Webchat with Jo Swinson and Katie Wood from Maternity Action on parental rights on Tuesday 15 December 2015 at 1pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to welcome Jo Swinson and Katie Wood from Maternity Action for a webchat on Tuesday 15 December at 1pm.

Maternity Action is the UK’s leading charity committed to ending inequality and improving the health and well-being of pregnant women, partners and young children – from conception through to the child’s early years. Maternity Action provides free advice and information on all aspects of maternity and parental rights and benefits.

Jo Swinson is the chair of the board at Maternity Action. She is the former Minister for Women and Equalities and Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs. She was Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire from 2005 until 2015.

Katie Wood is a barrister specialising in discrimination and maternity law. She worked as Director of Advice Services for the Equal Opportunities Commission and has contributed to a number of publications on maternity and parental rights.

Do join us on Tuesday at 1pm to or post your question about parental rights here in advance.

Thanks
MNHQ

@hannahlubella

Thanks for doing this. My question is about applying for a new job while pregnant and if the potential employer is obligated to treat as other candidates or can decide not to pursue simply on basis of pregnancy? Thank you

It is against the law for employers to discriminate against pregnant women. This applies during job interviews as well. This means that an employer should not treat you unfavourably because of your pregnancy. It would be pregnancy discrimination if the employer refused to offer you the job because of your pregnancy. Obviously this can be hard to prove but if you think that you were discriminated against because of your pregnancy you should get advice. You would need to bring a claim within three months of the discrimination.

very helpful. Thank you

@snowysnowstorms

Do you have any sneaking sympathy for employers who find it difficult to accommodate requests for leave, flex working, sabbaticals...? What about small businesses, should they be allowed more leeway?

And on a nosier note, what was the most shocking case you've ever had to deal with?

Just to add my thoughts about the most shocking case we've dealt with here at Maternity Action, I'm afraid what shocks us most is the sheer number of calls we receive every day from women who have been dismissed and treated unfairly because of their pregnancy.

@cocothomas1234

Hi, I'm currently 10 weeks pregnant and have just the past few weeks started to become terrified of giving birth. I didn't have this with my first at all and although the birth wasn't perfect it wasn't hugely traumatic so I don't know where this is all coming from. I do have a history of anxiety but I haven't ever had a fear like this before. There's a big part of me starting to wonder if it gets too bad if I can ask for a caesarean but I'm really worried about asking the midwife and of her reaction (I am well aware of the risks and major surgery a c-section involves). I haven't discussed this with anyone hoping it would go away but it's only getting worse. I don't know who to talk to and what my options are.

I think that speaking to a medical professional about this will be helpful, as I'm sure you're not alone. Midwives have lots of experience and will likely have helped others in this situation before.

If you don't feel you can raise it with your midwife, could you speak to your own GP? The health professionals want to support you in your pregnancy, so even if it feels difficult to raise, I'm sure you'll end up feeling better if you can have that conversation and no longer have to deal with it alone.

@Yorkshire1976

Hi I'm due to go off on maternity leave in January. My boss is trying hard to change current company policy which is to pay SMP to pay maternity pay in line with our company sickness policy which is much more generous. Hopefully this will get sorted but if now I am in a position to highlight a potential problem. All female employees have been paid SMP in the past but I know that all white collar male employees have been paid full pay for their 2 weeks paternity leave despite it being company policy to pay statutory (90%). I fully appreciate this is 2 weeks and not 9 months but is this allowed and would I have a genuine case. Like I said hopefully it will get sorted and I won't have to highlight this. Is there an issue with me abusing my position knowing this information and then highlighting it. Thanks in advance.

Hi, it's up to employers to decide whether they wish to offer enhanced contractual maternity pay or enhanced paternity pay. Because paternity pay can be taken by men and women, for instance, parents who are adopting or same sex partners, it is unlikely to be sex discrimination to provide enhanced paternity pay.
I'm pleased to hear that your employer is considering a better maternity pay policy and there are many good business reasons for doing so. You can find more information on good practice for employers on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's website.

@Dorsetmama

Hi Jo and Katie. I'm having lots of problems at the moment with my ex partner, regarding my children, what has been previously described as borderline neglect. Unsuitable sleeping conditions, unsuitable bedtime and dinner times, no health care such as teeth brushing or washing, and the occasional disregard for the law and their safety regarding car seats. One of my children has special needs, and he is never happy at his Dads, and phones me a lot. There is nothing legal in place, just an informal family arrangement of every other weekend including an overnight stay, plus at least 2 long stays a year. He doesn't pay maintenance despite involvement from the CSA. I am finding communication extremely hard and although we tried Relate, it was impossible for me to attend due to the location and my school run commitments, so it defaulted. Now he could apply to go to court right away for access should i withhold it. Whenever I have tried to restrict or withhold access before, it has been severely stressful for all involved. My questions are, what can i do to prove he is not meeting their needs, in order for it to seem fair that I restrict access to no overnight stays? How can I ensure he is taking proper care of them!?

I can imagine how worrying this situation is for you, and as you say it can be extremely stressful. Unfortunately Maternity Action provides advice on employment rights rather than family law, so you'd need to seek out specialist family law advice. I'm guessing from your username you're in Dorset, so you might want to make contact with your Citizens' Advice Bureau to see if they can recommend someone.

