1. Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination
Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Working Group Survey – CCPS Summary

2. Overview of Survey Background
Changes to duties during pregnancy– Reasons/Factors
Changes to duties following Maternity Leave
Guidance on Pregnancy and Maternity Issues
Complaints
Redundancy
Flexible Working Requests
Responsibility and Legislation
Conclusion/Additional Comments From Respondents

3. Background – Respondent Organisations
52% of respondent organisations consisted of 250+ employees
100% consisted of 51% or more female workforce, with 44% consisting of 75% female workforce or greater
52% had Union recognition
All were standalone organisations
There was a wide coverage of organisation type
Organisations did not always answer all questions/ provide detail (parts 4,5 & 6)

4. Background – Respondent Organisations (Cont.)
Three highest concerns over Mat Leave:
Woman pregnant or on Mat Leave being request to work changed hours on return to work (66.67%)
Costs of Mat Pay not affordable (33.33%)
Costs of providing Mat Leave cover not affordable (25%)

5. Background – Respondent Organisations (Cont.)
An interesting correlation occurs in the graph above:
A steady rise in numbers of women pregnant from 3-5 up to 11-15
A sudden drop to 0% for 16-20, with a jump back up to women
Then a steady decline in numbers from 26 to 101+ women in pregnancy

6. Background – Respondent Organisations (Cont.)
Those organisations with the highest percentages of women on Mat Leave also tended to have union recognition, consist of 6+ operational sites, and are in Adult Care in the home with 250+ employees.
567 workforce returners from Mat Leave between all respondents; those respondents with highest returners were as above
59 staff not returning from Mat Leave between all respondents

7. Background – Respondent Organisations (Cont.)
The chart shows the following top 3 difficulties facing the respondents:
Levels of sickness absence for those returning from maternity leave – 2.38
Managing workloads for other members of the team – 2.28
Pregnancy among those on short or fixed term contracts/appointment – 2.08

8. Changes to duties during pregnancy– Reasons/Factors
91.67% of respondents adapted or altered duties for women during pregnancy in the past three years
95.65% were led to this through the results of H&S Risk Assessments
60.87% of respondents also received requests from staff members for the changes
4.35% stated under ‘Other’, that alterations were based on Occupational Health recommendations

9. Changes to duties following Maternity Leave
52 % altered duties for staff returning from Mat Leave
73.33% of these were due to staff requests, with only 40% being due to H&S Risk Assessments
92% did find that H&S Risk Assessments identified specific hazards or risks for pregnant women or new mothers (sector)
26.67% listed under ‘Other’ for reasons for changes as:
OH recommendations
Flexible working requests

10. Changes to duties following Maternity Leave (Cont.)

11. Changes to duties following Maternity Leave (Cont.)
Generally seen as easy to facilitate:
Ordinary Maternity Leave (1-26 weeks)
Additional Maternity Leave (27-52 weeks)
Maternity Pay (Weeks 1-39)
Also generally seen as easy to facilitate, but with increasing difficulty and complexity:
Paid time off to attend appointments associated with pregnancy
An employee on Mat Leave having the right to return to exactly the same job within or at the end of Ordinary Mat Leave
An employee on Mat Leave returning at the end of Additional Mat Leave
Protection from being treated unfavourably because of pregnancy or being on Mat Leave (redundancy, refused training or promotion opportunities) (Sector)
Enhanced protection from redundancy during Ordinary Mat Leave
Biggest areas of issue:
Accumulation of annual leave during Mat Leave
Right to request Flexible Working

12. Guidance on Pregnancy and Maternity Issues
52% provide guidelines, training or other support for managers covering issues related to pregnant women, and Mat Leave
56% sought guidance on maternity, pregnancy and Mat Leave issues externally
The quality of current guidance was not seen as clear cut, with an even split of 48:48% between Poor/Neutral:Good
Indicates that more can be done to provide effective guidance, and assess current guidance
Feedback on available information services used, based on listed responses:
Legal advice/employment lawyer – 11 listings
ACAS – 11
CIPD – 5
Government sources - 5

