Guest Post from Dan Jarvis MP: ''What new mums need at the very least is job security, yet too often, they are the first to be pushed out the door by employers''

[NicolaDMumsnet]

Finding out that you’re pregnant, having a baby, or adopting a child is supposed to be one of the happiest times in a woman’s life, but for many new mothers, the new-born baby bubble is burst by the news they are being laid off. While colleagues have sent soon-to-be-mums off on maternity leave with flowers, some employers have a redundancy notice waiting for their return.

No one should be penalised for having children, but too often women are. In 2016, a Government-commissioned, Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) survey found that three in four women experienced pregnancy and maternity discrimination. While some 54,000 women a year lose their job simply because they are pregnant. It’s a scandal.

We are now over six years on from the EHRC’s shocking findings and to date, no action has been taken to tackle the industrial scale discrimination women face. The Government has consistently said they will address this issue, with promises to extend redundancy protections to the period of pregnancy and following their return to work.

Most recently was October 2019, where they pledged to deliver these commitments through an Employment Bill, a Bill that never came to pass. And then, the pandemic hit. A crisis that amplified and exacerbated every pre-existing inequality and pushed even more women out of work.

Discrimination was rife pre-pandemic, but mothers were one and a half times more likely than fathers to have lost their job since the lockdown began. Charities like Pregnant Then Screwed do incredible work to support women facing maternity discrimination. The personal stories - in particular from lockdown - of the pain and hardship women they represent have faced are hard to read.

There is one story so deeply unjust, it has stuck in my mind, and that’s Natasha’s. Natasha lost her job at the height of the pandemic after telling her employer she was pregnant. She was the only employee to be dismissed from her team. Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, a few weeks later, devastation struck. A miscarriage. In the middle of one of the worst public health outbreaks, Natasha had lost her baby, and she had lost her job. It’s very hard to comprehend the heartbreak and injustice she had to endure.

Today, people are facing a cost-of-living crisis of epic proportions. Wages are shrinking and millions of people are falling into poverty. Extortionate childcare costs, a scarcity of affordable housing, and soaring inflation means raising a family has never been harder and the decision to start or grow a family is becoming increasingly unaffordable. What new mums need at the very least is job security, yet too often, they are the first to be pushed out the door by employers.

There is no more time to waste. That’s why I’ve brought forward a Bill that will change the law to extend redundancy protections for expectant mums and new parents. It also includes parents taking adoption or shared parental leave, stopping them being the first to be laid off on their return to work. It’s a long overdue step towards guaranteeing families more dignity in the workplace.

While it may be too late for Natasha and women like her, it’s a positive step towards affording pregnant women protection in their workplace and working mums the security of returning to their job after taking maternity leave.

My Bill has its final reading in the House of Commons on 3rd February. I know this is an issue that has affected tens of thousands of pregnant women and new parents, and it’s why I want to hear from you and give you a voice in Parliament. Testimonies are the most powerful way of bringing this issue to life. So, if you have been made redundant while pregnant or returning to work, please do share your story.

There is no more important job in the world than raising a family, and it’s only right that women should not lose their job for doing so. I will be doing everything I can to ensure this Bill passes into law. Thank you.

[JamieCraig]

Can I have another mum please

[threatmatrix]

But if you turn it around you’ll understand why. I had two women chefs, the both got pregnant at the same time. I had to keep paying them and hire agency staff at triple the cost, paid out so much ( you get nothing back for over a year and have to fight for it) had to close that particular restaurant, hence only male or older women from now on. It nearly broke me.

[hareagain]

Too late for me but I was made redundant at 30 weeks pregnant whilst working in the private sector over twenty years ago and really struggled finding my way back in. It took me another twelve years to get back to where I was salary wise.

[SteppingStones4Mamma]

I returned to work after 6 months of maternity leave. I was breastfeeding and denied breastfeeding breaks, flexible working hours were not considered to be an option. I struggled to conform to the rigid work structure. I worked 12 hour days only to return to a baby who had not wanted to feed until I came home to breastfeed through the night, leaving me exhausted for the next working day. I struggled with guilt being away from my baby but was determined to work. I was 'encouraged' to reduce my working days to a financially unviable position or to demote to a less senior position. I couldn't keep up with the workload, I had to put in time on my non working days and even worked on my annual leave to find some way of managing the work. I was expected to come in on my non working days without any acknowledgement of the additional childcare involved. The stress of the constant unfinished work, poor work life balance,
negative comments and behaviours experienced all led to my resignation. Research repeatedly shows that flexible work is the future yet half of requests are turned down. Likely many requests are denied outright without any formal consideration. Women still carry the burden of childcare and home chores. Working mothers are seen as some sort of burden by employers yet society and humankind clearly relies on people having babies!

