Women's Views on News |
| Join in on Rights Not Games day of action Posted: 06 Sep 2016 01:35 PM PDT
The online day begins on the evening of 7 September to coincide with the Paralympic opening ceremony at 9.30pm and will go on till half past midnight UK time. DPAC, Disabled People Against Cuts, is fighting for justice and human rights for all disabled people at a time of austerity and welfare cuts. DPAC is not against the Paralympics, or paralympians, and indeed wishes them all success. But DAC does want to remind spectators who are using social media that the vast majority of disabled people are not paralympian or superhuman, are people trying to live their lives to the fullest in spite of the barriers that society puts in the way. There have been events related to #RightsNotGames held all around the country: check DPAC's Twitter account too to see what has been going on, and where. To coincide with the Paralympics opening ceremony DPAC is inviting campaigners from around the world to join in with a virtual protest against the disproportionate impact of global austerity on Deaf and Disabled people using a groundbreaking online tool developed for us by students at the Royal College of Arts. Campaigners are not really going to say too much about this new tool now, except to say that it's going to be an entirely new way of campaigning online and of enabling disabled people to project their own viewpoint out to the online world. It was developed by Ben Redgrove and Arjun Harrison-Mann with support and input from DPAC, and the hope is that many of DPACs members and supporters will enjoy using it. DPAC may not be going to unveil the tool itself yet, but you can prepare to join in when it is revealed on Wednesday evening. If you want to take part, please take a video selfie of yourself, saying why we need rights for Deaf and Disabled People and what rights you think are needed. If you can get a sheet of paper or card with the hashtag #RightsNotGames written clearly on it into the picture it would be great – but don't worry if you can't! The selfie should take less than one minute 30 secs – you can say a lot in that time, try timing yourself speaking for a minute – and then be emailed to RightsNotGames@gmail.com As well as the new tool there will be a traditional DPAC Twitterstorm and for the first time there will also be campaigning on Facebook. Join us!  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2016 12:25 PM PDT
The first legislation protecting women from unfair dismissal because of pregnancy was introduced 40 years ago. Since then, successive legislation has strengthened maternity rights. Women are now protected from any unfavourable treatment at work because of pregnancy or maternity leave. Yet, despite these legal rights, pregnancy and maternity leave is still a time when everything changes for many women at work. Pregnant women are protected from harm in the workplace and have the right not to be dismissed or unfavourably treated because of their pregnancy. Most employed mothers are entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave and 39 weeks' Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance. And mothers with children born on or after 5 April 2015 may also be able to convert some of their maternity leave and pay into Shared Parental Leave and Pay which they or their partner can take on a more flexible basis in the first year of their child's life. The TUC has now updated a booklet describing how these rights work. Called rather ambiguously 'Leave and Pay for Mothers – Know Your Rights', it also provides information on the right to unpaid parental leave, the right to request flexible working and the right to emergency time off for dependants, which may help mothers balance paid work with bringing up their children. To read or download it, click here. If you are adopting a child or having a child through surrogacy arrangements, separate Know Your Rights booklets are available to cover these situations too. A survey of 2,000 women published in August 2014 found that 6 in 10 mothers felt sidelined at work as soon as they announced their pregnancy, and 4 in 10 of 500 managers surveyed admitted that they were wary of hiring a woman of childbearing age. And a Fawcett Society survey released in August 2014 of 1,000 low paid women found that 1 in 10 were given a more junior role on their return from leave. Then a TUC report – The Pregnancy Test: Ending Discrimination at Work for New Mothers – released in July last year, and looking at how pregnancy and motherhood can seriously affect a woman's career, showed that around a quarter of women don't return to work after maternity leave, and one in six of the mothers who do go back change jobs because their employer won't allow them to work reduced or flexible hours. To download The Pregnancy Test report, click here. It also identified ten ways pregnant women and new mothers are mistreated at work and five things that need to change. 1 – Employment tribunal fees should be abolished so women can afford to take their employers to court if they feel they've been treated unfairly because of their pregnancy or because they have recently become a mother. If employers know they are unlikely to be taken to tribunal they are likely to continue with their bad behaviour. 2 – Employers should publish return-to-work rates to see how many new mums go back to their jobs and how many are still in post a year on. They should also carry out exit interviews with any women who feel unable to go back to work, and act on the findings. 3 – The government should introduce better paid leave to allow dads to play a greater role in the care of their children and mothers a greater chance to progress at work. 4 – Flexible working must become more widespread, and men should have as much chance to work in this way as women. Flexible working should be promoted at the point of recruitment and it should be easier for parents to challenge an employer who turns down their request to work flexibly. 5 – Employers who are taken to a tribunal over a pregnancy or maternity-related complaint should be forced to act to improve their employment practices when they are found to have discriminated against a female employee. As the TUC's General Secretary Frances O'Grady said at the time: "This shocking report shows that many employers are in denial about the scale of pregnancy discrimination in their workplaces. "Becoming pregnant should be one of the happiest times in a woman's life, not a period of anxiety and stress. "These findings must not be swept under the carpet. The current culture of bullying, harassment and ill-treatment that many female workers experience must be consigned to the past." This report, she continued, "should also act as a wake-up call to ministers. "If they want more employers to comply with the law they shouldn't be charging women up to £1,200 to pursue a pregnancy discrimination claim." Responding now to the Women and Equalities Committees report, released recently, O'Grady, said: "Pregnancy discrimination forces tens of thousands of women out of their jobs every year. It is not just confined to a few workplaces, it is happening on an industrial scale. This report she said, "must lead to action." The TUC says that just 1 per cent of women who are discriminated against in pregnancy take a claim against their employer to tribunal. The TUC wants the government to publish its long-awaited review into the impact of tribunal fees and extend the time limit, which currently stands at just three months, for new mothers to bring a pregnancy discrimination claim. "As well as extending protection for pregnant women and new mums, the government must stop charging women to take a pregnancy discrimination claim," O'Grady continued. "The introduction of tribunal fees has been a gift for Britain's worst bosses and allowed them to get away with mistreating pregnant women and working mums. "My advice to women is to join a union. As the Equality and Human Rights Commission highlighted recently, pregnant women and new mums are treated better in workplaces that recognise trade unions."  |
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