13. Guidance on Pregnancy and Maternity Issues (Cont.)
Which one source have you used most often in the last three years (descending order)
Law firms/solicitors – 6
HR consultancy service/outsourcing/advisor – 6
Internal sources (colleagues, company hand books, intranet) – 3
ACAS – 2
CIPD – 2
Government department publications, helplines or websites – 2
Internet search (e.g. Google) – 1
Newspapers, magazines - 1

14. Guidance on Pregnancy and Maternity Issues (Cont.)
Topics of information sought:
Flexible working – 5
Shared Parental leave – 4
Redundancy- 4
Risk assessments – 2
Long term sickness absence/capability and dismissal - 2

15. Complaints
Only 3 respondents had complaints relating to pregnancy or maternity discrimination in last three years, with one staff member for each of the three respondents
Outcomes of most recent complaint:
Informal complaints usually around flexibility expectations
Flexible request denied, appealed, upheld, employee then off sick, tribunal threatened, ultimately resigned
No action, complaint unfounded

16. Redundancy
Only 16% made redundancies amongst staff pregnant or on Mat Leave
Total of 6/7 redundancies between the four respondents who provided a detailed answer to this question
On informing staff who were pregnant or on Mat Leave:
80% did so at the same time as other redundancy announcements
40% after staff disclosed they were pregnant but before Mat Leave
20% prior to disclosing they were pregnant
20% while they were on Ordinary Mat Leave
Number not enough information to work reliably from

17. Flexible Working Requests
The majority of respondents had 1-10 flexible working requests
Highest was 3-5 range at 24% but 7% at 21 plus
78.26% of all or most requests were granted
It can be surmised that efforts to grant requests are genuine, but previous evidence within this survey suggests that flexible working requests can cause issues due to the nature of the sector and the following reasons:
Burden on service and staff
Moves duty focus to times outside of Service User (SU) ‘need times’
Rotas make it hard to accommodate requests for working set days
The Impact on SUs
Unrealistic and high expectations of returners
Insufficient work available
Clash with service agreements/operational reasons
Recruiting issues
KIT (Keeping In Touch) Days
80% have used KIT days in past three years
83.33% have maintained formal or informal contact with staff on Mat Leave other than KIT days

18. Responsibility and Legislation
Who makes individual HR decisions in relation to pregnant women on Mat Leave or returning to work? Top 3:
Individual Line Managers (76%)
Senior Managers (40%)
Central HR department/team (32%)
Aspects of current legislation around pregnancy/Mat Leave not working:
For the employer
Shared parental leave
Flexible working requests (resource heavy)
Costs (enhanced Mat Pay/Leave, backfilling post)
No support to pay above SMP/no additional funding
Confusion around redundancy protection
For the employee
Limited SMP/nothing above those levels/pay entitlements above 6 weeks not enough
Costly tribunal fees
Stressful flexible working request process
Time off for dependents, support after return to work

19. Responsibility and Legislation (Cont.)
84% are in favour of a fund to help 3rd Sector reclaim SMP
72% are in favour of an initiative to help 3rd Sector employers enhance practices in relation to maternity and pregnancy
Note though that the practice appears pretty sound
Good practice examples suggested by respondents:
Risk Assessments
Trial periods for flexible working requests
KIT, including Mat Leave staff in training, info for vacancies, etc.
Enhanced Mat Pay based on minimum attendance
Inclusive approach with support, person centred

20. Conclusion/Additional comments from respondents
Flexible working requires good practice, but remains an issue for our sector, and we are lagging behind… this is not an information, training or intent issue, but a resourcing issue
…staff working at full capacity pressure, as this is leaving organisations very little room for manoeuvre
Reduced cost/tax breaks for availability of flexible and good quality child care, rather than additional maternity information for the sector
There needs to be changes or improvements to guidance on pregnancy and maternity issues for 3rd Sector organisations