Then I think the company is insane to offer a PAID six month sabbatical to anyone. I mean, lovely, but insane. Who wouldn't take it if it was offered? I'd tack it on the end of my maternity leave if I were you thebecster! (and I'm serious)

Sabattical are a great thing to offer people. Parents need to ensure they use them to do something fun and not just childcare. I know parents who have managed that. Sometimes they take the children as a family round the world in a boat for a year or stuff like that or do a university course.

I think flexitime rights which are offered to all workers whether they have children or not are fair and nice. There is some validity in the stance of non parents who also want to care for elderly relatives or even because she wants to get off early to go to her flying lesson or whatever.

Basically as said below if the state entitlement to maternity rights is respected and then over and above that every worker gets anything extra like paid sabbatical etc regardless of what paternity or maternity leave they have had that's great. I suspect if every working parent in the place chose to take their sabbatical just after they'd had their maternity/paternity leave that may be a bit awkward for employers though so I'm sure it's wise to try to fit in a bit and realise the year you took the maternity leave may not be the best one to ask for even more time off.

But has the OP actually said her company equates the two? Ok that woman is being a bit silly (and when she's old and incontinent she deserves to be very lonely and have noone to wipe her bum) but unless the company views sabbaticals as instead of maternity leaves, and doesn't allow them to women who've had maternity leave, what's the problem?

Offering paid sabatticals only to people who haven't taken maternity leave is highly discriminatory and illegal, as it clearly discriminates against women. If you want one, apply for it. I do think it is absolutely wrong if the company equate the two.
I have never ever noticed in real life that women with children worked fewer hours or less hard than women without. Quite the contrary actually, as the women with kids spent a lot less time rocking in late with hangovers and taking long lunches. I was one of them, so I should know!

I agree with Motherinferior. Work/life balance should be for all of us, not just those who have children.
Our company introduced flexitime for all last year.
There is a gang of blokes who regularly leave early on Fridays for golf competitions, and another who have 2 hour lunches for football training.

Agree that if she goes on sabattical, then gets maternity leave, it leave it wide open for the company to be hit with two paid leaves for each female.

Since maternity leave is a legal right, if I was the boss, I would have said, something to the effect of.

"OK, you can have 6 weeks paid leave, minus what we WOULD receive back from the government if you WERE having a baby. Furthermore, you can have a further 12 weeks off on 70% pay, minus the government SMP; HOWEVER, I will need to rewrite your contract to say that if you do go on maternity leave, your first maternity leave will be on SMP only, and subsequent sabbatticals will reduce further Occupational Maternity Pay in the same manner. Then that way, the COMPANY isn't giving you anything that mothers don't get, so your rights within the company are equal. If you feel that that is still discrimantory, I suggest you take it up iwth your MP as I can't deal with government discrimination in not paying Statutory Sabbattical Pay."

She is just a complete sad cow - just know that the wonderful thing that happened so you could have maternity leave and the pleasure your baby is going to give you can never be matched by anything that she will experience on her sabatical.

You wait, when she is old, she and her ilk will be the first to complain about their pension, why there aren't enough doctors, nurses, road sweepers, undertakers...

She's probably just jealous and wishes she had children. It certainly annoys me too that the childless think being at home with children is like a day off. In fact a lot of us go to work for a rest in some ways.

Hmmm.... But I'm expected to work as many hours as my childless colleagues (see previous thread - my getting locked in the building because I was here so late on Monday night!)

Actually I don't want a sabbatical at the moment - I only just got back from my "6 months off" But in a few years time I will want to do an MBA - I hope they're as flexible about that!

My was more due to the fact that she was clearly jealous of my "time off" which seemed like a really odd reaction to me. Now I've seen those HORRIBLE websites I realise it's not so unusual... I have since noticed that she ALWAYS refers to my DS as 'darling little [DSs name]' in a slightly sarcastic tone as in 'Oh, I suppose you'll be looking forward to Christmas with 'darling little X''