Having a baby is not a part time hobby and the life changes go beyond the childcare responsibilities. The psychological changes that women go through as new mothers are massive. Interestingly these changes are not recognised in conventional medicine and not taught in medical schools, yet there is clear evidence of the brain shifts during the transformation into a mother. Matresence, the transformation of a woman to a mother, is a science of its own. The heavy sense of responsibility, the loss of identity, the forming of a new identity as a mother and forming an idea of what that looks like, the massive shift in the relationship dynamics of our closest relationships, the brain fog, the forgetfulness....the list goes on...

New mothers are vulnerable. We are vulnerable when we are learning to feed our baby, bottle or breast, we are vulnerable when we forget to change a nappy and the baby has a rash, we are vulnerable when we don't know who we are anymore, we are vulnerable when we have to force ourselves to work and carry the unbearable feeling of guilt for leaving our babies, we are vulnerable when we are denied breastfeeding breaks, we are vulnerable when we are forced to conform to a rigid work structure, we are vulnerable when we are pushing ourselves to be the do it all mum, we are vulnerable when our child is sick. we are vulnerable when we are managing the judgements, criticisms and shaming from people we know or those that we don't know. It's difficult to be a self advocate when we feel so vulnerable, to stand up to blatantly discriminatory behaviours; it's not surprising that new mothers face discrimination in the workplace; the vulnerability makes us easy targets.

Employers must ensure that they have policies in place for managing pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and flexible work requests to ensure that working mothers are retained. This must be compulsory and there is no room for variation between employers in this regard; some employers not even being aware of the existing rights of women in pregnancy and on/post-maternity. New mothers need coaching support when returning to work and antenatal classes ought to cover more of the changes that new mum's go through as well as returning to work preparation. I'd also call for extending the time within which legal claims for maternity discrimination can be made. There needs to be increased society awareness of the normal changes in the transition to motherhood.

I'm hesitant to return to the same work environment that I resigned from; the NHS. Ironically there are mothers who wish to remain in work, in the NHS and work flexibly, yet even despite the recruitment crisis flexible working mum's are disregarded by the NHS and other employers.

[Passthegin99]

My job was given away to the person they brought in to do my maternity cover. I was offered a role to return to which had the same title but far less seniority and responsibility, so I left. Prior to going on maternity leave I had been told I was vital to the company and being groomed for success...by the time I went back I was old news. It's a problem.

[Iam4eels]

@Passthegin99

My job was given away to the person they brought in to do my maternity cover. I was offered a role to return to which had the same title but far less seniority and responsibility, so I left. Prior to going on maternity leave I had been told I was vital to the company and being groomed for success...by the time I went back I was old news. It's a problem.

Exact same situation here and then two years down the line they did the same thing to my replacement!

It's a cultural issue within many workplaces and while they might not out-and-out discriminate because they're aware it's against the law, they will push women/mothers out in more subtle ways such as this.

Not only had my role been given away, I was given grief whenever my child was unwell despite having the option to work from home, I was told I needed to be present in the office so that my face was known. Despite my family friendly contract being approved I was penalised for that too with important meetings being held on my day off, being asked to change my day off at short notice, being asked to travel with overnight stays at short notice, asked to stay late at short notice, denied training opportunities as training was scheduled for my day off, and so on.

The final straw was my performance review where I was told "off the record and just between us" that I was teetering on the edge of performance management measures and eventually dismissal as I was making it clear that I was no longer a team player. I was told that there was no issue with my work, it was exemplary as always, but that I was hardly ever at work and was taking a day off absent every week (this "day off absent" was my rota'd day off which had been agreed by that same manager and HR), I was no longer staying late (unpaid), I was unable to travel overnight (at less than 15hrs notice), and I needed to have a good solid think about my priorities as it was clear I was no longer prioritising the business. I was then told that redundancies were in the offing and that my recent change in circumstances (I.e., having a baby and dropping my hours by one day each week) meant I was "sticking my head above the parapet" and making myself a "target".

