While pregnancy can be a time of great joy, it is not without its challenges, especially in the workplace. Research repeatedly shows that pregnant employees often feel unsupported or even discriminated against, while employers come up against complex legislation they must comply with. So what’s the solution?
The government – and many employees – believe the answer lies in more legislation. The latest addition to swell the ranks is the Work and Families Act 2006 (WFA), which comes into effect on 1 April (see panel, facing page). Under the act, statutory maternity pay (SMP) and maternity allowance will all be payable for a period of 39 weeks, up from 26 weeks, for babies due on or after 1 April. Their mothers will be entitled to a total of 52 weeks’ leave, made up of 26 weeks’ ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks’ additional maternity leave, regardless of length of service with their employer.
The rate of SMP remains the same – six weeks at 90 per cent of a woman’s average weekly earnings and the remaining weeks at a flat rate of £108.85, or 90 per cent of her average weekly earnings if they are less than the flat rate – although many employers pay a lot more.
However, only one in 10 employers thinks that any of the provisions of the WFA will benefit their organisation, according to last November’s CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook survey – with smaller employers being particularly unhappy.
Mike Emmott, CIPD adviser, employee relations, thinks the results do not necessarily indicate hostility to the WFA. “It is possible that such reservations simply reflect the caution with which employers tend to embrace any new regulations,” he says. “The government needs to reassure employers about the administration of the new provisions.”
The study also found that 7 per cent of employers considered themselves to be poorly prepared for the legislation – although again Emmott seeks to calm fears, saying that “not a great deal of preparation is needed” as most of the requirements are extensions to existing legislation.
Greg Campbell, head of employment law at legal firm Faegre & Benson, says that although employers may initially consider it problematic for more women to be potentially out of the workplace for longer, the extended period may actually be more manageable.
“It means the employer is more likely to attract serious applicants to provide cover, and that this person will get to know the job better,” he says.
Should women want to change their return-to-work dates from maternity leave, the WFA doubles the amount of notice required from one month to two months. “Again, this is good news for employers,” says Campbell, “because it means bosses are less likely to try to muddle through without arranging cover. One of the most common criticisms of maternity leave is that colleagues feel overburdened when this happens.”
He adds that the WFA promises to simplify the administration of maternity payments and allow employers to adjust them in line with their normal payroll procedures.
By far the most popular part of the new legislation among employers is the introduction of up to 10 “keeping in touch” days. This allows mothers to go into work and stay in touch with developments and undertake training, without bringing their leave to an end or losing out on maternity pay.
“Legally, there have been a lot of claims where women feel their employer has forgotten about them. Yet employers have been in a difficult position because they haven’t known whether it’s acceptable to bother women during maternity leave – and there has been much confusion over pay,” Campbell says.
The least popular element of the legislation proposes to introduce further parental rights within the current Parliament, which would extend maternity pay to 52 weeks and allow mothers to “pass on” to fathers up to 26 weeks of their paid leave. Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of employers surveyed for the Labour Market Outlook think the paternity leave provisions will cause them difficulties. The new rights for fathers won’t be introduced until 2008 at the earliest, but the CIPD reports that employers are worried about the complexities involved.
Responsibility lies on both sides, of course, and there is criticism that many women don’t raise the issue of pregnancy early on or aren’t willing to discuss their needs at work or plans for the future. The DTI has produced a booklet for pregnant women (available to download from its website) in an attempt to change this, as well as inform them of their rights.
Nevertheless, baby charity Tommy’s believes legislation is not the only solution to problems faced by pregnant women and their employers. “We’ve found that many organisations essentially want a helping hand in supporting employees through pregnancy,” says spokeswoman Charlotte Davies.
It was for this reason that the charity decided to run a Pregnancy Accreditation Programme (PAP), which employers pay to become a member of (see panel, right). In return, they are given two comprehensive guides – one for employers and one for employees – on how to manage pregnancy in the workplace. So far, 70 organisations have signed up, including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Marks and Spencer, New Look, First Direct and various NHS trusts.
The scheme was launched in 2000. “Both large and small employers were telling us that they didn’t know how to handle pregnancy. Our role as a charity is to give women the best chance of a healthy pregnancy, so we decided to fill that gap,” Davies says.
There is still a long way to go, she admits. Research conducted by Tommy’s last September found that one in four pregnant women felt under pressure from their bosses to carry on as normal without any disruption to their working routine. The survey of 1,100 expectant mothers also revealed that one in 10 women said their employer was unsupportive when they announced their pregnancy, and one in 20 believed they had been passed over for promotion as a result of becoming pregnant. Other women commented that they hadn’t been invited to key meetings after becoming pregnant and that they weren’t allowed to sit down or have a rest break. (See “Battle of the bulge”, 26 October 2006.)
Despite this, Davies is adamant that most employers aren’t purposefully discriminatory – they simply don’t know what to do – while small employers also feel they don’t have the time and resources. Sarah Unwin, personnel officer at Walsall Borough Council, says her organisation signed up to Tommy’s accreditation programme because it had “a lot of failings in a lot of areas”.