@typetytypetypes

I also wonder about the way a lot of forms, organisations etc are focused on the woman / mother in terms of parental care. I think it is right that we focus on mothers and provide much better support for them. But as a work-out-of-home mum, my husband being a stay-at-home-dad, I am still expected as the main carer for the children when it comes to things like forms for provision for them, registering with organisations. Clearly I am not, my husband is, but the language is so oriented to the mother it reinforces the notion that the mother is always the main carer. Is there a way to legally make a cultural shift, albeit small, eg with the way things are worded? 'Parents and carers' as a title has always captured a variety of possibilities, but in practice that neutrality seems to stop there! Many forms are geared to sole main carer, usually mother, as opposed to shared care or the father being the main carer.

I'll let Katie answer about the law as regards those who are self-employed, but on your point about focus on the mother to the exclusion of fathers, I completely agree this is a problem. Much of it is a reflection of society's culture still pigeon-holing mothers are carers and fathers are breadwinners, rather than recognising that each family is unique and will find out what works for them. The requirement to nominate a single primary carer makes no sense for families where parents share the responsibility equally, and dads who are the main carer can often feel excluded or 'other'. The cultural side will change over time - and more quickly if these assumptions are politely challenged! And official forms should change so that they aren't making an assumption either way.

@BumWad

I would like to ask about accruing Bank Holiday leave when returning from Mat leave. My NHS boss has said I will not get any BH back (England) but I thought the ruling had changed. How can I challenge this? Thank you

Unfortunately the law is unclear about this so it's difficult to give a definite answer. Firstly, you should check whether the NHS allows Bank Holidays that fall during your maternity leave to be taken at another time although this is unusual. The law allows you 28 days statutory annual leave. If you receive the minimum of 28 days holiday, including Bank Holidays, you should be allowed to take your Bank Holidays after your maternity leave as a result of a case of the European Court of Justice. In Scotland NHS employees are allowed to take Bank Holidays after maternity leave.

It is potentially maternity discrimination to refuse to allow a woman on maternity leave to take her Bank Holidays at another time. If you are refused you could get further legal advice but obviously it's not an easy area to advise on at the moment.

@JugglingFromHereToThere

Hi, for myself I think I'd want to ask what can we do to improve the post-natal hospital experience for women? I only stayed in one night with DC1, and it wasn't a great start to the parenting experience or recovery from birth - basically I would have really appreciated someone to talk to and a mini debrief on the birth experience even though it was a straight-forward and good birth. Resources seemed very stretched to say the least. After DC2's birth I had a 6 hour stay and then went home same day to my own bed - hurray!

But an even more important issue what can be done to improve peri-natal health in the UK? I am completely shocked and saddened personally by the number of women I've met who have suffered a still-birth. I'm sure our country can improve it's maternal care and this would be so transformative for women and their families.

The hospital experience can vary hugely, and of course there are significant resource constraints coupled with the challenge of planning a service when the patterns of birth and service requirements are not always predictable. There is a current review of Maternity provision in the NHS, and while the survey to give your views has closed, they did specifically ask about those who have experienced a stillbirth or complications. We'll follow the outcome of the Maternity Review with interest.

@typetytypetypes

I have heard some very disappointing stories for women who are self-employed and, despite having everything organised, lose work, eg contracts or projects, once their clients learn that they are pregnant and will be taking a short maternity leave (the average planned leave I read in these cases is 3-4 months). It is difficult due to being self-employed and not having in black and white something saying they're leaving because of the maternity. Is there anything that could be done to the law in this area, to at least improve this situation?

I also wonder about the way a lot of forms, organisations etc are focused on the woman / mother in terms of parental care. I think it is right that we focus on mothers and provide much better support for them. But as a work-out-of-home mum, my husband being a stay-at-home-dad, I am still expected as the main carer for the children when it comes to things like forms for provision for them, registering with organisations. Clearly I am not, my husband is, but the language is so oriented to the mother it reinforces the notion that the mother is always the main carer. Is there a way to legally make a cultural shift, albeit small, eg with the way things are worded? 'Parents and carers' as a title has always captured a variety of possibilities, but in practice that neutrality seems to stop there! Many forms are geared to sole main carer, usually mother, as opposed to shared care or the father being the main carer.

Yes, we do receive a lot of calls from self-employed women and I agree that they do not have as many rights as employed women. Self-employed women are covered by discrimination law, for example, a self-employed woman successfully claimed sex discrimination because she was not able to return to the work she had been doing before she had her baby. Unfortunately for many self-employed women it is hard to prove that the reason they did not get the work was related to their pregnancy or the fact that they took time off work following childbirth.
Self-employed women can claim Maternity Allowance but they do not get the higher rate that employed women get for the first six weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay.

Thanks everyone for taking part in the webchat. If you're viewing this thread later and have a question, you might find the answer on Maternity Action's advice website or if you can't find the answer there you could call our telephone advice line on 0845 600 8533. The telephone advice line is open:

Wednesday 3pm – 7pm
Thursday 3pm – 7pm
Friday 10am – 2pm
(and closed from 23 Dec - 1 Jan)

Please do spread the word if you have friends or colleagues who are looking for advice on these areas.

And if you'd like to help us open our advice line for longer and help more women then please donate. We are a charity and rely on grants and individual donations to provide this important service.

Thanks for your questions everyone and good luck!

Please see the Maternity Action website if you need more help with anything. We have lots of information and update it regularly to reflect the different stories that we hear.

All the best
Katie

Thank you for your response!