I said I wouldn't discuss it further unless I had union representation in the meeting as there were some serious issues being raised that I would like to get to the bottom of. I was berated, I was told that my manager was trying to help me, that I was being difficult, that I was letting myself down as I clearly wasn't who they thought I was, and then I was marked down in my performance review for poor motivation and lack of team skills despite previously being on track for commendation.

I left then when I tried to lodge a grievance about it I was gaslighted and stonewalled because so many of the conversations were held off the record or "just between you and me".

So many companies pay lip-service with policies and initiatives relating to equality in the workplace and supporting working mothers but that's all they are - lip service. The reality is that many employers will make you pay in a million subtle ways for the transgression of motherhood.

[CyclingMumKent]

I went part time and my pay was reduced to 80%, my workload stayed the same so I ended up working late in the evenings and weekends

I never complained because it had taken me two years to get part time approved and the only way to have flexibility was to reduce my pay (but not the workload).

i was so burnt out but at least I could be with my child on Friday

[Crozzlypocket]

I was brought in to the head's office (school) on my FIRST DAY back in work post maternity (and notably I was also 6 months pregnant - I had two very close together to minimise impact on my career amongst other things) and informed I would have to reapply for my own job. This was in 2010. It was my DD's first day at nursery, she was slightly under the weather, I was slightly under the weather and worried sick as it was the first time I'd left her with anyone but my parents. I interviewed less than a week later and was given a position that was technically the basically the exact same role but with changes to the contract, less money and some crappy bits added in.
Looking back this was surely legally dubious, but I was so freaking emotional, vulnerable, shaky, tired and hormonal that I didn't have the energy to even think about fighting it.

The extremely forward, world renowned, university I worked at subsequently had a mini meltdown when I asked if I could have breaks and a space to breastpump from after returning to work at 4 months after having my youngest. They stuck me in a stock room and I was interrupted many times by confused and emabrassed colleagues who didn't know where to put themselves walking in on me with my tits out. HR didn't give a fuck. They told me to handwrite a post-it to stick on the door. I didn't even know what to write so opted for 'do not enter - beware tits'.

I say bring on a matriarchy. The men have had their shot and it's shit. Look at this country fgs. Look at the experiences of women on this thread. Look at the met. Look at the way that men are pushing though laws that allow them into single sex spaces. Labour party I'm looking directly at you too, so report that back to your lettuce leaf of a leader.

Sadly it's still very much a man's world. In my opinion no amount of good intentions and plans will change the fact that it's all just lip service.

[Crozzlypocket]

Oh and I forgot to mention that my husband and I worked at the same school, him teacher and me support staff. When my daughter was repeatedly ill at nursery the school always made me leave to get her, it cost more to cover my husband than me. I was working towards a teaching career at the time but it wrecked my progression. When my husband said it was his turn to take leave the h and said no, I had to go instead.

[Crozzlypocket]

• 'the head' not 'the h and'

[FlairBand]

Hi Dan @NicolaDMumsnet,

As a new mum and now as a working mum I have had absolutely exemplary treatment from my employer, without which I would find it very difficult to have returned to work.

So whilst I appreciate your efforts to ensure that good employment practices are made available to everyone, please let’s not forget the armies of excellent employers who are going out of their way (often at significant cost) to look after their staff. I know it doesn’t make for quite such a good headline campaigning issue for you, but it’s not all bad and in many cases if you help employers then they will help us.

Thanks

[SteppingStones4Mamma]

@FlairBand yes, of course there are great supportive employers and that should be the norm. 54,000 women losing their jobs, every year, through discrimination in pregnancy or maternity is no small number.
And interestingly it's not just the men that are discriminating. I was working with female co-workers, mothers, who were just blatantly discriminatory, harassing and bullying.

[NicolaDMumsnet]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share some good news. Dan's Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill has passed it's final reading in the House of Commons this morning! It now just has to pass through the House of Lords, and all being well, this much-needed Bill will become law.

A massive thank you to all of you for sharing your experiences of maternity discrimination and helping to get Dan's Bill into legislation.

Thanks,
MNHQ.