“I had two children in 14 months and was fairly appalled at the level of service I got,” Unwin says. “We realised that we needed to improve, and the programme enabled us to do that in a structured way that we could work towards at a reasonable pace.”
For Becky Mason, senior people and policy manager at BT, signing up to the PAP was about benchmarking and gaining recognition for what it was already providing for mums-to-be.
“We used it initially to see what other organisations were doing and to explore best practice. We also wanted acknowledgement for the new policies we’d put in place,” she explains.
Among the tangible benefits are reduced recruitment costs because so many mothers stay at the company after returning from maternity leave. “We estimate that figure is in the region of £20 million per year because of the sheer numbers of employees at BT,” she says. Mason supports the WFA: “We’re having to make a couple of modifications, but generally we’re ahead of it,” she says.
Preparing for the new legislation can be an ideal opportunity for organisations to broaden their maternity policies generally, says Susie Bartlett, employee relations manager at Accenture.
“Sometimes, little things can go a long way,” she says. “For example, we run maternity workshops where one of our team talks about parent-friendly policies, a senior executive talks about career planning once employees return, and external people talk about practical things such as relaxation techniques.”
Other solutions to the issue are still on the horizon, says the Equal Opportunities Commission, whose research in 2005 found that more than 70 per cent of pregnant women felt they were treated unfairly at work and were suffering in silence.
“We would still like to see greater support for business, specifically financial support for micro-employers and access to HR support for small employers,” says spokesman Rob Holdsworth.
Holdsworth also points out that the UK has some of the most gender-biased parenting arrangements in Europe. “From April, women will be entitled to 39 weeks’ paid maternity leave and 13 weeks’ unpaid leave, but paternity leave is still only two weeks. The government has sought to address this, but it still hasn’t been formally announced,” he says.
Meanwhile, a study carried out earlier this year by Mercer Human Resource Consulting found that the UK and Ireland had the lowest levels of statutory maternity pay in Western Europe.
“Laws have been extended in the UK to offer women longer maternity leave, but pay levels are still very low compared with the rest of Europe,” says Mark Sullivan, worldwide partner at Mercer. So there is still much more work to do in ensuring expectant parents receive the support they need.
Work and Families Act: at a glance
• From 1 October 2006 when the law came into force, statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance and statutory adoption pay increased from 26 weeks to 39 weeks for babies due on or after 1 April 2007, or adoption placements from that date. These mothers will also become entitled to a total of 52 weeks’ maternity leave.
• The amount of notice required will increase to eight weeks for women wanting to change their return-to-work dates.
• Up to 10 “keeping in touch” days will be introduced to allow mothers to go into work and stay in touch with developments and training there, without bringing their leave to an end or losing out on maternity pay.
• The administration of maternity payments will be simplified and allow employers to adjust them in line with their normal payroll procedures.
• There are provisions to introduce further parental rights within the current Parliament, which would extend maternity pay and adoption pay to 52 weeks and allow mothers to “pass on” to fathers up to 26 weeks of their paid leave entitlement.
• The DTI has published two separate guides – one for employees and one for employers – so each are clear about their respective rights and responsibilities. Pregnancy and Work – What You Need to Know as an Employer, is available at www.dti.gov.uk/files/file34286.pdf (the employee’s version is file34285.pdf). Further information can be accessed on the DTI website (www.dti.gov.uk)
One woman’s experience
Moira Hendry (name changed for legal reasons), who works in the radiology department of an NHS hospital, was six months into her second pregnancy, and had just returned from being off sick with Parvovirus 19, when she was called into a meeting with a senior radiographer and given a verbal warning for failing to perform her duties properly.
“I was told that while this meeting was informal, that HR had been consulted and that there would be another meeting in a month, during which time they would be keeping an eye on me and I was expected to improve or ‘official’ channels would be followed,” she says.
She adds: “I felt that springing this meeting on me was unfair and that the content of the meeting was at best insensitive and at worst bullying. To give me, an unwell pregnant woman, a month to improve my performance when I was due to start my maternity leave in eight weeks’ time – and was only going to get bigger, slower and less able – was incredible.”
Hendry contacted her union representative who, together with her actual boss (whom Hendry felt had been supportive) rectified the situation and reassured her that she had the support of her employer.
Get accredited
Members of Tommy’s Pregnancy Accreditation Programme are committed to supporting their staff through their pregnancy by providing all mums-to-be with:
• a non-smoking environment;
• a suitable resting place for breaks;
• the opportunity for time off to attend antenatal appointments;
• individually tailored risk assessments;
• a copy of Tommy’s guide to a working pregnancy for themselves and their managers.
The programme is the only scheme of its kind in the UK and is supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission, the DTI and the Health and Safety Executive.
For further information on how you or your employer can get involved, visit
www.tommys.org/pap-application, email corporate@tommys.org or call 020 7398 3420
• A factsheet and frequently asked questions about maternity and paternity rights can be found on the CIPD website (www.cipd.co.uk)