campaign group aiming to tackle maternity discrimination with the support of trade unions, including Unite, has also called for an end to employment tribunal fees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEmployment tribunal fees of up to \u00c2\u01411,200 make justice unaffordable for most women,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 noted Maternity Action chair Jo Swinson. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to remove financial barriers to accessing justice if we want women to exercise their rights.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One such woman who has been hit by exorbitant tribunal fees, Janet, recalled being made redundant<\/a> when she returned to work from maternity leave, after which she was offered a completely different job and then met with a hostile work environment when she filed a grievance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt this point my health had suffered so much with everything that happened since my return to work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Janet noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was put on anti-depressants. In three weeks I lost ten pounds in weight. I decided to hand in my notice. My notice was accepted by email within 10 minutes of me handing in the letter. They had got what they finally wanted.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After filing a tribunal claim, Janet noted that she had to pay for the tribunal fee on her credit card, money which she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI can ill afford to lose.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pivotal role<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

While Endean welcomed the committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report, she warned that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe ability of the government to implement many of the committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recommendations will be hampered by deep cuts to the EHRC rendering the commission toothless in the face of bad bosses.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As UNITElive reported earlier this year<\/a>, upcoming government cuts could slash the EHRC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget by 30 per cent and could potentially lead to many redundancies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf government ministers are serious about tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination then their warm words need to be matched by action,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Endean argued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMinisters need to recognise that the EHRC has a pivotal role in investigating employers who flout the law and reconsider the disastrous introduction of employment tribunal fees, which have restricted access to justice for so many women suffering discrimination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government needs to go further and faster than the committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report in tackling the shocking ease with which employers can make pregnant women redundant,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt needs to tackle the abuses faced by many pregnant agency and zero hours contracts workers who can be put out of work because of the lack of workplace protections.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA failure to do so will do little to breach the stubborn gender pay gap or smash the glass ceiling which stops many women fulfilling their potential in the world of work.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite rights for pregnant women being enshrined in law, a shocking number of new and expecting mothers experience workplace discrimination, including being illegally sacked \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the problem is only getting exponentially worse.   A new report published by the women and equalities select committee today (August 31) highlighted that 54,000 women lose their jobs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[353,233,379,502],"wps_subtitle":"Unite: stop cuts to end maternity discrimination","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9652"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9658,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652\/revisions\/9658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}