The UK government’s responses to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices in February 2018 accepted the initial report’s recommendation that said:
The government should review, and in any event, consolidate in one place guidance on the legislation which protects those who are pregnant or on maternity leave to bring clarity to both employers and employees. In parallel with the range of non-legislative options set out above, the government should consider further options for legislative interventions. If improvements around leadership, information and advice do not drive the culture change we are seeking, the government will need to move quickly to more directive measures to prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) estimates there are 54,000 women who lose their jobs as a result of pregnancy or maternity leave and a January 2019 consultation seeks to make good on accepting the recommendation to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination. It is already illegal to discriminate against pregnant women and new parents yet the consultation says that this still happens and two pieces of legislation should change:
Equality Act 2010
The Act defines a “protected period” during which a woman is protected from discrimination if pregnant or has recently given birth. Failure to offer protection amounts to either sex discrimination or discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity.
The consultation doesn’t seek to make changes to this legislation as the government considers sufficient protections are currently in place.
The Maternity and Parental Leave Etc Regulations 1999
The above law (known as MAPLE) added to the Employment Rights Act 1996 and says that before making an employee on maternity leave redundant, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available with the employer (or an associated employer). This is in priority to other employees.
Yet even though there is this protection, the government believes (as does Matthew Taylor in his 2017 initial report) that new mothers are still being removed from the workplace when they seek to legitimately return. The consultation seeks views on extending the current protection under MAPLE against redundancy provided whilst on maternity leave. The Women and Equalities Select Committee suggested that redundancy protection should be extended by 6 months after a new mother has returned to work.
The consultation also asks whether similar redundancy protection should be given to parents returning from the other types of child-related leave (adoption leave, shared parental leave and unpaid parental leave)
The consultation also asks whether there is sufficient awareness of employment rights, protections and obligations. This is in light of updated guidance and information for mothers and employers on:
GPA Comment
The 23 questions in the consultation document do not look at the enforcement of maternity protections or the time limit for discrimination cases to be taken to an employment tribunal. The UK government considers that amending MAPLE will be sufficient.
This is an important consultation for employers as employment protections are vitally important in the working environment for women on maternity leave and after. Also, we think that the same protections should be extended to people on similar child-related leave, without reference to gender.
It’s also important as the two pieces of legislation above and the Employment Rights Act 1996 only apply in Great Britain. This means that the law will not be the same across the whole of the UK and this is something that we will be pointing out in our response. Employers and workers need to know exactly what protections they have and that they may be different depending on what part of the UK you work and how your contract of employment is written.
The UK government’s responses to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices in February 2018 accepted the initial report’s recommendation that said:
The government should review, and in any event, consolidate in one place guidance on the legislation which protects those who are pregnant or on maternity leave to bring clarity to both employers and employees. In parallel with the range of non-legislative options set out above, the government should consider further options for legislative interventions. If improvements around leadership, information and advice do not drive the culture change we are seeking, the government will need to move quickly to more directive measures to prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) estimates there are 54,000 women who lose their jobs as a result of pregnancy or maternity leave and a January 2019 consultation seeks to make good on accepting the recommendation to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination. It is already illegal to discriminate against pregnant women and new parents yet the consultation says that this still happens and two pieces of legislation should change:
Equality Act 2010
The Act defines a “protected period” during which a woman is protected from discrimination if pregnant or has recently given birth. Failure to offer protection amounts to either sex discrimination or discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity.
The consultation doesn’t seek to make changes to this legislation as the government considers sufficient protections are currently in place.
The Maternity and Parental Leave Etc Regulations 1999
The above law (known as MAPLE) added to the Employment Rights Act 1996 and says that before making an employee on maternity leave redundant, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available with the employer (or an associated employer). This is in priority to other employees.
Yet even though there is this protection, the government believes (as does Matthew Taylor in his 2017 initial report) that new mothers are still being removed from the workplace when they seek to legitimately return. The consultation seeks views on extending the current protection under MAPLE against redundancy provided whilst on maternity leave. The Women and Equalities Select Committee suggested that redundancy protection should be extended by 6 months after a new mother has returned to work.
The consultation also asks whether similar redundancy protection should be given to parents returning from the other types of child-related leave (adoption leave, shared parental leave and unpaid parental leave)
The consultation also asks whether there is sufficient awareness of employment rights, protections and obligations. This is in light of updated guidance and information for mothers and employers on:
GPA Comment
The 23 questions in the consultation document do not look at the enforcement of maternity protections or the time limit for discrimination cases to be taken to an employment tribunal. The UK government considers that amending MAPLE will be sufficient.
This is an important consultation for employers as employment protections are vitally important in the working environment for women on maternity leave and after. Also, we think that the same protections should be extended to people on similar child-related leave, without reference to gender.
It’s also important as the two pieces of legislation above and the Employment Rights Act 1996 only apply in Great Britain. This means that the law will not be the same across the whole of the UK and this is something that we will be pointing out in our response. Employers and workers need to know exactly what protections they have and that they may be different depending on what part of the UK you work and how your contract of employment is written.