Friday, May 27, 2016

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Power to the bump

Posted: 26 May 2016 03:39 AM PDT

#powertothebump, pregnancy, discrimination at work, new campaignNew campaign aims to help fight against pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has just launched #PowertotheBump, a digital campaign to help young expectant and new mothers know their rights at work – and have the confidence to stand up for them.

Research has shown that young mothers are significantly more likely to experience pregnancy and maternity discrimination, with six times as many under-25 year-olds than average reporting being dismissed from their jobs after they tell their employer they are pregnant.

The Commission developed the project by drawing on the expertise of partners including The Young Women's Trust, the Fawcett Society, Maternity Action, The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the TUC.

Feedback showed that young women had less awareness of their rights, were typically in less stable employment situations and were worried about or lacked the confidence to talk to their manager about things that were troubling them – and so felt under pressure to hand in their notice or leave their job rather than raise potentially difficult-to deal-with issues.

#PowertotheBump aims to use social media communities to bring together young mothers to share their experiences and knowledge so they are able to assert their rights and challenge any poor treatment which might be discriminatory and have an impact on themselves and their baby.

The campaign features a new video starring the mum vloggers Katie Ellison, Jess Avery, Charlotte Louise Taylor and Emily Norris sharing the campaign's top tips and their own experiences to encourage young mothers to take the right steps to protect themselves at work during pregnancy and to encourage open discussion and planning with their managers.

This video is now being hosted on the suitably popular parenting YouTube site Channel Mum.

The campaign also includes a programme of widespread digital activity including blogs from young mothers, Twitter chats with parenting groups and an online quiz for mums to promote the help and advice available for young mothers on the #PowertotheBump web pages.

The #PowertotheBump's top tips for young mothers are:

Talk to your boss early;

Use your right to reasonable time off for antenatal appointments;

Plan your maternity leave early;

Always talk to your employer about health and safety to make sure your work environment is risk and stress-free; and

Reduce your stress.

Discrimination at work against pregnant women and those on maternity leave is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.

It is unlawful for an employer to treat a woman unfavourably because she is pregnant, is ill because of her pregnancy, is on maternity leave, has taken maternity leave or has tried or intends to take maternity leave.

But the research found that:

Six times as many mothers under 25 (6 per cent) reported that they were dismissed at some point between informing their employer of their pregnancy and participating in the survey (1 per cent average among mothers of all ages);

Twice as many mothers under 25 (15 per cent) reported feeling under pressure to hand their notice in on becoming pregnant (7 per cent average);

1 in 10 mothers under 25 (10 per cent) reported they left their employers as a result of health and safety risks not being resolved (4 per cent average); and

A quarter of mothers under 25 (25 per cent) reported experiencing a negative impact on their health and stress levels (15 per cent average).

#PowertotheBump is one element of the Commission's wider comprehensive strategy to address pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work.

It includes the recently published recommendations to the government that calls for them to do more to ensure women have access to justice and asks them to take the steps that are needed to stop employers asking women about their plans to have children and pregnancy in job interviews.

The Commission is also working with businesses on a campaign which will be launched later this year.

Caroline Waters, deputy chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that young working mothers were feeling the brunt of pregnancy and maternity discrimination more than any other age group and being forced out of their jobs, facing harassment and experiencing issues with their health as a result.

Often, she continued, these women aren't established in their careers, have junior or unstable roles, are low paid and are reliant on their wage to support themselves and their babies.

"We want young women to use #PowertotheBump to speak up against this unfairness," Waters said. "They need the knowledge and confidence to raise issues with their employers so they can focus on their health and wellbeing, rather than the negative impacts of this discrimination.

"We cannot continue to allow these young women to be unfairly held back in the starting blocks of their working lives when they could have the potential to achieve greatness."

Carole Easton, chief executive of the Young Women's Trust said: “Sadly it is not surprising that young women are those who face the greatest discrimination.

"Through our own work with young women who are struggling to live on low or no pay, we know many young mothers are afraid of speaking out about discrimination for fear of losing their job, and in too many cases are never made aware of their employment rights to start with.

"The scale of the issue is however worrying.

"Although some employers will do better than others, we are no longer talking about isolated instances but an endemic problem that affects the health and long term prospects of women in most workplaces.

"We hope that the #PowertotheBump campaign helps young women understand their rights and give them the confidence to share their experiences and speak out against discrimination."

Amy Leversidge, Employment Relations Advisor at the Royal College of Midwives, said it was very worrying that the cases of young women being denied time off to attend antenatal care are increasing.

Women who miss antenatal appointments miss out on essential screening tests and valuable advice around smoking and nutrition.

And, as she pointed out: "Discrimination at work can cause stress, anxiety and depression which can potentially have an impact on the health of the woman and her baby."

Rosalind Bragg, director of Maternity Action, said: ‘Many young women calling our advice line face serious problems when they tell their employers that they are pregnant.

"They face a sudden drop in the number of shifts they are offered, unsafe working conditions, harassment and unfair dismissal.

"Pregnant women and new mothers have the right to a safe workplace which is free from discrimination.

"It is important that young women are supported to know their maternity rights and to take action when their employer breaks the law."