Anonymously they say what we have all known for years.

[divadee]

I saw this article today and I have to say it didn't surprise me. Upset me and made me angry but it only says what women have known for years and years.

I'm currently a year into employment, I've done my 9 months probation and currently am trying to Ttc but I'm dreading telling my job. That's the real side of the situation women dreading telling there employer there pregnant.

Bombardier25966
Only if the decision is based purely on financial outcomes. That fails to take into account the benefits of a diverse workforce, and the benefits to society as a whole

You appear to have a totally unrealistic view of business. When a person creates a company, their primary objective is to make money. I doubt 'considering the benefits to society as a whole' comes anywhere in the top one hundred reasons for them, if at all for the vast majority.

If you think it's hard getting a job pre babies, wait until you're post babies and hitting 50. Nobody, whether they are a male or female boss, will give you the time of day.

Biology. The cornerstone of discrimination against women.

Livingonthedgeee. You'd get a job from me

If you think it's hard getting a job pre babies, wait until you're post babies and hitting 50.
this really worries me for the future. I already know that I am going to have to work all the way up until my pension which is looking like that will be up to 70 by the time it comes around. Who the hell is going to employ me then?!

To be honest I do think our now very generous maternity leave in the UK can work against women. You never used to get so much leave years ago. I work for a large company, but you still hear comments along the lines of "have a year off come back then go straight off again for another year tut tut." One of my friends is currently looking for a job and she is convinced the fact that she is 30 and newly married is going against her. She doesn't even want children!

People lambast the scarce US parental leave laws (they really need improving...), but certainly, in a corporate environment, I've found the experience to be better in the US at point of hire/promotion.

Because you can't be gone for long and the expense is mostly on you so there's little to set you back from male employees when it comes to maternity leave and FMLA is just 12 weeks so it's less disruptive. They can also fire you pretty much at will, so the onus is on you to prove you can deliver in your job and fit that around outside obligations. I don't agree with this approach in the slightest, but the proportion of women at senior levels is much greater here.

Personally, I think shared parental leave should be normalised and equalised with a greater emphasis on men taking time off. There should be more onus on flexible working (for all staff) to ensure both parents are able to manage child illnesses/emergencies without having to take considerable time out. Parents need support when transitioning back to the workplace to ensure they don't lose out on opportunities.

To be honest I do think our now very generous maternity leave in the UK can work against women.

Just FYI it's only generous in comparison to shockingly poor maternity leave in countries such as America. It's actually ranked amongst the worst in Europe.

Six months full paid leave for both parents and subsidised child care is almost definitely a can kicking exercise that our children will have to sort out, much like tax credits etc.

What is often forgotten in posts like this is that they often cite nordic countries as some utopia to aim for, but without societal pressure, so called gender norms have taken effect where more women are still taking on the nurture role and businesses in general are still somewhat reluctant to hire women either pre children or after.

I think your attitude is truly awful and I hope you are exposed at your job.

Would I BlitheringIdiots? That's good to know and you're the first and only person to tell me that in 3 years!

I am a woman.
I own a business.
I too am wary about employing women of child baring age.

Not because they aren't capable of the job simply because the logistics of running an SME mean that for financial and practical reasons having someone out of the work place for 6-12 months is far too difficult.

I have my own children 2 and 4. I took no maternity leave on either although was in the fortunate position they came to work with me as ebf.

I am an executive director I have four children but I get where these bosses are coming from. At the end of the day it is a problem for businesses and it forever will be. It's also a problem for the employee who is scared they will be forgotten and is factually likely to end up behind in her career versus her male colleague. The trick here though in my view is, like in Norway, allow joint parental leave that can be split anyway by either party. Ie a couple take maximum of 12 months between them split however they choose. Both men and women then could equally take maternity/paternity leave for the same lengths of time and so making choices on giving jobs and awarding promotions is on a level scale. It also helps men bond with their children. That's the only way I can see this changing in terms of attitudes towards women.

I am a young woman in business and I understand it. Getting pregnant costs the business money. Also, women statistically have more sick days than men. We are a capitalist society, of course the only issue here is profits - it's the literal definition of a business.

Sucks to be a woman but get over it

—YellowOcelot— you are able to mention this at interview if you wish.

One of my best managers did similar in her second interview in response to a question:

I believe I am so driven at x part of my career because sadly i am not able to have children and therefore have the extra time available to devote to vokunteering/ reasearching in this area of expertise.

Before I am shot down in flames about how this should not be nevcessary I am only informing you of how someone else approached it at interview.

Apologies for poor spelling!

Also, women statistically have more sick days than men.whats your source?
What a defeatist post,to see yourself and other women as a burden.an imposition

Livingontheedgee of course you would. Sadly I have a PA who is brilliant and hope to keep so no jobs vacant at the moment

I have hired hundreds upson hundreds of people in my career (I work in a very senior position in a huge company).

The worst hiring mistake I ever made was a woman I interviewed when she was 8 months pregnant. Great skills and experience, but has basically spent the past six years on paid maternity leave (not in UK- she gets 26 weeks fully paid. She had to have six months service so had the baby, didn’t get paid maternity leave, but came back pregnant, went straight out on paid sick leave with PND and then got full maternity pay for next and subsequent maternity leaves). She’s had a large number of children since she started with us. She has not worked a single day since 2014.

We’re a large organisation and can absorb the cost but, I have to admit, if I ever end up working for a small company, I think my experience with this woman has been so bad that it would taint my decisions around hiring a pregnant woman ever again, and/or would colour my view when it came to designing maternity and sick pay policies.

And this is speaking as a woman of child-bearing age who worked very hard to ensure our organisation has an attractive maternity leave policy as a means to encourage women into the workplace.

you know what? This thread saddens and angers me, but comments like this
Sucks to be a woman but get over it
make my blood boil.

@JustHereForThePooStories but a woman could do the same without being or telling you she's pregnant at the point of being hired.

Also don't let one bad apple spoil it for the rest of us

Some interesting stats here about sickness absence: www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/sicknessabsenceinthelabourmarket/2016

It seems that, as well as women being away more than men, there's a big difference between those in the public/private sectors and between large/smaller employers

So don't take time off work to have children.

The worst hiring mistake I ever made was a woman I interviewed when she was 8 months pregnant ... She has not worked a single day since 2014

Ouch