Can we end the motherhood penalty in the workplace? Sally Brett Senior Policy Officer, TUC

EHRC research findings 54,000 women a year are dismissed, made redundant when no one else is or are treated so badly they feel forced to leave 100,000 mothers a year experience harassment or negative comments linked to pregnancy or flexible working 53,000 pregnant women a year are discouraged from attending ante-natal appointments

EHRC research findings 70% of employers think a woman should declare upfront if she’s pregnant during recruitment 25% said that it’s ok to ask women about plans to have children during recruitment 1 in 10 mothers said they were treated worse on their return to work than before pregnancy

Stories behind the statistics

Pregnancy and maternity complaints 1 in 5 women complained to their employer High earners were 3 times more likely to raise issues with their employer than women employed on a casual basis 1,851 women notified Acas of a potential pregnancy detriment or dismissal claim Only 790 women went to tribunal in 2014/15

Impact of tribunal fees on pregnancy claims

What needs to change: 1. Enforcement of maternity rights Employment tribunal fees must be abolished Time limits for bringing claims needs to be extended to at least 6 months More support needs to be available to women through unions and advice sector Wider recommendation powers of tribunals need to be restored Employers need to be held accountable, e.g. publish return-to-work rates

Motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus Mothers earned 11% less than women who hadn’t had children by their late 30s Fathers earned 19% more than men who hadn’t had children by their late 30s Mothers earned 26% less than fathers in their late 30s

Fathers’ leave Two weeks’ paternity leave paid at £ a week or 26% of median weekly wage 146,000 working dads don’t qualify for this leave due to lack of service or employment status Only half of dads take the full two weeks’ leave mainly because they can’t afford to – just a quarter of the lowest paid dads do

Impact of shared parental leave Two in five working dads have gained no new entitlement to leave Rights depend upon mother cutting short her maternity rights Estimated take up is between 2 and 8 per cent At most, just 0.2 per cent of male employees will be asking to take a period of extended leave a year

What needs to change: 2. Enabling shared care Make fathers’ leave day one right as maternity leave is Introduce an additional period of fathers’ only leave Introduce a ‘paternity allowance’ for those who fail to qualify for statutory paternity pay Improve statutory pay rates

Balancing paid work and care Two in five mothers didn’t request a form of flexible working they wanted, usually because they thought it would be turned down Hardening of attitudes by managers – nearly 3 in 4 say up to individual to manage work with family life (up from 1 in 2 in 2004) Rise in employer-imposed flexibility

Balancing paid work and care Half of mothers who got flexible working experienced negative consequences Flexible workers often report greater work- family conflict as boundaries between home and work blur Lack of jobs advertised on flexible basis – only 6.2 per cent of jobs with FTE £20K salary offer flexible work options

What needs to change: 3. Creating time to care Promote flexible work at recruitment Managers need to manage flexibility by adapting workload and redesigning jobs Statutory rights to take parental leave/carers’ leave on a flexible basis More secure employment and adequate notice of working hours Stop excessive working hours and value care