p38-39 Knowledge feature Sept4 1/9/09 18:41 Page 38
knowledge workplace
ttglive.com
Maternity rights
Coping with
labour pains
At a time when the threat of redundancy is at its highest and teams are stretched
to the limit, what happens when you find out you or one of your employees is
pregnant? Lucinda Dunseath looks at rights, responsibilities and best practice
P
regnancy in any workplace is not mother’s best interests – but let’s not forget they had faced some kind of discrimination
unusual. In a Travel and Tourist about employers and where this leaves them. for being pregnant at work, such as not get-
Services survey by People 1st in As women are entitled to time off for ting a promotion.
August 2008, it was found that, of antenatal classes and the same work benefits By law women are protected from unfair
the 115,200 people employed in travel, 66% they had before they took leave, such as a dismissal related to their pregnancy, but
were women. The survey also showed that company car, employers can find themselves discrimination when still working is harder
59% of those were aged between 20 and 39, stretched. to gauge.
the optimum age range for having children. Anna Hayward is client services director As the statistics suggest, both em-
Given such high numbers of female for Managing Maternity, which provides ployer and employee often
employees of child-rearing age, it could be training on maternity issues for firms. She struggle with maternity
assumed that maternity issues in the travel says: “The extra SMP pay and time off can issues.
industry are well understood. But is this be a bonus for women but it can also leave Hayward agrees:
the case? And how do businesses and their their employer under-staffed.” “I have friends who
employees cope with pregnancy? Julia Lo Bue-Said, director for leisure at have left the travel
Advantage, confirms the challenge is even industry because of
Entitlements greater for smaller agencies to adhere to the the long hours, lack
All women have maternity rights. Recently latest maternity rights. of understanding
these have been extended by changes to the “We have a lot of small businesses and and difficulty in
Work and Families Act 2006. all the laws can be exceptionally difficult for managing this.”
By law, women are now entitled to 52 them to negotiate,” she says.
weeks’ maternity leave, which can start 11 “While some can borrow staff from other
weeks before the due date for the birth. branches, others almost have to make do.
Women are also entitled to Statutory We’re lucky at Advantage in that we can
Maternity Pay, which is a weekly payment rely on our HR manager. Smaller branches
from their employer. To qualify for it, without one can find it hard to cope.”
the employee must have been with that Workplace statistics highlight further
employer at least 26 weeks by the time they problems. An Equal Opportunities Commis-
are 15 weeks away from their due date, and sion survey in 2005 found more than half
be earning a minimum of £95 a week. the respondents thought pregnant women
Fathers are also entitled to leave: Statutory experienced problems at work.
Paternity Leave can be granted if the same The same report found
criteria as SMP are met. that 45% of female re-
spondents said
Challenges
These rules are designed to be in the
38 04.09.2009
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