Govt Criticised As Pregnancy Discrimination At Work Doubles

MPs have uncovered a "shocking" increase in discrimination against pregnant women and new mothers.

The Commons Women and Equalities Committee claims the number of women forced to leave their job because of pregnancy discrimination, or concerns about the safety of their child, has doubled over the past decade to 54,000.

Its report also criticised the cost associated with mounting a discrimination case against an employer, and called for a "substantial" cut to the £1,200 fee of going to an employment tribunal.

Figures suggest more than one in ten pregnant women and new mothers were either dismissed, singled out for compulsory redundancy or left their job because of poor treatment in the workplace.

The findings have prompted the committee to propose a German-style system which would ban employers from making new mothers redundant unless there were exceptional circumstances - such as gross negligence by the worker, or extreme financial difficulty within the company.

According to the cross-party committee, the Government's current approach to tackling pregnancy discrimination lacks "urgency and bite" - necessitating an "ambitious, detailed plan" to improve working rights to be unveiled within the next two years.

The committee's chairwoman, Maria Miller, said failing to clamp down on discrimination could make the economy suffer as there are record numbers of women in work across the UK.

Other recommendations made in the report include:

:: Extending the right for paid time off to attend antenatal appointments to casual, agency and zero-hours workers

:: Doubling the time limit on launching a pregnancy or maternity discrimination case from three to six months

:: Making sure employers comply with Government attempts to reduce discrimination levels by introducing concrete targets and changing relevant employment laws.

Jo Swinson, a former Liberal Democrat MP who is now chairwoman of the Maternity Action charity, has warned the Government has no "coherent strategy" to reduce pregnancy discrimination.

Law firm Slater and Gordon, which regularly represents new mothers who have fallen victim to discrimination, added: "The last thing they want to do at this time in their lives is engage in a legal battle and in many cases, they simply can't afford to."